Rain water harvesting reduces the amount of water used from the mains and therefore will reduce the cost of metered water.
Rain water harvesting is the collection of water which would otherwise literally go down the drain. Although the collected water is not suitable for drinking it can still be utilised around the homes and in businesses.
Rain water harvesting is, of course, heavily reliant on rainfall which means that the volume collected can not be guaranteed to meet demand. However this need not be a problem, as it would in any case be supplementary to mains water usage. There are effectively two types of rain water harvesting systems.
The first is where water is used for domestic purposes such as toilet flushing.
The second is where water is used for gardening and other outdoor uses.
If the water is used inside the building the water is usually collected in an underground tank after running down drainpipes and being filtered to remove leaves and debris. This water can then be used for washing machines or toilet flushing without any further treatment.
The typical cost of installing a rain water harvesting system is approximately £2,500 so, due to the relatively low water costs in the UK, is often not economic for single dwellings, particularly as the roof area may not be sufficient to provide enough water to meet demand.
Larger scale projects such as industrial buildings or commercial properties however are likely to see significant savings.
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