Environmental & Water Saving

Environmental & Water Saving Solutions.

Water Saving Solutions.
The simplest way to cut down our water consumption is to use less of it. Simple,you may think,  but in practice it can be almost impossible to manage. Different people have different habits; care homes use more water than the equivalent apartment building population, holiday parks tend to use more water than the equivalent sized housing estate. Some prefer baths rather than showers. Add to this the ongoing battle between pressure, flow and the perception of individuals and you are in a mine field.

What is the solution? 
Minimise losses at every available opportunity, repair leaking pipes and tanks as quickly as possible. Turn the pressure down if you can. This is a commonly used tactic by the water authorities to minimise losses particularly leaks. At the point of use, if you have good flow, use a pressure reducing valve (PRV) to reduce the pressure. Water-less solutions are good particularly in toilet facilities along with sensor operated valves but must be maintained. Rainwater harvesting is also an extremely good way to put rainwater to good use. Good systems will allow you to flush toilets and even do the washing with the rainwater (after it has been filtered and treated correctly). If you have stormwater pumping systems, this could be redirected and used to irrigate golf courses or gardens. Often though, rainwater harvesting systems can be difficult to retrofit (but not impossible) so bear this in mind. In retrofit cases, the return on investment may be so long that it is deemed not worth it and spending the money on other water saving methods would give a better ROI.

Water Leak Detection.
Some sub-surface leaks become obvious very quickly. the dead give-away is that it hasn't rained for a while yet the ground is still wet or there is a puddle. Not so easy to find on a concrete or asphalt surface or indeed where the water has migrated below ground to an area where the soil is less dense and the actual water main is some way away. Constant running water in sewers and drains can either be ground water infiltration (not good) or a water main that has burst and the water again found its way into the sewer network. In either case there is a need for sub surface leak detection. Our system, like many others, utilises sensitive microphones and gives us a visual representation of where the leak is. We can then pinpoint the problem and assist you in getting it resolved.

Please note that there are literally hundreds of products, tips and tricks for saving water but be careful. Not allowing excess water to leave your property could cause more headaches than benefits, flooding being one of the biggest threats. If you have a specific requirement or an idea that may save water, please call us and we will assist you in your endeavours' wherever we can. 

Energy Efficiency.

Individuals and companies alike are all striving to achieve a lower carbon footprint, become more energy efficient and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Water use is also a hot topic and along with minimising leakage from systems, the careful use and monitoring of this precious resource is key. 


How does this apply to pumps and control systems?

Did you know that most pumps running traditional pump control pressure switches are mostly over-sized? It’s true. The reason for this is that the pump set was sized for the maximum demand anticipated by the end user. In reality, the system will rarely get used to its maximum and therefore the energy used running pumps at this level is wasted as heat. It is, more importantly wasted money out of your budget. Modern pump sets, particularly water booster sets utilise variable speed drives or inverters to control the speed of the pump motor according to demand. A motor running at half speed invariably uses 8 times less energy than a motor running at full speed. That alone is a huge saving in energy bills. Of course, other advantages are in the form of less wear and tear on the equipment, lower noise levels and reduction in water hammer for example.

Stormwater pumping stations are also often over-sized at design stage. Again, this is due to anticipated rainfall levels in a particular area i.e. flash flooding 1 in 10 or 1 in 100 flash storms. For 90% of the year, the pumping station need not run at full capacity to cope with the incoming stormwater, it simply needs to keep up with the inflow. This will reduce the wear on the pumps, reduce the overwhelming of already full storm drains and reduce the energy consumed. If the water inflow to the pumps becomes excessive due to a storm, a modern control system will speed the pumps up to deal with the inflow and slow them down again once the storm has subsided or is over. 

Sewage pumping stations do have the same issues with over-sizing but can become troublesome if the motors are slowed down particularly with grinder, cutter or chopper pumps that rely on the torque of the motor for efficient shredding of the effluent. It is not that it cannot or should not be done in any circumstances, quite the reverse, but it is critical that this is done correctly otherwise problems and breakdowns will result. 

Another commonly over-sized pump system is that of circulator pumps, in particular, swimming pool filtration pumps. Commonly these pumps run at full speed all of the time circulating the pool water through the filters. In normal daily use this would be correct but when there is no filtration demand, for example, during the night, the filtration pumps can be slowed down and still keep pool cleanliness up to scratch. These are a few examples of energy saving that are possible. 

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