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Businesses cut water bills by recycling ‘greywater’ with new product

Statistics say that water bills are rising 5.5 per cent each year, for both consumers and businesses – which is why more and more commercial enterprises are considering ‘greywater’ recycling as a way of reducing water bills.

‘Greywater’ is the water that comes from sinks, showers, tubs, and washing machines, which usually contains traces of dirt, food, grease, hair, and certain household cleaning products. Greywater is not water that comes from the toilet or has come into contact with faecal matter from nappies (for example) and the like. In other words, it’s water that appears dirty but is ‘safe’ to use for irrigation purposes – in soil and on plants (as long as there is nothing toxic in the water – bleach, shampoo, bath salts etc.).

Which is great but if you’re running a business it’s not always easy to ensure that chemicals are kept out of the water for the sake of recyclability – especially if you’re running a hotel or B&B, or perhaps managing a care facility, restaurant or hair salon. And if you are able to control what goes down your business sink, maybe you have no garden in which to pump the used water. But there is another way to recycle greywater, other than for irrigation purposes – and that’s to use it in flushing toilets.

Water and heat recycling company Reaqua Systems has a product range that collects waste-water (greywater) from sinks, baths and showers and recycles it for use in flushing toilets – thus reducing water consumption by 30 per cent!

Reaqua Systems’ reAqua Unit takes all greywater waste and redirects it through a compact reAqua filtration unit, treating it with a proprietary disinfectant and then sending it on (via pipe) to supply all flushing water needs for multiple toilets. If one toilet is specified, gravity feed is sufficient. If two or more are connected, an electrically pumped feed is provided within the unit.

And if you feel like saving your business even more money, the reAqua+ Unit not only recycles greywater (thus saving on water bills) but reduces energy bills by recycling heat. The unit recovers the heat from the bath and shower water used, and transfers it to the building’s central heating system. The installation setup is similar, but it includes the addition of a heat exchanger located in the greywater storage tank. Recovered heat is transferred to the cold feed of a combi-boiler or hot water cylinder, reducing demand on the existing central-heating system.

The filter bag and proprietary disinfectant liquid that are installed with the units will need to be replaced annually (under normal circumstances) – which can be done at the same time as an annual service and should cost no more than £20.

With the energy and water recycling, your business is looking a 50 per cent bill reduction, which is a huge money saver!

To find out more about these products, visit Reaquasystems.com and chat to your plumber about installation probability and costs.

For more information, feel free to contact the CH Systems team on 0208 302 8149 or info@chsystems.cc