Integrated Rainwater Harvesting Systems

8/9/2019 Integrated Rainwater Harvesting Systems

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Sustainable, Reliable, Affordable

Environmental

Integrated Rainwater Harvesting Systems


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Ote the simplest o methods ca be the most eective

Harvesting rainwater is one o the oldest and most elemental o ways in

which we can live sustainably with nature. Only now is the value o waterbeing recognised as it becomes an increasingly precious resource.

Here at Kingspan Environmental, we have been designing and installingrainwater harvesting systems or over a decade. While we continue toollow the principles o rainwater harvesting, our systems have evolvedthrough our knowledge, experience and the latest technology.

The result?

An advanced range o systems, bringing intelligent sustainability to allmodern buildings.


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03

Rainwater Harvesting is not a new concept.

Since earliest times, mankind has captured

rain in order to provide a simple and accessible

supply o resh water.

With the introduction o mains water supply, harvesting

methods in the developed world have been largely

reduced to the use o garden waterbutts. In most

buildings naturally clean rainwater is let to wash away

while expensive puried water is used or all applications

with only a raction being used or potable-use. In recent

years it has become harder to ignore this illogical way o

using our natural resources.

Water has become a valuable commodity. Increased

awareness o the environmental issues surrounding water

reserves, drainage and a cultural shit towards sustainability

have also meant that Rainwater Harvesting is more eective

and signicant than ever beore.

Wht is Rinwter Hresting?

The Basic Priciples

The principles behind Rainwater Harvesting are simple.

Any system has a method ocollectio (e,g a roo), a

storage vessel (tank) and a delivery acility (be it a simple

on/o tap or pipework system).

Integrated rainwater systems still adhere to these

elementary steps, but use modern technology to rene

the process with automation and ltration.

Itegrated RaiwaterHarvestig Systems

The rainwater that alls onto a buildings roo is channelled

through standard guttering and pipework. Rather than

going into the drain, the water passes through a mesh lter

(to remove leaves or debris) beore entering a storage tank.

When needed, this water is then automatically pumped

back into the building and, (ater urther ltration), is put

to use in non-potable applications, such as toilet fushing,

laundry or commercial washdown areas.

Float level switches within the tank alert an electronic

control device to divert to mains supply should the

storage tank run empty. The system will always draw on

harvested water rst.

System variations include the use o a header tank and

booster sets, but in essence any integrated Rainwater

Harvesting system ollows the same process in its operation.


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04

COLLECTION

RE-USE

FILTER

STORE

Integrted Rinwter Hresting Systems


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Whether it alls rom the sky or comes out o a tap, our relationship with water has undamentally

changed. There is more pressure than ever beore to ensure that every drop o water is accounted

or and controlled.

On one hand, water has become a valuable commodity. On the other, climate change has

altered the pattern o rainall leading to shorter heavier bursts o rain that pose major risks to the

current drainage inrastructure.

Environmental issues are becoming increasingly important and there is a growing public

awareness o the contribution that good building design can make to reducing pollution and

improving the environment.

05

The Situtin

Eglad ad Wales: about 1,334 cubic metres (m3)

per person

South-east Eglad: about 921 m3 per person.

Thames Valley: just 266 m3 per person.

We have less water available per person than:

Aghaista 2,608 m3

Ira 1,970 m3

Iraq 2,917 m3

Lebao 1,189 m3

Syria 1,441 m3

Suda 1,879 m3

People in the Thames Valley have less water

available to them than:

Egypt 794 m3

Ethiopia 1,519 m3

and nearly the same asIsrael: 255 m3

Water Availability

Levels o water stressSerious

Moderate

Low

Not assessed

Water Stress Areas

As this map shows, the South o the country is susceptible

to alling to near critical levels o water shortage in relation

to population. As these areas become even more densely

populated, the demands on the existing water supply

inrastructure continues to increase at a rate that is clearly

unsustainable.

Reservoir storage is nite regardless o rainall, thus the

most eective solution to this imminent water supply crisis

is widespread use o Rainwater Harvesting.


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06

FLOOD

Maagig the Stormwater Challege

Typical Domestic ad Commercial Water Use

Residential Water Usages

The Kingspn Enirnmentl Rinwter Hresting pkge n stisfy

pprximtely 53% f the demnd in typil residentil huse.

Dish Washer

WC Flushing

Washing Machine

External Use

Commercial Water Usages

The Kingspn Enirnmentl Rinwter Hresting pkge n stisfy

pprximtely 85% f the demnd in typil mmeril pplitin.

UrinalsWC Flushing

Non-potable Processes

Personal Washing and Bathing

Drinking and Food Preparation

Applications where RainWaterHarvesting can be used

Potable ProcessesCanteen Sinks

Applications where RainWaterHarvesting can be used

As more river valleys become developed with

hard suraces (paths, roads and rooed areas)

the speed at which the rainwater runs o the

land increases.

This can have a severe eect on a watercourse

where fash foods can occur downstream

where the volume o water entering the system

can be extremely high due to a cumulative

eect o development upstream.

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f rinfll, whih hs grdully inresed er the

ptfw.Thihtutthpl

f strmwter entering wterwys.

Flhlgwithiiglvlhv

pilfvigithUKi reent yers. This hs led t rising insurne lims

lviglkptwh

iugitgtti.

44%

20%

21%

6%9%

4%

31%

12% 6%

32%

15%


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07

Lgilti,IititivthFutu

The Code orSustaiable Homes

Defitio: Government owned environmental assessment method or certiying

and rating new homes in England. It was launched in December 2006.

The CSH measures the sustainability o a new home against categories o sustainable design, rating the

whole home as a complete package rather than on a single characteristic.

The CSH uses a one to six star rating system to communicate the overall sustainability perormance o

a new home. The CSH sets minimum standards or energy and water use, set at incremental levels.

From 1st May 2008 it is mandatory or a Code sustainability certicate or a nil rated Certicate (where

an assessment has not taken place) to be included in the Home Inormation Pack as inormation toprospective purchasers o properties in England.

Implicatios the coutdow to 2016

The Government has detailed a timeline or the adoption o the CSH which concludes with net-zero

carbon Level 6 homes by 2016.

The Governments ambition or the Code is that it becomes the single national standard or the design

and construction o sustainable homes, and that it drives improvements in home building practice.

Currently the average water use is 150 litres per person per day. To achieve ratings at the higher end

o the Code the developer will have to install more water-riendly ttings and appliances to dramatically

reduce this water consumption gure.

To reach Code Level 6 (80 litres per day) a orm o rainwater harvesting will have to be adopted.

As more river valleys become developed with hard suraces (paths, roads and rooed areas) the volume

o rainwater that runs o the land increases.

This can have a severe eect in a watercourse where fash foods can occur downstream where the

volume o water entering the system can be extremely high due to a cumulative eect o development

upstream.

To address this problem, the drainage systems o towns, cities and developments have been

surveyed and a policy o Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) has been developed to counteract the

problems being encountered.

SUDS addresses issues of the quantity and quality of the water run-off from sites.

Attenuation systems (tanks and rainwater harvesting systems) and separators (to remove oilcontaminants from discharges) are required.

Sustaiable DraiageSystems (SUDS)

The uture o the Code

TIME-LInE 2007 2008 2010 2013 2016

PRIvaTE SEcToR

VoLUnTaryassessmenTmandaTory

LEvEL 3mandaTory

LEvEL 4mandaTory

LEvEL 6mandaTory

105 l/p/day 90 l/p/day 80 l/p/day

PUbLIcsecTorLEvEL 6

mandaToryLEvEL 4

mandaTory

LEvEL 3mandaTory

105 l/p/day 90 l/p/day 80 l/p/day

l/p/day (litres/per perso/per day)

Commet

newhomeseedtoadoptwater-efcietdevicessuchaslimiteddepthbathsorshallowcisters.These

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hvtigtuthfpiliuhwt-fitvi.

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riwtHvtigfuhkitglptfwlligutilig

h,itiftgthtsUdslutitivtigt.

The UK Government has stated

its commitment to tackling both

the causes and consequences

of climate change. To this end ithas started to introduce a clear,

credible, long-term framework

for the UK to achieve its goals

of reducing carbon dioxide

emissions and ensure steps

are taken towards adapting

to the impacts of climate change.


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08

Buildig Regulatios Part H

BREEAM

Defitio: Building Research EstablishmentEnvironmentalAssessment Method.

A suite o environmental assessment rating tools designed, operated and owned

by BRE, rst launched in 1990.

BREEAM is the worlds longest established and most widely used environmental assessment method

or buildings. It sets the standards or best practice in sustainable development and demonstrates a

level o achievement.

Predominantly a design-stage assessment, BREEAM assesses buildings against a set criteria and

provides an overall score which will all within a band providing either a; PASS, GOOD, VERY GOOD,EXCELLENT or OUTSTANDING rating.

BREEAM is applied across the building spectrum through various packaged orms, created to suit individual

types o building or example common types o buildings can be measured under packages including

BREEAM Education, BREEAM Prisons, BREEAM Oces, BREEAM Multi-residential and others.

The original BREEAM Eco-homes was created to tackle domestic homes. In April 2007 the Code or

Sustainable Homes replaced Ecohomes or the assessment o new housing in England. EcoHomes 2006

will continue to be used or reurbished housing in England and or all housing in Scotland and Wales.

Commet

riwtHvtigigithviubreeamuiligpkg

high-ittiuthWtefit.

Defitio: Within the Building Regulations 2002, part H3 sets out guidance and

requirements for rainwater drainage.

Building regulations are specic to particular building procedures and components. Part H3 has

increased the responsibility o developers and contractors to ensure that buildings are designed with

demonstrable methods o sustainable drainage.

Rainwater carried rom the roo o the building has to be managed while paved areas around the

building should be constructed so that they are suitably drained. Piping the fow into the mains is no

longer the immediate solution.Provisio or maaged disposal ollows a hierarchy o discharge optios:

A adequate soak-away or some other adequate ifltratio system (e.g swales, lter

drains, inltration basins etc). Not always a practicable option, requiring a designated and

secure land area.

A watercourse - This is dependent on consent granted, e.g the Environment Agency or

applicable authority.

A sewer - Consent is only given i capacity is deemed available. I there is not enough

capacity a separate system should be put in place - an oten prohibitive cost.

Commet

Thbuiligrgultiplphithquitfthvlp/tttdealwiththeraiwaterdraiageosite.Theuseofasoak-away(orsomeotheradequateiltratiot)ithpiluti,utifthipvttpil,thiwtut

dishrged int wterurse.

olithlitulitihgitpuliw.

ariwtHvtig tpvivlp& ttwith fftiv ilttisystem s mens f reduing the impt f the rinwter dishrge n site. In s ding, mnyf thit ig quitf uilig gulti ti, thu thpress f gining plnning permissin.

1st

2nd

3rd

s also apparent that such

ameworks are top of the agenda

r the Government in Ireland.

ilding sustainable homes

quires all sorts of environmental

pacts to be minimised in addition

carbon dioxide emissions, such

water use, waste generated,

d materials for building.


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Water-use Applicatio

Harvested rainwater can be used to replace mains water

in nearly all non-potable applications.

The most popular role or rainwater is to serve a buildings

acilities such as toilet fushing, washing, or garden irrigation

each requiring a continual and sizeable consumption

o water.

Commercial applications also include these uses, but can

be more varied. Past installations have seen rainwater put

to use in a diverse range o unctions including vehicle

washdown, heating and cooling applications, materials

manuacturing, arming and livestock and scientic

applications.

1FACTOR

Step

09

Utigut-fttiWhatever the design o covered structure or building, a Rainwater Harvesting system can be

designed and installed to capture the rain that alls upon it.

As a starting point, it is worth considering the undamentals that govern the design and thinking

behind each individual installation.

There are Five basic actors to cosider:

new Build or Retroft?

Putting the rainwater storage tank into the ground is thebiggest task on any harvesting systems installation agenda.

Logically, the prime time to install the tank is at the ground-

working stage o the projects construction schedule.

This poses little problem or new-builds as the oundations

and drainage will need to be dug and excavation plant

will be on site. However, or retrot installations, careul

thought should be paid to both physical restrictions (e.g

access to proposed tank location), plus any preparation

work that may be required after the install.

See page 15 or more details o tak locatio optios.

2FACTOR

Roofg Area ad Draiage

A buildings roo area is its rainwater catch net. The

larger the roo, the larger the volume o water that can be

collected.

It is very much down to the application that decides just

how much rain (and thus diverted roo area) may be

required, but there are also many other advantages in

using the system as an intrinsic part o the buildings

overall sustainable drainage (SUDS) scheme.

3FACTOR

Scale o Use

On larger building schemes it may be more practical to

adopt a multiple-tank layout to cater or the expanse o

roo space. This places localised reserves o water exactly

where needed, rather than one large tank requiring a

number o lengthy supply pipes.

Alternatively, a single tank can eed many outlets an

arrangement common to domestic house developments

where each dwelling draws o one collective tank.

Available Iteral Tak Space

Most rainwater systems supply water direct rom the

underground rainwater tank, but it may be desirable tohave an elevated header tank (usually located in a lot area

or roo cavity) to store ltered water ater the main tank.

This has an advantage that in the event o a power cut or

i electricity is being rationalised, the building continues to

receive a supply o harvested water.

5FACTOR

4FACTOR


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College Road North, Aston Clinton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP22 5EWSales Hotline Tel: +44 (0) 1296 633000 Fax: +44 (0) 1296 633001

[email protected] or visit www.kingspanwater.com or our company website www.kingspanenv.com

Unit 1, O Derryboy Road, Carnbane Business Park, Newry, Co. Down BT35 6QHNI: Tel: +44 (0) 28 302 66799 IRL: Tel: 048 302 66799

[email protected] or visit www.kingspanwater.ie or our company website www.kingspanenv.com

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Integrated Rainwater Harvesting Systems