Home Office Declares Aquaco Grey Water Recycling System a Success!

The grey water recycling system installed by Aquaco (UK) at the Home Office building in Sheffield, England has been declared a great success.

Says Head of Corporate Services Katharine Thompson”: If anyone had an issue with the facilities here, I would be the first to know”.

“In fact I had almost forgotten that there is a grey water system supplying the toilets here, it appears to be just as mains water would be,” says Katherine.

1,100 people work in the 7 floor building known as Vulcan House Steel at Riverside, from where the United Kingdom Border Agency control immigration into the UK. There are 60 toilets, all of which use the grey water system for flushing, supplied by the waste from a similar number of hand basins and by 6 showers. The grey water is combined with rainwater captured by the Aquaco rain water recycling system from the 2,632 square meter roof.

The system comprises a 3,000 litre pre-treatment tank, supplying the unique multi-media filter supplied by Aquaco. It is this filter which is key to the water quality supplied to the system. An 8,000 litre sectional post-treatment tank holds the reserve processed water for flushing toilets and includes main water top ups. The sectional nature of the tank allows for easy maintenance without down time.

Aquaco estimates that water usage and the water rates bill will be 50-70% less than they would be without the combined grey water/rainwater system. Depending on water charges in the area, this normally equates to a payback of 3 to 5 years.

Delivered in September 2007, the system has been running successfully for 2½ years.

Trevor Tomlinson, Facilities Manager of Home Office buildings Sheffield, says: “The system is pretty good. There are absolutely no problems with it and maintenance is minimal.”

The Home Office and its agencies aims to be recognised as a green organisation in the way they do business. Along with other Government departments, the Home Office is pledged to reduce its carbon emissions by 10 per cent in the current year.

Thanks to the automatic back washing routine of the multi-media filter, an Aquaco grey water system can be left alone until its 6 monthly check and service. The unique Aquaco filtration system minimises the use of expensive chemicals and much reduces the footprint of the system.