Any simplified rainwater designs for loo's nowadays?

[Mr Gus]

I asked about these types of toilet / sink systems a few years ago "elsewhere" there was nothing really coming up at the time, so this is either progress or an excuse for house builders to build the smallest room even smaller.

Clearly you wouldn't want to do your teeth in a sink like that, but it could be the beginnings of making the loo separate to the bathroom for a busy household within modern taller town house design once more.

"the cludgie under the stairs"

Or for smaller terraced houses (very commonplace nowadays) the layout tends to be front door into hall & downstairs loo / shower room off to the side, time for builders to sort this out, even if its a above ground tank, filter pump enclosure, would all go a long way to easing water contention issues within the uk.

1000 litre fill tank off the gutters would likely give 10-14 days flushing without using the water mains from full to empty.

WTF are building companies getting away with not improving the situation? they are allowed to sh** on communities by bolting on hundreds to 1000+ homes which affects both localised electrical supply & water pressure, ..just think of the buying power they have, as we are oft quoted by government "bringing the price of technology down & normalising it as a commodity" Solar thermal / ASHP / PV et al.

So here is the ideal opportunity.

& why don't local councils make building companies do this as part of the land steal-deal or does climate mitigation not count for owt compared to "speed humps" ?

Any european countries making the progress with home building that we are not which we ought to mirror?

[Joeboy]

Out of interest, how much does it cost in England for say 1 cubic mtr of domestic water to home? I'd do it for the green aspect but for sure if it was costing me.

[Mr Gus]

The "return" of investment for water harvesting is slow if it is all purely fiscal.
However it is nigh on a constant, much the way we perceive solar, once up it is simply ticking over.

Therefore if it is installed as a housing estate go's up (no expensive retrofitting) you get there sooner.
If it is above ground then it gets confusing as capacity sometimes is cheaper to go larger

For instance.

https://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/water-ta ... sting/c874

[Bugtownboy]

Out of interest, how much does it cost in England for say 1 cubic mtr of domestic water to home? I'd do it for the green aspect but for sure if it was costing me.

For us, a m³ costs approx £3.60. Just over £2 for the water, £1.60 for the calculated effluent/discharge.

Obviously doesn’t take into account standing charge.

This is with Wessex Water.

I’ve never understood why grey water collection is not part of new build, especially given the impact of paving over, usually ex-farmland, has on flood potential.

Considering we have so much good quality water to begin with, we make a right mess of using it sensibly.

[Mr Gus]

I've wondered why property border fencing isn't combined with water storage, (with a wooden cladding) keeps it slim & durable, not likely to fall over in the wind ..a good thing for the majority would also help with encouraging undersoil drip watering uptake for lawns & plant beds.

[nowty]

Out of interest, how much does it cost in England for say 1 cubic mtr of domestic water to home? I'd do it for the green aspect but for sure if it was costing me.

My mains water cost with Southern Water is currently about £3.30 per cubic meter (1000 litres) of water if you include the sewage element. Its taken me about 7 years to break even on my initial investment. But most of the infrastructure, like the underground tank and the internal house plumbing will last a lifetime. Interestingly when I installed it I would not have saved anything as I was not metered on water, but that came in compulsory soon after I installed it so I was not expecting any pay back at all.

But I do have some ongoing costs and maintenance. I've burnt out three pressure pumps because the tank ran dry, my own fault as I should have installed a cut out sensor. I now have and its already saved me two more potential pump burn outs.

Maintenance (like once every 2 or 3 years) I need to pump out the build up of silt from the bottom of the tank. Also my small 12V DC submersible transfer pump from the water source to the tank silts up every few months so it sometimes needs to be removed and the pump and pipes purged out. Its a quick easy job but can be a pain in the middle of winter.

[Tinbum]

I'm putting in rain water harvesting for my new house but I can't see it ever saving me money. Water really isn't that expensive (£1.43m3) but we average 530lt day.Inc everything that's 84p per day. We are metered but are not connected to the sewer system so pay no waste charges. I've always wanted to do it and over the years have picked up 3 new underground tanks cheap. I'm planning on doing the plumbing myself so adding another set of cold water pipework isn't going to cost much.

[Mr Gus]

It may not be expensive but it was a publicly owned commodity that was sold off, so it is profitable & in the hands of investment companies et al, who pretty much dictate what the consumer will pay in regard to profits that the investors wish to see annually, ie it could go up considerably at any given time.

If we can re-use the water then we should & it should be the norm not the exception to the rule.
There is a big noise about manufacturing to the grave emissions from everything, housing should be in the minds of others in the same manner, but it isn't.

[renewablejohn]

Out of interest, how much does it cost in England for say 1 cubic mtr of domestic water to home? I'd do it for the green aspect but for sure if it was costing me.

If your lucky like us it costs zero upto 20 m3 per day.

[nowty]

Out of interest, how much does it cost in England for say 1 cubic mtr of domestic water to home? I'd do it for the green aspect but for sure if it was costing me.

If your lucky like us it costs zero upto 20 m3 per day.

And me, 20,000 litres per day is the Environment Agency limit before you need to pay for a licence.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-yo ... ract-water

I have saved 452,562 litres in around 10 years for flushing loos and garden irrigation, I reckon I just about break even on it financially.