Pedal power keeps water flowing to downtown flowers
A water tank attached to a tricycle is the City of Regina’s solution for how to water its downtown flowers safely and in an environmentally friendly way.
Safety concerns were raised about large watering vehicles downtown two years ago after the city’s watering truck exhaust pipe caught on a cable strung across the Scarth Street Mall. The cable was being used by rappellers on the Mccallum Hill Towers, and a street light ended up being pulled down onto the watering truck.
“We wanted to find a solution that was more user-friendly for the folks here in the mall,” said Russell Eirich, the city’s manager of forestry, pest control and horticulture.
The city started looking at how other communities were taking care of their plants in pedestrianpacked areas. The idea of a water trike was picked up from the City of Edmonton, which is now running two of these trikes to service its downtown displays, said Eirich.
The trike was ordered from Holland and then outfitted with what it would need to take care of Regina’s 100 downtown flower pots, with a total price tag of $5,000. It has a 115-litre water tank, which can water around 15 to 20 flower pots in one go.
For the next three weeks, a City of Regina worker will be seen watering with the trike in the downtown core every few days as a trial period. If everything goes well, Eirich said the city would consider purchasing a second trike.
“The idea being that next year you will see this bike full-time in the downtown core, so at this point we’re still, you know, working the bugs out, but you’re going to see this out every second day or so, every third day ... as we sort of troubleshoot this,” he said.
The small motor that helps drive the cart and powers the spray nozzle is solar powered.