Potable Water from Rainwater System
Rainwater collected from the roof of the house is pre-filtered via a PURAIN filter and collected in a 10000 ltr tank. The integrated AQUALOOP water treatment system micro filtrates (0.2 micron) the rainwater and transfers it to a separate 500 ltr holding tank. The speed controlled RAINMASTER FAVORIT SC 20 pumping and control unit supplies the house with the micro filtrated rain water and maintains a pre-set pressure in the line. The unit will switch over to mains supply if not enough rainwater is available and back to rainwater if it has rained again, all by itself. Thus only using the mains water supply that is required. No tank top up!
All the potable water supply, regardless if it is filtered rain- or mains water is treated with a UV system, thus eliminating any bacteria or viruses that could enter via the mains supply.
Greywater Recycling System
The bathroom greywater is pre-filtered and collected in a 500 ltr tank. The integrated AQUALOOP System is treating the greywater, breaking down organic compounds, micro filtrates (0.2 microns) the water and transfers it to a seperate 500 ltr holding tank.
A RAINMASTER ECO 10, pumping and control unit, supplies toilets, the washing machine and an outdoor tap with recycled bathroom greywater, thus saving up to 40% on potable water.
This AQUALOOP system is the one of many greywater system in Christchurch , Auckland, Queenstown, Tauranga etc, etc. the only NSF/ANSI 350 Class C certified system on the market.
Membranes have a life expectancy of up to 10 years with minimum maintenance requirements. The system was also tested by the Rainwater Harvesting Centre at Massey University Wellington. It is modular and can be sized from small domestic up to big commercial applications (life style, hotels, motels, camping grounds, swimming centers, laundries, office blocks, gyms etc, etc.).
Capturing rainwater and reusing (treated) greywater will save the owner not only potable water and sewage charges but is also better for the plants they intend to water with it. Benefits for the council are less stress on their infrastructure (storm water, potable water and sewage), less maintenance and less expenses.
]]>This is what we wanted regarding water use in the city. What happened?
Water
Grey water and stormwater collection systems and re-use should be incorporated into new building design.
- Make use of grey water.
- “Grey-water functions as compulsory for all new high-density buildings in the CBD.”
- “Think more than Central City. All new houses should have solar water heating; & rainwater and/or greywater tanks for toilet and garden use.”
- “Grey-water can be used and black water further broken down.”
- “Spacious with balcony and roof garden everywhere using recycle waste water.”
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“I want each house to have a minimum of a 1000-litre drinking water tank, a 30,000-litre tank for garden use, shared between 2 or 3 houses.”
- Make use of stormwater and rainwater.
- “Small rain-gardens behind the kerb to capture some stormwater and provide ‘green pockets’.”
- “Should also contain gardens of some sort so that when it rains then excess water would drain through the garden and can be stored to irrigate those gardens when needed, but to also be used to fill toilets cisterns, etc…”
- “Allow people to store rainwater – this will reduce the peaks of flooding and droughts.”
- “Water collected from roofs for garden watering and green lawns.”
Christchurch’s rivers are the lowest they’ve been in several decades, records show.
Several of the city’s waterways dried up earlier this year, upsetting residents. Months later, some streams remain low and will likely dry up again next year if rain does not arrive.
Environment Canterbury’s (ECan) Christchurch-West Melton zone committee met with the Christchurch City Council on Tuesday to give a monthly report on its work in greater Christchurch.
Recordings from the headwaters of the Avon, Heathcote and Styx rivers showed they were at their lowest levels in 20 to 30 years, the committee said.
Tributaries such as the Waimairi and Wai-Iti streams near Fendalton dried up completely earlier this year. Water levels had dropped in the past, but not to the same extent.
The Christchurch-West Melton zone was one of the “luckier zones”, the committee said, as most of the inflow into the aquifer north-west of the city came from the Waimakariri River. The rest came from rainfall recharge.
ECan surface water science manager Tim Davie said last month’s rainfall levels were “well below” average in the city and groundwater was at a record low.
“To get the amount of groundwater recharge for streams not to dry up next summer we need a very wet late winter and spring.”
Fish and Game North Canterbury manager Rod Cullinane said his organisation was concerned about the low water levels and did not believe low rainfall was the issue.
“We are very much of the view that there’s got to be some link between what we’re seeing in the lack of water in the inner city streams and the irrigation draw off in inland Canterbury,” he said.
“We do not accept ECan’s reasoning that it is simply the result of a lack of rainfall.”
Cullinane, who is running in ECan’s election in October, said he wanted to know why the regional council did not take rainfall levels into account when granting water usage consents.
Climate changes had increased pressure on water supplies, but urbanisation and city water demand took the greatest toll on the city’s waterways, University of Canterbury professor Bryan Jenkins said.
“The more we take out for the Christchurch water supply, the less that will be in the Avon, Heathcote and Styx rivers.”
Jenkins said infrastructure such as roads and roofs prevented stormwater from infiltrating groundwater and recharging aquifers.
He suggested that for streams such as the Waimairi, local solutions could include changing the city’s approach to drainage infrastructure.
Older infrastructure sent stormwater to surface water, preventing recharge of the waterways.
He said caps or regulation on water usage needed to be put in place to decrease pressure on river headwaters.
“The drying reaches of the Waimairi and Wai-iti streams illustrate the complexity of our water resources and the need for both local and regional approaches to their management.”
– Stuff
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