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But he knew they were in trouble when he tried to hose down their plants and the wind blew the water back into his face.

“Our goal was to get that water back in the creek and protect the forest,” Frye said.

“Restoring water back to Strawberry Creek will make a huge difference in the watershed for all of the plant and animal species.”

In theory, one of Northern Ireland Water's 1,124 wastewater treatment works will treat any discharges coming from homes and businesses, before pumping the newly cleaned water back into rivers or the sea.

One method is aquifer recharge, which involves cities pumping water back into the ground to replenish that which has been depleted by overuse.