Architect uses grey water to flush toilets
Architectural practice David Morely expects to reduce its water consumption by up to 30% following the installation of a system to recycle shower water to flush two toilets. The reAqua system collects water from showers that were installed as part of a campaign to encourage staff to cycle to work, and uses it to flush toilets on the floor below.
Available from Reaqua Systems, the concept is suitable for retrofits and new builds and designed for use in residential, commercial and municipal properties.
Water collected from the showers is filtered and automatically treated with a disinfectant before it is stored in a tank, from which it can be pumped to flush toilets throughout a building.
An optional feature of the system enables heat to be extracted from the greywater for feeding into the central-heating system. About half of the heat can be reclaimed.
Stephen Bates, CEO of Reaqua, suggests that re-using grey water makes possible considerable water savings without unpopular measures such as flow restrictors that deliver disappointingly low flow rates from showers.
