The Rainmaster Multi is one of the most flexible systems available on the market and is ideal for medium to large premises, is easy to install, allows for easy expansion of capacity and is highly energy efficient.

Contact Butler Manufacturing Services Ltd. for more information

The Agrement certified BMS Stormbreaker is a class leading Irish designed and manufactured water/rainwater/stormwater attenuation/infiltration system.  It is far stronger than any other product available on the market and therefore can be installed a lot deeper.  It has a 94% void, can be installed in half the time of other older sytems and can be transported in half the space of older traditional systems due to being able to be stacked in an intertwining manner.

The strength of the Stormbreaker means a number of things in practice:

It can be used as a single layer under permeable paving.

It is perfect for tighter urban areas where there is a restriction on horizontal attenuation/infiltration space as it can be installed far deeper and therefore will yeild far more water holding space than other systems.

It requires less cover than other systems.

It can also be used as a quick installation single house soakaway by combining with a suitable textile surround as is the law in England now, to help prevent events such as the devastating flash flooding recently in Dublin.

BMS is a ‘one stop shop’ for all attenuation/infiltration requirements from design to installation.  If you would like to know more please visit our website or contact us.

‘Ever home or business should have their flood defence’

Contact Butler Manufacturing Services for more information

In summary, Wash water recyling is a great investment as it begins to pay itself off from the first wash:

1. Slashes your commerical water rate bills

2. Negates the need for a discharge license and associated costs

3. Allows your car wash to continue operating even when water conservation measures are in force.

Contact BMS for all your wastewater and surfacewater needs.

Latest reports in the Irish media are that under the terms of the recent deal with the IMF that metered water rates will be introduced in Ireland in the next two years.  Now is the time to think about installing a rainwater harvesting system before the inevitable rush that will take place close to the introduction of rates.  The link to an article in the Irish Independent below gives more details.

Irish Independent Article @ Water bills in 2013 even if meters aren’t ready’

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith has confirmed that an €8 Million Rainwater Harvesting Schemes will open for applications on Tuesday 1 March 2011.

“The €8 million Rainwater Harvesting Scheme will also provide grant-aid at a standard grant-rate of 40 per cent up to a maximum grant level for the installation of rainwater collection tanks and ancillary items. The Minister said: “This scheme will reduce water costs on farms and I would urge those farmers who currently have a high level of water usage on their farms to examine closely the options for grant-aid which will be available under the Scheme.”

We can provide a solution to help you slash your water rate bills at Butler Manufacturing Services.  Please do not hesitate to contact us.

Link to full announcement

If your water supply let you down during the cold snap, rainwater harvesting is a solution, which will help to ensure a continuous supply of water during the next cold spell.  A suitably insulated rainwater harvesting tank with a heating element will prevent the water in your tank from freezing and thus allows continuous supply of water to your house or business.  In business’ that produce a high amount of greywater i.e. water from washing, from sinks, showers or baths, greywater recycling provides a means by which the grey water is recycled for use for non-potable purposes e.g. toilet flushing, which can account for 50% or greater of water use in a house or business.  If you are interested in finding out more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

This is perhaps the most difficult section to write on as it is subject to many different parameters and different pump types.  The obvious function of the pump is to move the rainwater stored in your tank to the appliance in your house/premises that needs water e.g. a toilet is flushed and then refilled with rainwater via the pumping system.

The size of the pump required depends on a number of factors but in general terms is determined by:

1. The maxium distance from the tank that the rainwater needs to be pumped

2. The maxium height difference between the rainwater tank and appliance

3. The rate at which the rainwater needs to be supplied

4. The size and type of pipe through which the rainwater is being pumped

The supply of rainwater can be either by direct pressure, which is common in new builds or in Europe or via gravity by pumping the rainwater to the header tank.

Determining pump size for gravity systems is more straightforward as there is one set pumping distance.  However, it is more difficult for direct pressure systems and will often have to be undertaken by an Engineer or Rainwater Havesting System supplier especially for premises with roof areas in excess of 100m2.

Obviously a large direct pressure system will require pumps of a considerable size.  For example, the BMS Rainmaster Dual-Pump System uses two large pumps which ‘cycle’ or turn on/off alternatively.  At peak loads they both pump together.  On the other hand, for a small premises a single small pump will suffice.

The BMS Rainmaster Eco, which is designed for single houses or equivalent, contains a membrane pump, which is ideal due to its low power consumption, reliability and aqequate pumping pressure.

In conclusion, when choosing a rainwater harvesting system, pumps should be of the correct size, energy efficent, reliable and have a high quality control system.  The Control system is the ‘brains’ behind a rainwater havesting system and will be the subject of the next article in this series.

Tommy Butler Butler Manufacturing Services (BMS) Ltd.

Rainwater in a tank is cleanest at the top of the tank.  This is because any fine sediment still remaining in the rainwater after passing through the jump filter will naturally fall towards the bottom of the tank over time in a calmed rainwater tank system.  This is the reason for the calming pot.

As already discussed a natural small layer of sediment will build up over time at the bottom of a tank.  This means that extracting water from the bottom of tank is inadvisable.  A simple device accomplishes the extraction of rainwater from the top of the tank.  This is a floating filter set or in the case of BMS’ products a floating suction filter set.  It consists of a float and filter connected to a suction line, which sits on top of the rainwater and thus extracts rainwater from the just below the top rainwater level.  The rainwater is further cleaned by passing through a coarse or fine filter, which means that the rainwater is now ready to pumped to the required appliances such as toilets or washing machines and is virtually free of sediment.  For other purposes such as body hygiene further treatment is required to kill any microbial contamination usually via Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection.  This will be discussed in more detail on the next article in this series.

Tommy Butler Butler Manufacturing Services (BMS) Ltd.

Following on from the hydraulic jump or leaf filter is a small but important component of rainwater harvesting tank and filtration system, namely the calming pot.  Rainwater that passes through the filter is funnelled down via an appropriately sized pipe to the calming pot, which is located at the bottom of the rainwater harvesting tank, where the flow of the rainwater is then directed upwards.  This is for two main reasons, it prevents the fine layer of sediment that naturally builds up on the bottom of rainwater harvesting tank from being disturbed and secondly it allows the rainwater to slowly percolate upwards thus preventing the rainwater from becoming stagnant and allows any fine particles to settle out.  An example of a calming pot can be seen below:

The sediment layer at the bottom of the tank will not affect the quality of rainwater as all rainwater is taken from the top of the tank where the water is cleanest, the sediment layer may actually have a small beneficial biological cleansing effect.

Next up in the component series is floating suction set.

If you have any questions or queries just leave me a message and I will get back to you.

Tommy Butler www.butlerms.com