Distribution Centre, Southampton
Having experienced many issues with their rainwater harvesting system, the client decided to call in our specialist team to carry out a comprehensive system survey.
Upon visiting, one of our Senior Engineers discovered the building had a sub-standard pressurised style rainwater harvesting system which they quickly deemed to be beyond economical repair due to several serious failure points.
Pressurised style systems are typically specified and supplied by those who are unfamiliar with rainwater harvesting as they are not suitable for large commercial buildings. Whilst often perceived as an inexpensive solution, they cost the end user more who have to deal with disruption and replacements.
Pressurised style systems only have one central storage tank and suffer from having no internal break tank, leaving the building vulnerable to a water supply failure.
As had happened in this case, the pressure vessel had failed leaving the client with no running water to their toilets. Most serious of all, the building was relying on an unauthorised mains water bypass to get around the irreparable rainwater harvesting system. This posed a large risk to public health.
In the mains storage tank, our Senior Engineer had also found that the controls and pressure vessel had completely collapsed into the tank and was submerged in the unused rainwater. Shockingly, the storage tank also had also been incorrectly commissioned with blue identifying pipework which highlights the supply as being suitable for potable consumption, instead of the approved black and green pipework.
Stormsaver were able to offer a complete replacement solution. This came in the form of our Combi rainwater harvesting system which is commonly used to upgrade failed pressurised systems. The Combi Control Unit houses an integrated back up to protect the end user against supply failure.
Our engineers were also able to remove the illegal mains water bypass through incorporating our Combi which takes advantage of a suitable WRAS compliant air gap. We also fully removed any incorrect blue pipework and replace with the approved alternative.
We hope this case study identifies the seriousness of incorrectly specifying and installing rainwater harvesting in buildings. At Stormsaver, we are really passionate about the integrity of the reclaimed water supply and never compromise on quality over cost.
