Combined Harvesters 2009 Brochure

Why harvest rainwater ?

The new buzzword that will be heard over the next few years will be 'rainwater harvesting'. We live in an increasingly environmentally aware society, and one that is ever conscious of frugality with regard to our necessary expenses.

Combined Harvesters have amalgamated existing products with new, innovative and exciting systems to provide a 'one stop combined’ approach to the harvesting of natural rain water and the attenuation of storm water. This water is practically chemical free and a great source to irrigate arid gardens, wash outside surfaces, flush toilets, fire fighting applications, building cooling systems etc. And of course there is no burden of guilt during the ever longer periods of water restrictions.

Financial considerations ?

Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECAs) enable a business to claim 100% first-year capital allowance on their spending on qualifying plant and machinery. There are three schemes for ECAs:
Energy saving plant and machinery.
Low carbon dioxide emission cars and natural gas refuelling infrastructure.
Water conservation plant and machinery.
Businesses can write off the whole of the capital cost of their investment against their taxable profits of the period during which they make the investment.
This can deliver a helpful cash flow boost and a shortened payback period.

Water related areas covered by the scheme include:

• Cleaning in place equipment
• Efficient showers
• Efficient toilets
• Efficient washing machines
• Flow controllers
• Leakage detection equipment
• Meters and monitoring equipment
• Rainwater harvesting equipment
• Small scale slurry and sludge dewatering equipment
• Vehicle wash water reclaim units
• Water efficient industrial cleaning equipment
• Water management equipment for mechanical seals
• Efficient membrane filtration systems

A typical payback period for a commercial system is three years.

Environmental considerations ?

In recent years, important changes have taken place in the design philosophy associated with the collection and disposal of stormwater run off. Traditional drainage practice is designed to move rainwater as quickly as possible to a watercourse or river. This is normally achieved via gravity pipelines or culverts. However this approach is now being reviewed because of the following factors:

• The governments latest estimates suggests a twofold increase in the number of house starts each year. This increase in the built environment results in a reduction of permeable surfaces.
• By diverting surface water run-off to piped systems, the ground waterlevels are reduced.
• Existing stormwater drains are becoming increasingly overloaded.
• The difficulty in locating water with the capacity to accept increased flows, without the risk of flooding.
• Surface water run off can contain contaminants such as oil, organic matter and toxic metals. Although often at low levels, culmulatively they can result in poor water quality in rivers and ground water.
• Increasingly extreme weather conditions due to climate change.

Sustainable drainage systems

The philosophy of sustainable drainage systems or SUDS is to mimic as closely as possible the natural drainage from a site before development, and to treat run-off to remove pollutants.
A sustainable drainage system provides several benefits over conventional systems. Correctly designed, installed and maintained, SUDS can improve the management of surface water run-off for most developments.
• Reducing peak flows to watercourse and sewers, reducing flood risk downstream.
• Improving water quality by reducing the levels of silts and pollutants.
• Reducing potable water demand through rainwater harvesting.
• Replicating natural drainage patterns, including the recharge of groundwater.

Infiltration

Infiltration systems store water temporarily. With the potential to provide a cost effective solution to many site drainage problems, they are generally divided in to two categories depending upon whether temporary storage of water takes place above or below ground level.
Above ground infiltration systems utilise natural or artificial surfaces. Their shape and size may vary considerable from near level surfaces to basins and swales that have distinct sloping sides. Typical examples include porous pavements and paviours basins and swales.
Below ground or sub-surface infiltration systems offer temporary storage of surface water below ground level. Conventional soakaways are the most common example, although alternative options include the use of trench style soakaways and infiltration blankets that utilise pipe work over a large plan area for dispersal.

Attenuation

In principal this consists of the temporary storage of surface water in a suitable chamber below ground level. This chamber needs to be of sufficient size to accommodate the calculated run off during peak periods of rainfall. The stored water is then gradually released in a controlled manner into a surface water or combined drainage system, or watercourse, subsequently eliminating the risk of flooding.

Traditional methods of attenuating flows include the use of tanks and oversized pipes to create the storage chamber with outlets being controlled by downstream throttles, orifice plates, hydraulic controls or valves.

Increasingly, as existing sewer networks approach their capacity, attenuation systems offer a cost effective solution for accommodating additional catchments without increasing the size of existing sewers.

It is now commonplace on brownfield developments for sewerage undertakers to limit additional flow into existing sewers to a level equivalent to that of the original run-off. In these situations an attenuation device will be required.

• Infiltration and attenuation reduce the quantity of water requiring conveyance in any piped system downstream of the development and decrease the flow in stormwater sewers the risks of discharge from overflows in combined sewer systems.

• Infiltration may be used where there is no convenient existing storm drainage system to which connection can be made.

• By controlling stormwater close to source, infiltration and attenuation drainage reduces the hydrological impact of urbanisation.

• Infiltration and attenuation may be used where existing piped systems or treatment works are near or at capacity loading.

• Infiltration can be used to enhance recharge to groundwater in situations where the quality of stormwater runoff does not pose a threat to groundwater quality.

• Construction is normally simple and rapid.

• Whole-life costs may be less than for alternative systems

It should be also noted that;

• The performance of infiltration systems depends on the properties of the soil in which they are constructed

• Field tests are necessary in order to determine infiltration coefficients for design purposes.

• Water table must be known.

Rainwater harvesting

A relatively new concept, rainwater harvesting is the storage of stormwater discharge locally for re-use in non-potable applications such as garden irrigation, toilet flushing etc.

With the increasing demand for drinking water as a result of high density housing and commercial development, rainwater harvesting is seen as a potential solution for overcoming water shortages. It is widely considered that this may well be the subject of future legislation.

What regulatory requirements are there for rainwater harvesting systems?

There are currently no direct building regulations for rainwater harvesting. However, drainage is covered by the Building Regulations and can influence rainwater harvesting system design such as soakaway or city drain connections for tank overflow. Several other associated regulations apply; In England and Wales the Water Supply Regulations 1999 (Water by-laws 2000 in Scotland and Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002) must be adhered. These regulations are enforced by the water supplier. The essential requirements of the regulations specific to rainwater harvesting are; (1) no cross bonding of rainwater piping with potable supply pipes (2) prevention of backflow to potable water supplies according to CEN EN1717 or air gaps type AA/AB/AC etc (3) the clear marking of rainwater pipes according to WRAS # 9-02-05 and (4) material specifications, where contact with wholesome water is permissible meet the prevailing approved list.
What is unique about Combined Harvesters systems?

Combined Harvesters have a focus on direct systems with factory built appliances enabling simple and fast installation. End user maintenance is reduced and whole life costs are lower. The PE and PP tank ranges have smooth internal surfaces that are easy to clean during long term maintenance. Using high performance multi-stage pressure pumps built into factory assembled and tested appliances long term reliability is assured and the need to enter the tank for pump maintenance is eliminated.
We offer a highly efficient, experienced and committed service to all our clients alike from project conceptions to completion and beyond.

 

Our main range of products center around the following categories, here you will find all individual products, prices and our online shop-:

Rain Water Harvesting Above Ground, Rain Water Harvesting Below Ground, Storm Water Management SUDS, RainCatcher, Commercial Systems, Waste Water Tanks Filters and Diverters, Water Pumps Hoses and Fittings, Water Butts, Grey Water Systems, Garden Irrigation, General Accessories, Geo Textile Membranes, Drains, Covers and Pipes, Fuel Storage Tanks, Green Roof, Spray Guard.

Our product range comes from suppliers in the uk, germany and the rest of the world, locally / UK sourced whereever possible. Our range of products and systems are explained deeper in their relative pages as listed below-:

Rain Water Tanks : above ground rain storage tanks, below ground storage tanks, garden tanks, above ground full rainwater harvesting systems.

Water Butts. : from manufacturers such as rainsaver, rain catcher, cloudburst, oak barrels, raincatcher, garden lake, garden river, gardena.

Rain Filters and Diverters : rainsaver diverter, sankey diverter, raincatcher diverter, optimax filter, patronen filter, minimax filter, universal 3 filter and filter packages.

Storm Attenuation / SUDS : storm crates, waterloc, marley, wavin plastics, geotextile membranes, visquene membranes.

Pump Packages : eco plus, home pro, graf, 3p technic, karcher, ebara, gardena, presscomfort.

Hose pipes : hozelock, gardena, kingfisher, hose pipes, leaky pipe, pourus pipe, compression fittings, connectors, connections for any pump made up tp suit your requirments

Garden Irrigation / Watering : irrigation systems, sprinklers, leaky pipe, gardena pipe, drip pipe, timers, water controls.

Spray Guard Tank Cleaner : sprayguard is a stable aqueous solution used to treat surfaces/materials in order to provide a durable microbiostatic finish

Rain Catcher Flush for Free Tank : raincatcher 700 litre tank with fully automatic controls to flush your toilets, run your washing machine, run a garden tap... etc.

AquaGrey - Grey Water Filter : aquagrey water filter to filter your bath / shower water into any tank ready for use in the home / garden.

Geo Textile Membranes : weedex, g90, g1000, g2000, g3000, japenese knotweed, envirotrak, hypex, landscape, garden, pavetex, ponderlay, butyl rubber, pinnacle, joining tape.

Recessed Man Hole Covers : full range of recessed man hole covers available in almost any size.

Silt Traps and Backflow Protection : we also offer various silt traps and back flow protection products. silt traps can be made to suit your requirements so please ask us for a price

Grey Water Systems : grey water systems from a simple water butt with attached grey water filter to a system that collects rain & grey water and uses that water to flush toilets / run washing machine and outside tap.

 

If you dont find what you need here please click the link below to access our 2009 Brochure or give us a call on 0151-334-8655 for more information.

Combined Harvesters 2009 Brochure