Rainwater harvesting

Forget the rising cost of mains water. Collecting rainwater from our own roofs may eventually be the only way of ensuring an adequate water supply for our buildings during a drought. Roger Budgeon and Derek Hunt from Rainharvesting !ystems "imited report...

It is likely that rainfall patterns will continue to change bringing shorter but heavier bursts of rain causing flooding and soil erosion. Household water consumption is increasing per capita, and as the climate warms other usage will increase, so new ways will have to be found to reduce, reuse and retain water within the environmental system we inhabit. ...Rainwater harvesting needs to be considered as a part of a long term and overall environmental plan towards more sustainable development. The advantages to us and the wider environment of preventing flooding and erosion of all the water courses are incalculable... The first measure should always be to reduce the amount of water we use; water efficient appliances, taps, shower heads and toilets should be installed. Ne t we should look at replacing the high !uality drinking water we use for low grade uses such as toilet flushing, process water in commercial applications and water for irrigation and animal husbandry, to name but a few. In our view there is no point in cleaning and adding purifying chemicals to make all the water we use every day to drinking water !uality when in a domestic situation this is superfluous for about "#$ of it. %ommercially this percentage is much higher. &ooking back in history the Romans left evidence of rainwater harvesting systems. The 'ictorians developed them further and in the ()*#+s the ,ermans made the systems -high. tech/ and easier maintenance. 0ost of the currently available systems use many ,erman ideas and products. The global water system should be considered as a total loss system and the water should be kept -in play/ for as long as possible, retaining it for later use and reuse wherever possible. 1s part of this approach the water storage tanks employed in rainwater harvesting systems act as retention tanks. Not only do they store the water for reuse, but they also contribute to avoiding the flash run.off which contributes to the flooding and swelling of water courses. This will occur as a result of run.off from covered ground and sealed surfaces. 2ustainable 3rban 4rainage 2ystems 523426 are becoming more of an issue and are often a condition of planning permission. The developer is re!uired to attenuate the site water run.off. There are many ways of doing this but if tanks are used it makes sense to install pumps and reuse the water. Not only is water becoming a product whose supply will no longer continue to e ceed demand, the water authorities are now asking for considerable price increases. This is where rainwater harvesting systems come into the picture. This will make the payback time of installing a rainwater harvesting systems very much shorter. 7ith water charges at the present level, the payback time on a domestic system is typically (#.8# years for domestic properties that are metered. 5In the 39 not all domestic dwellings are metered but all new build is. %ommercial sites are all metered.6 If you consider commercial properties with large roof areas and high consumption of non potable water, the payback can be very much

shorter, sometimes only months. 1s we have said before the benefits are much greater than :ust financial, the environmental aspects of retaining water in the system are also very great. The principles of collecting and storing clean water are to filter the water before storage, store in the dark and below (* deg%, then if designed correctly the rain harvesting system will supply clean water. The debris must be removed from the water before storage, as any decaying material in the tank will use any available o ygen that is in the water. The result will be smelly, putrid water. The stored water must be o ygen rich. The water is collected by the roof gutters and is directed to the rainwater filter where the water is separated from leaves and other debris. The filtered water is then transferred to the storage tank :oining the other stored water at the bottom and directed upwards so it does not disturb the sediments on the bottom. The filter system should screen out all but the smallest particles, the heavier sinking to the bottom and the lighter floating to the surface. This is the second stage of the cleaning process. The light particles will be organic material such as pollens which must be flushed out as they will cause the water to become stagnant. This is done by designing the tank overflow to have a skimming effect on the surface of the water when it overflows. The system should be si;ed to overflow at least twice a year, and in doing so keeping itself clean. The heavy particles on the bottom of the tank accumulate at about (.8mm<yr, a negligible amount . "# years will result in "#.(##mm. The overflow system will often include an anti. vermin trap and an anti.backflow device if the application re!uires. The mesh si;e of the pre. filter system is a compromise between maintenance intervals and water !uality. The finer the filter screen the more regularly it will have to be cleaned if the collecting efficiency is to be maintained. The rainwater stored can be supplied on demand to supply the toilet or need, or it can be pumped to a header tank, which can then in turn, feed the demand. =umps can be submersible or they can be suction pumps, all are drawing water via floating filter, ensuring the water is taken from below the surface which will be the cleanest water in the tank. The filter on the inlet is purely to protect the pump as in normal operation the water will be clean. The control for the pump could be :ust a pressure switch, or a more sophisticated flow controller and pressure switch, with dry.run protection all built in 5protection for the pump in case the water runs out6. The system must include some back.up in case there is no rainwater in the tank. Toilets need to be flushed and clothes washed. 7hen water level in the storage tank falls to about (#$ of its capacity, adding a small percentage of mains water to the tank keeps the system going until it rains again. This can also be achieved by changing over to a small mains.fed cistern, as in a module system. In a header tank system the change over can be achieved by :ust supplying the header tank with a mains supply, activated when the rain water tank is low. 1ny back.up or top.up system must comply with the regulations separating the rainwater from the drinking water supply so there is no risk of contact or contamination. The rainwater tank should never be allowed to empty as this would have a detrimental effect on the beneficial bacteria that have established themselves in the tank, keeping the water clean. The incoming rainwater brings o ygen with it keeping the system working. 1s described earlier the water collected has many uses without further treatment, it will be particle free so uses that do not involve human consumption or skin contact, such as toilet flush, garden irrigation, and washing machine use, are acceptable without further treatment. If a wider range of uses are re!uired, such as drinking or bathing, or the application is more

sensitive, such as a hospital, then a risk assessment strategy should be employed to assess what further purification is re!uired. =article and 3' filtration is often employed in such circumstances. This e tra filtration uses more energy so an evaluation of operational cost<benefit also needs to be considered.