How Schools Can Benefit By Using Rainwater Instead Of Mains Water

Nowadays, about the half the daily water consumption is mains water

, even though it is not always necessary to use quality drinking water. If you think that many areas of the UK are under a term called "water stress", even after the summers of 2007 and 2008, this is very wasteful. Officials are now pressurising us to use rainwater instead of mains water to try and relieve this water stress. Taking measures to economise on water consumption is now obligatory. There are three ways in which to do this, these are: change your behaviour, use water-efficient appliances like double flush WCs, and use rainwater from available roofs. These are the efficient and logical steps. Also, there are financial savings which can be made by meeting these mandatory requirements. The initial investment will be recouped, if not immediately but soon enough to make it beneficial.

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, which equates to a pay back in four years six months. This tallies with installations done by Stormsaver in primary schools where the estimated savings each year on water costs are between 1000 and 1500.

Capital funding now has a condition that new build or refurbishment projects must attain 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.

When considering that contractors are already on site for a new school or major refurbishment, rainwater harvesting systems are not very costly or difficult to install. They can certainly contribute towards economizing on overall running costs.

by: Marcus Bicknell

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