How Schools Can Cut Costs by Using Rainwater not Mains Water



Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009

by
Rainwater Harvesting Limited

Currently mains water is used for roughly 50% of daily water consumption when quality drinking water is not necessary. This is very wasteful, particularly when - hard as this is to believe after the summers of 2007 and 2008 - many areas of the UK are under what is termed "water stress". Official pressure is now on to use rainwater instead of mains water in an attempt to relieve this water stress. It is now obligatory to take measures to economise on water consumption. There are three ways to do this: alter behaviour, use water-efficient appliances such as double flush WCs, and using rainwater off available roofs is an efficient and logical step to doing this. Furthermore, significant financial savings can be made in meeting these mandatory requirements. The initial investment will be recouped, if not immediately, at least soon enough to make it viable.

Quality mains water is not necessary for supplying WCs and washing machines or for outdoor use, such as irrigation or cleaning. 20 - 30% of mains water consumption is represented by WC use. This percentage rises considerably in schools where there is less bathing and showering. So using rainwater in schools primarily for toilet flushing is very advantageous.

Here are some examples. In a recent quote for a primary school, it was calculated that on a WC usage of 420 children and adults, the school can save @ £1700 per annum in water rates. With equipment costing £7500, this means a pay back in four and half years. This tallies with installations done by Stormsaver in primary schools where the estimated savings each year on water costs are between £1000 and £1500.

It is now a condition of capital funding that new build and refurbishment projects achieve a "VERY GOOD" rating under the BREEAM schools scheme. The requirement covers all major new-build and refurbishment projects valued at over £500,000 (primary schools) and £2million (secondary schools). For refurbishment, this must cover more than 10% of the floor area. There are smaller schemes which may be suitable for formal BREEAM assessment too. There are ten categories where credits are awarded and these include leak detection, re-use, recycling and consumption. When planning, a calculation of the predicted water use - m3/person/year must be made and the percentage of this water use to be provided by rainwater or greywater.

Rainwater harvesting systems are not difficult or very costly to install particularly in the context of a new school or major refurbishment when contractors are on site. They can certainly contribute towards economizing on overall running costs.

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Rainwater Harvesting Limited are suppliers of rainwater harvesting storage tanks, pumps, filters & management systems to households and commercial businesses. www.rainwaterharvesting.co.uk is a large information resource offering valuable technical information and advice in addition to 1000s of product specifications. Download the invaluable rain water harvesting tank size calculator
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