Aquaco delivers grey water system.

20 Fenchurch Street is a skyscraper under construction at 20 Fenchurch Street in London. It has been nicknamed the Walkie-Talkie because of its bulbous top. Upon completion in summer 2014 the building will be 160 m (525 ft) tall, with 36 storeys and will dominate the London skyline.

Costing over £200 million, it will feature a highly distinctive, top-heavy form which appears to burst upward and outward. A large viewing deck and 'sky gardens' will be included on the top floor.

668,926 square feet of first class city space will be leased.

All 542 W.C's and 172 urinals will be supplied with grey water from the Aquaco multi-media grey water filtration system. Proven in many other iconic buildings such as Nomura Bank, Angel Place, The Home Office Building, Sheffield, and The Intercontinental Hotel, Amman, Jordan, the system will capture the grey water from hand basins and showers.

A pre-tank of 5,000 litres supplies the Aquaco multi-media filtration system at a controlled rate and a post- tank of 20,000 litres will store the filtered and sterilised water ready for use. The tank is divided into two compartments so that it can be serviced without interrupting supply.

The system is specified to provide 26,400 litres per day. The Aquaco multi-media filter will process 5,000 litres per hour, allowing time for automatic backwashing and providing for peak demand periods.

Aquaco engineers will install, connect and commission the system in 2013.

Aquaco has delivered a combined grey water recycling and rainwater harvesting system to the new Co-operative Group head office in Manchester close to its current complex on Miller Street and Corporation Street. It is due to open in summer 2012 and it will add a striking new landmark to the city’s skyline.

The 15 storey building will be home to more than 3,000 employees working across the Group’s businesses and “the building will be the biggest single expression of The Co-operative’s values and will be outstanding in its environmental commitment to tackling climate change”.

Aquaco’s combined system includes a 70,000 litres underground rainwater tank topping up the multi-media grey water system which is processing 20m3 per day. The recycled water is finally boosted to appliances via a UV disinfection unit.

Aquaco is installing a 2,000 litres per day underground membrane bio-reactor grey water recycling system at the new Materials Recovery Facility in Southwark, London.

In line with the agreed requirements of the 25-year waste management contract with Southwark Council, Veolia Environmental Services has built and will operate and maintain a Materials Recovery Facility and a Mechanical Biological Treatment plant at the old gasworks site on the Old Kent Road.

Veolia is “committed to supporting and working with the local community towards a greener future for the borough”.

The grey water system will recycle water from the Resource Centre section of the complex and includes an Aquaco Master Control Unit to manage the recycled water demand and mains water top-up.

This 5 star Intercontinental Hotel has 440 bedrooms. The building has been designed in three sections and two of these, containing 310 bedrooms were
connected during phase 1 of the water recycling programme, in January 2010.

The plant consists of a 21,000 litre pretank and a 21,000 litre post tank. At the heart of the system is an Aquaco Multi-Media filter rated at 9 cubic meters per hour with automatic back-wash based on a timer. The Aquaco Master Control Unit controls the flows throughout the system. The equipment is mounted on a skid 1200mm X 1200mmX 2000mm high. This small footprint is due to the very high efficiency of the Aquaco filtration system.

The customer ordered an additional carbon filter capable of processing 18 cubic metres per hour. This is not essential as the Aquaco Multi-Media filter will do all that is required, but the Intercontinental required the very best possible solution. Aquaco does recommend a carbon filter if the grey water is to be used for laundry and by connecting to the laundry, the carbon filter will be paid for in a very short time.

Filtered and sterilised water is pumped into the hotel water system using a booster pump set.

Says hotel manager Mr Ana Al-Emleh "After the first two weeks of settling in, it has not been possible to tell that the water is recycled and is not fresh water."

The consultant engineers specified both chlorine dosing and ultra-violet sterilisation as a 'belt and braces' approach, mainly due to the warm weather in the Middle East. This is an approach which many other customers in the Middle East have taken.

Mr Mohammad Baidas, Technical Manager of Modern Contractors Ltd who installed the system says: "It was the first grey water system to be installed in Jordan and therefore a very exciting project.
We chose Aquaco from three possible suppliers after discussions with the consulting engineers and the investors. The Aquaco system produces very high quality water, higher than the standards which we have here in Jordan."

When showing the system to Aquaco Chairman Graham Webster, Mr Baidas added that he particularly liked the straight forward design of the Aquaco Master Control Unit.

"This means that if a part fails we can replace it here in Jordan not have to go back to the UK for it", he said.

"I would say that, if the water is used correctly, the payback should be about 5-7 years", said Mr Baidas.

After the successful run in period of 18 months, Mr Baidas says that he plans to connect the remainder of the hotel and the laundry, to obtain an even greater return for his customer.

Says a delighted Mr Baidas "We have crystal clear water which was more than the client expected. He was so happy when we operated the system. From the first time we operated the system no-one knew there was a grey water system."

New Nomura building water recycling system passes the test of time.

One Angel Lane, the iconic new European headquarters of Nomura in the City of London, has a comprehensive grey water and rainwater water combined system providing 100% of water for toilet flushing on the first five floors of this eleven floor building.

Installed by Aquaco in June 2008, the system is working to the full satisfaction of the client. Nomura staff say that they are entirely happy with system, and some were not even aware that the water for WC’s had been recycled.

The roof of the Nomura building is 3,000 square metres and provides an annual average of circa 2 million litres of rainwater.

The grey water system is supplied from showers and hand basins to 60 W.C.’s. The recycling of grey water provides 80% of the required water for WC and urinal flushing and, when topped up with rainwater, saves approximately 50% of the water on the floors where the system is installed saving some £28,000 a year.

This represents a two year payback on the original investment in the Aquaco water recycling system.

Grey Water is captured in a 6,000 litre pre-treatment tank, from where it is pumped at a controlled flow rate of up to 18m³/hr through the Aquaco multi-media filter system. The filter is kept clean by the automatic backwash system.

The rainwater, having passed through a leaf filter, joins the grey water in the 18,000 litre post-treatment tank.

The entire system is controlled by the unique Aquaco Master Control Unit with integrated booster pump, mains water top-up system, supply pump sets and a 100 litre expansion vessel. The Unit supplies treated water direct to appliances throughout the first five floors of the building where over half of the 4,000 Nomura employees are accommodated.

The water recycling system is one of several eco-friendly initiatives by Nomura International which include a Sedum covered roof, server reorganisation to reduce power usage, recycling stations in place of desk bins, 1.4 kilometres of LED lighting and over 1,000 water cooled desks.

Click here to view a copy of the press article