Rainwater Harvesting Information

Rainwater Harvesting

  Why harvest rainwater?
Around a quarter of the water we use each day is flushed down the toilet, with another quarter being used for laundry, washing the car or watering the garden. As this water potable, it has gone through extensive filtration and sterilisation to make it drinkable so it is an expensive waste of energy and resources to just flush it down the toilet. The benefits of harvesting rainwater include –    

• Using rainwater for non-potable uses such as, flushing toilets, washing machines, washing the car and watering the garden.
• Save up to 50% on mains water bills
• Be environmentally aware, don’t flush drinking water down the drain.
• Can use to water the garden during drought or hosepipe ban.
• Cost effective and easy to run
• Helps alleviate flooding but acting as storm attenuation devices.

 
  Rainwater Harvesting Systems
At its most basic, a rainwater harvesting system collects water from the roof by the downpipes and guttering. It is filtered to remove unwanted debris such as leaves and insects, and then is stored in a tank and automatically pumped into the house when required. There are a few different types of rainwater harvesting systems these include –

Direct pumped, water is collected, treated and pumped directly from the storage tank to the building when required. Back up connection to the mains cold water can be fed into the harvesting tank if required. The supply of water is entirely dependent on the electric pumps, and therefore the system will not work during a power failure.
Indirect gravity system, with a header tank (located inside the building) connected to a mains back up supply is ideal for low pressure use such as flushing toilets. With the mains back up it will work even in times of low rain fall and with the gravity feed it will work during power loss.
Indirect boosted system, with a header tank (located inside the building) connected to a mains back up supply with a special pump unit to boost pressure if the tank is located some distance from the building or is required for pressured supply. Mains back up ensures the system works even in times of low rain fall.  

Rainwater Harvesting System Considerations
Underground or aboveground tank?
If you have space to dig a hole to bury the tank, then not only will the rainwater keep fresher for long but it will also be hidden from sight. If you do not have room for a hole then there are above ground tank options.

How big does the tank need to be?
That all depends on the number of occupants, size of the roof and what the water is going to be used for. Please contact us for more information or fill out our rainwater harvesting questionnaire.  

Domestic Rainwater Harvesting
Any of the above systems can be installed into new build homes or retrofitted into existing buildings.  

Industrial Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater harvesting systems for industrial buildings are generally a bigger, more sophisticated version of the systems used for domestic houses. We can supply bespoke systems for almost any type of building from a school to an office block or supermarket.