In Niort, city services thaw the ice rink to water the green spaces

There are priorities. The city of Niort has decided to thaw its ice rink earlier than usual to be able to recover the water from the melt and water the green spaces. A first in this area.

“We have 80 m³ of water to recover at the ice rink. Usually, this water is not recovered and it goes into the sewers”, explains Manuel Gasnier, head of green spaces at the city of Niort. In the large room, the show is not trivial. Instead of very smooth ice, a huge puddle of water covers the ground. The water is pumped out and then sent in large tankers.

The city has planted 6,000 trees this winter and with the drought these young plants are suffering. Manuel Gasnier points to a trunk of a young tree: “We can see that he is starting to suffer”. Niort’s elected officials want to extend the city’s green spaces to green the urban space and make heat waves more bearable for the population.

The objective with this green plan is “to have gray areas”says Philippe Mauffrey, vice-president of the community of agglomeration of Niort. “We want to make cool areas available to the public during heat waves”. But, the creation of these new vegetated areas requires sustained watering in the growth phase of the plants.

The six swimming pools in the agglomeration will therefore also be emptied. The drained water will be used to water the plants. “It allows us to water all the trees we have planted this year”notes Anthony Brémand, gardener of the city of Niort.