Owners Very Pleased with Rainwater Harvesting

If you own property in London and are reluctant to fit rainwater harvesting because of the issue in getting a 5000 litre rainwater tank into the back garden through the narrow Victorian doors and hallways. The new generation of tanks that come as two shells,and gets fitted together on site may be your solution.

In the case of Jay Hayter and Chris Mead, typical young professional Londoners, they had such an ambitious streak when it came to their own house and its renovation that by the time their Graf Carat 2700 litre tank kit had been delivered (under #2000 including VAT and delivery) they had together dug by hand the hole necessary for burying the tank... 2 by 2= by 2 metres. They had even carried the excess soil through the house in sacks and off to the dump!

The 2700 litre tank would not fit through the stairwell of the house, despite the Carat being shipped in two halves only 80 cms wide... they're 2 metres long. So Chris sweet-talked the neighbours into letting him (and friends) lift the tank halves over four neighbours' walls to get to his back garden. By themselves, they did the installation and piped it up to the washing machine and toilets.

Their 80 square metre roof will now collect around 75,000 litres of water annually, sufficient for toilet flushing, clothes washing and 150 litres of water daily for the garden. The 2700 litre tank will provide this daily amount of water for a couple of weeks during a drought or hosepipe ban. Jay and Chris are cutting their water bills by half and estimate recouping their investment in 6 to 7 years. Like so many of the sustainable options, this may seem a long term investment but they are delighted.

Jay and Chris are interested to see whether environmentally-friendly features like solar heating can be built into a terrace house, and what problems have to be overcome. This job was more emotional because it was being filmed for the BBC's "It's Not Easy being Green!" presented by Dick Strawbridge for broadcast early in 2009.

Chris sat triumphantly on his tank before covering it over with earth and said to camera:

"We have been able to install our rainwater harvesting with no professional help at all. For myself and Jay, both of us with limited DIY experience, this has been possible. Where plumbers, electricians and plasterers are concerned, I'm happy to pass that on to someone else.

"But I'm really, really pleased that both of us, Jay and I, have dug this hole, we've had the confidence knowing that what we're doing here is right. By doing the work now, we get free water for years and years to come. Each time we flush the toilet and wash our clothes, we are able to look towards the sky and say "Thank you. You know; free water! Great."

"I'm over the moon!"


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Rainwater Harvesting Limited supplies rainwater harvesting storage tanks, pumps, filters and management systems to households and commercial businesses. www.rainwaterharvesting.co.uk is a large information resource offering valuable technical information and advice in addition to 1000s of product specifications. Download the invaluable rainwater harvesting tank size calculator