a rainwater harvesting system installed at Bentley Motors

Why should you choose a UK manufactured rainwater harvesting system

Did you know that the UK is facing a water shortage of 5 billion litres per day by 2050? The UK government estimates that water availability could be reduced by 15% and some rivers could see up to 80% less water during summer months (Environment Agency). This is a very serious issue that we here at Stormsaver are trying to combat through rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling.

Whilst we are in the face of a nationwide shortage, we are also facing problems with flooding. Roughly a fifth of the UK's 500,000 km of sewer pipeline is known as ‘combined sewers’ which means that these sewer pipes transport and filter stormwater runoff water from drains and foul water from toilets in our homes.

For the water industry, this is a problem because when heavy rainfall occurs these combined sewers can overflow, allowing untreated sewage into our rivers and seas.

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Rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling as the solution…

Stormsaver is trying to reduce the stress on both our drainage systems and our mains water systems by collecting and reusing rainwater and greywater for non-potable purposes. A good example of this is to use recycled water to flush our toilets.

When we design and specify buildings there is only one opportunity to get the right specification for rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling systems. The consequences of not choosing the right system can impact the amount of water saved and can cause reliability and maintenance problems for the end user. This brings me on too how you can get the right design with a UK-manufactured system.

Why choose UK-manufactured water reuse systems

Here at Stormsaver we have experience maintaining all types of rainwater harvesting systems and have found that the biggest reason these vital water saving systems can fail is because they have an undersized size internal storage capacity relative to the building they are constructed in. An example of internal storage capacity on a rainwater harvesting system would be a header tank or pressure vessel. The sizing of the internal storage capacity is not covered by BS EN 16941-1, so it is an issue to watch out for!

These systems fail for two main reasons. First, the mains water pressure is not guaranteed and may not be sufficient to keep the header or break tank full enough to operate the toilets when rainwater isn't available.

A larger tank helps ensure there's enough stored water available to run the toilets until rainwater is replenished. Second, even with plenty of rainwater, submersible pumps within the main storage tank may become overused resulting in a reduced lifespan if they are operating continuously to fill the internal break tank. A larger internal break tank reduces the risk of the tank running dry by providing a suitable capacity for peak demand periods.

Our UK-manufactured Combi Control Units have an integrated break tank. Because we design and manufacture these systems ourselves, it allows us to provide a range of capacities to help you avoid under sizing the internal break on the Combi Control Unit.

The other benefits

As all our rainwater harvesting systems are manufactured right at our HQ in Nottinghamshire we can fully electrically test and wet test our systems right before they go out to a site giving them an edge in reliability and helping to make the installation process easy.

Our rainwater harvesting systems utilise a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) to electrically control all components within the system. Many other rainwater harvesting systems use Printed Circuit Boards (PCB). PLCs are designed to have easily replaceable components and are built to withstand harsh conditions perfect for use in all our systems.

PCB’s, whilst easy to replace are very susceptible to damage from conditions such as condensation or humidity. They also do not have individually replaceable components, meaning when the unit fails, the whole system has no central controls. In our experience, importing a new PCB for these systems from overseas may delay how fast the system can be repaired, potentially leaving the site with no flushing toilets whilst the replacement controller arrives.

There are many reasons to go with a UK manufacturer including, shorter lead times, less risk in the supply chain, reduced carbon footprint, and supporting the UK economy – to name a few!

Combi rainwater harvesting systems being manufactured

Learn more

If you want to know more about UK-manufactured systems. Here at Stormsaver, we can provide a fully accredited CPD session on commercial rainwater harvesting systems. This will give you an insight into the best practices and common design mistakes to avoid in your specifications. Feel free to book here.

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