-New? Maybe Start Here
-Get a Quote Now
-Tank Size Calculator

-Rainwater Systems
   -Choose a system
   -Above ground systems
   -Below ground systems
   -Shallow dig systems
   -Direct or Gravity Feed?
   -Just Garden Systems
   -Installation Services

- Rainwater Management
- Tanks and Butts
- Flat Tanks
- Modular Tanks
- Pumps
- Filters and Filtration
- Pipes and Hose
- Pipe & Hose Fittings
- Drainage & Flood
- Handy Accessories
- Wastewater Treatment
- Solar Pumps
- Full Product List
- Information Zone

- How are we doing?

Click on the TV above to watch a Graf video on rainwater harvesting
New video showing assembly of a Graf Carat tank

Download our fitting instructions for the Carat system

Rainwater harvesting - a case history - terrace house in London

RAINWATER HARVESTING

RainWater Harvesting CASE HISTORY

The Eco house at Elephant and Castle, Dick Strawbridge and BBC's "Its Hard to be Green"

The Site
Petite, mid 19th century terrace house at 36 Wansey Street, London SE17 1JP, just south of Elephant and Castle. Undergoing major renovation with eco features, the first of which is rainwater harvesting.

The People
Jay Hayter and Chris Mead are typical young professional Londoners, but then they also have an ambitious streak when it comes to their own house and its renovation. By the time RainWater Harvesting.co.uk delivered their Graf Carat 2700 litre tank kit they had together dug by hand the hole necessary for burying the tank… 2 by 2½ by 2 metres and carted the excess soil off to the dump!

Objectives
Jay and Chris are interested to see whether environmentally-friendly features like solar heating can be built into a terrace house, and what problems have to be overcome. The task is made more poignant by the presence of the camera crew for BBCs Its Hard to be Green presented by Dick Strawbridge for broadcast early in 2009.

Statistics
The 2700 litre tank would not fit through the stairwell of the house, despite the Carat being shipped in two halves only 80 cms wide… they’re 2 metres long. So Chris sweet-talked the neighbours into letting him (and friends) lift the tank halves over four neighbours’ walls to get to his back garden. Their 80 square metre roof will collect about 75,000 litres of water a year, enough for clothes washing, toilet flushing and 150 litres a day of water for the garden. The 2700 litre tank will provide this daily amount of water for a couple of weeks during a drought or hosepipe ban. The cost of the kit including tank, pumps and filter: £1680 including tax and delivery from www.RainWaterHarvesting.co.uk

Results
1) Jay and Chris were able to dig the hole on their own without a digger.
2) They got the tank into the back garden.
3) With a few friends they assembled and installed the tank and plumbed it up.

Cost effectiveness
A home on a water meter will be able to save about 25% of the bill; rainwater replaces half the mains water used, but only half the water bill is for water supply… the rest is for sewage disposal. So if the savings were a few hundred a year then the tank would take 8 to 12 years to amortise at present water prices. But those prices are expected to increase bv 4 to 8 fold over the next 10 years so most buyers of tanks reckon the payback period will be more like 5 to 8 years.

Quotes
Chris sat triumphantly on his tank before covering it over with earth and said to camera "We have been able to install our rainwater
harvesting with no professional help at all. For Jay and me, two people who have got limited DIY skills, this has been achievable. When it comes to electricians, plumbers, plasterers, I’m going to hand that on to somebody else. But I’m really, really pleased that both of us, Jay and I, have dug this hole, we’ve had the confidence knowing that what we’re doing here is right. We can do the work now, then for years and years to come this will be free water every time we flush the toilet, every time we wash our clothes, we know that we can look skywards and we’ll say Thanks. You know; free water! Great. I am over the moon"

For Publishers. Photos and digital movies available. marcus@rainwaterharvesting.co.uk
References
RainWaterHarvesting.co.uk is the UK based supplier of rainwater harvesting systems whose mission has been to make rainwater collection simpler and cheaper for homeowners and contractors.
The system installed by Chris and Jay is the GF- 372001-DUK2 kit which can be seen at www.rainwaterharvesting.co.uk
Marcus Bicknell – marcus@rainwaterharvesting.co.uk
01733 405118
11 November 2008 MB
Case History Wansey Street London Nov08

More case histories

Download this Case History
Home