Institutions

Home Office declares Aquaco grey water recycling system a success!

Says Head of Corporate Services Katharine Thompson”: If anyone had an issue with the facilities here, I would be the first to know”. “In fact I had almost forgotten that there is a grey water system supplying the toilets here, it appears to be just as mains water would be,” says Katherine.

1,100 people work in the 7 floor building known as Vulcan House Steel at Riverside, from where the United Kingdom Border Agency control immigration into the UK.

There are 60 toilets, all of which use the grey water system for flushing, supplied by the waste from a similar number of hand basins and by 6 showers. The grey water is combined with rainwater captured by the Aquaco rain water recycling system from the 2,632 square meter roof.

The system comprises a 3,000 litre pre-treatment tank, supplying the unique Aquaco multi-media filter (below right). It is this filter which is key to the water quality supplied to the system.

An 8,000 litre sectional post-treatment tank holds the reserve processed water for flushing toilets and includes main water top ups. The sectional nature of the tank allows for easy maintenance without down time.

Aquaco estimates that water usage and the water rates bill will be 50-70% less than they would be without the combined grey water/rainwater system. Depending on water charges in the area, this normally equates to a payback of 3 to 5 years.

Delivered in September 2007, the system has been running successfully for 2 ½ years.

Trevor Tomlinson, Facilities Manager of Home Office buildings Sheffield, says: “The system is pretty good. There are absolutely no problems with it and maintenance is minimal.”

The Home Office and its agencies aims to be recognised as a green organisation in the way they do business. Along with other Government departments, the Home Office is pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 10 per cent in the current year.

Thanks to the automatic back washing routine of the multi-media filter, an Aquaco grey water system can be left alone until its 6 monthly check and service.

The unique Aquaco filtration system minimises the use of expensive chemicals and much reduces the footprint of the system.

Midlands Library Grey Water Recycling System

Aquaco has won and is delivering an important contract for a grey water recycling system for a public library in the Midlands.

Aquaco feels that a main strength of its business is in grey water recycling which collects bath, basin and shower water, filters and disinfects, and then recycles the water for use in toilet flushing.

The Midlands system will consist of an 8000 litre underground tank and a 1000 litre break tank. The filtration is carried out by the exclusive multi-media filter supplied by Aquaco together with an ultra violet disinfection system. No chemicals are required to disinfect the water to make it fit for toilet flushing.

The multi-media filter has a small footprint, uses little energy and requires much less maintenance than competitive products.

Grey water treatment can lead to large savings in water consumption resulting in lower water bills.

Rainwater and Grey Water Recycling for the Fire Brigade around the country.

Several sites have been identified for the inclusion of water recycling systems.

Aquaco have successfully supplied, tested and commissioned rain and grey water recycling for a range of applications within the Fire Stations. The applications have been search and rescue, toilet flushing, cleaning, vehicle wash down and general training.