System design

There are very few building types that will not benefit from the use of some form of large scale water saving technology and we at Aquality have been involved in designing systems for virtually every type of building imaginable.

With such a wide variety of building types and uses, Aquality would look at each project individually and work with the designer or contractor to provide the most cost effective system to meet the specific requirements of the building.

Rainwater Harvesting would generally be the first technology to be investigated in the commercial sector as many of these types of buildings will produce enough water from the roof alone to make the technology a viable alternative to mains water supply only.

However, the ever more popular use of Greywater Recycling technology (often combined with Rainwater Harvesting) will often be a very cost effective long term strategy in buildings that will produce a larger than normal quantity of Greywater (from baths, showers and wash basins) thus greatly minimising the quantity of mains water taken to carry out tasks such as toilet flushing, laundry, irrigation and, in the case of some factories, water for process requirements that do not require a potable standard water.

There are some very practical and obvious drivers for the use of Rainwater Harvesting or Greywater Recycling:

• will attract point scoring under BREEAM for Pol1 and Wat1
• will reduce sewer flows especially rainwater harvesting
• will greatly reduce the building’s overall water cost throughout its lifetime.
• will allow the building to demonstrate its environmental credentials with the general public
• can provide a very quick and efficient payback
• can assist in aiding the planning process

There are other technologies that are worth investigating for certain types of projects such as condensate re-use, cooling tower bleed off water re-use, car/truck or train wash water recycling.

In order to design the most efficient system Aquality will look into opportunities to combine the system with surface water management measures and other adjacent technologies such as fire-fighting.

Virtually all building schemes have a requirement for SuDS whether this is green infrastructure or grey, or mixture of both at Aquality we can offer expertise in designing schemes that offer clients water efficiency and improved flood control, and we can also assist in optimising the performance of existing drainage infrastructure by the retrofitting  of real time controls.

The use of Real Time Controls offered through Aqua Storm Control offer an exciting and a game changing evolution in SuDS management. We are now able to utilise the attenuation capacity on any site to offer rainwater harvesting capability, whilst improving flood control and water quality. At Aquality we are able to offer design and installation services to make this a reality.

Aquality  also offer surface water treatment systems that allow hard surface areas e.g. car parks, to be used for non-potable re-use, our team of engineers will be able to offer design advice on the sizing and selection of the appropriate treatment system.

The stormwater attenuation system is a key component in any SuDS system, the vast majority of which are below ground structures. If thee tank is being used for re-use purposes, or for long detention periods  not only will they need to be structurally robust but will also require good access for inspection and maintenance. Aquality can offer advice on the selection of a range of  water storage tanks  dependent on site conditions.