Rainwater Harvesting - Rainwater Collection.

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Useful Water Saving Tips

A dripping tap can waste as much as 90 litres a week.

Cool water kept in the fridge means you won't have to run the tap for ages to get a cold drink.

Taking a five minute shower very day instead of a bath will use a third of the water, saving up to 400 litres a week.

Purchasing a water butt will help you to collect rain water for use on the garden.

Water your garden at the coolest part of the day to reduce evaporation.

Brushing your teeth with the tap running wastes almost 9 litres a minute.

Fit a water saving device in your cistern and save up to three litres a flush.

Grow your grass a little longer. It will stay greener than a close mown lawn and need less watering.

Installing a water meter can save you water and money by monitoring how much you use.

THE NEED FOR RAINWATER HARVESTING

In today's climate, water is an expensive commodity. As a result of an increase in demand and water reserves continuing to decline, the amount available to us is falling and water charges are continuing to increase year on year.

Despite the fact that England and Wales appear to have plenty of rain, our growing population and the potential changes in climate mean that our water resources are under pressure. The large number of new houses to be built over the next few years will increase the competition for available water between the environment and people, especially in South-East of England which has low water resource availability.

Reducing demand for mains water can help to reconcile these competing needs. One way of reducing demand is to use a rainwater harvesting system to provide water for domestic uses.

Benefits and Cost Savings

Up to 50% of the drinking water that is currently used can be safely replaced with rainwater without any loss inconvenience.

Rainwater, often referred to as soft water, can be efficiently harvested and used for laundry, flushing toilets, general cleaning and garden irrigation.

Based on future water price projections, a complete rainwater recycling system, excluding installation costs, will pay for itself within 5 to 10 years and add to the property value.

Water bills include both mains water supply and wastewater treatment charges. Wastewater charges to a property on a water meter are calculated on the basis of the amount of mains water supplied to the property therefore rainwater is not monitored by the meter.

In agricultural and industrial settings, rainwater harvesting could be even more cost effective because of the relatively high water use and large harvesting potential of roof and hard-standing areas. The potential savings that can be made, depend on both the demand for non-potable water and the amount of rainwater that can be used, which depends on the roof area available for collection and the amount of local rainfall.

Rainwater harvesting makes ecological sense. In this situation instead of the rainwater requiring immediate percolation, the rainwater is retained in the property. This eases pressure on the municipal drainage system.

Surface water can be collected and stored during times of high rainfall, and released to soakaway at a controlled rate, reducing the risk of flooding.

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Useful Water Saving Tips