RAINstar Rainwater Harvesting System

Traditionally, rainwater harvesting systems have been used in arid and semi-arid areas as part of everyday life, to provide drinking water, domestic water, water for livestock, small irrigation and a way to replenish ground water levels. In Ireland and Western Europe, water is fast becoming a valuable commodity. With our growing population and the changing climate, our water resources are under increasing pressure. Vast quantities of water are wasted every day, most of it literally flushed down the toilet.The average household uses approximately 150 litres of water/person/day, only 75 litres (50%) is required to be sterile. The remainder is grey or non-potable water usage, for which unsterilised water is adequate. These figures can be improved upon and with a little care and some simple water conservation techniques, it is often possible to reduce daily consumption to 100 – 120 litres/person.

Approx. 1/3 of all household portable water used, is flushed down the toilet.The roof of an average 4-bed house, can produce up to 100,000 litres of rainwater annually – (UKRHA)In one hour, a garden sprinkler can use the equivalent of two daysʼ water consumption by a family of four a UK Round Table on Sustainable Development.

Commercial water charges are levied on all businesses in the country by the Local Authorities. Large savings can be made by installing a rainwater harvesting system.

Carlow Tanks design & manufacture a range of rainwater harvesting systems for the domestic & commercial markets.

The RAINstar system is supplied to the end user as a plug & play package. It is placed in its final position using the delivery vehicle crane by our fully trained operators, pre- commissioned and ready to go with no hidden costs.

How it works

Rainwater harvesting is the ability to capture grey/non- potable water at the point where it falls and substitute it for mains water, in non-potable applications. The RAINstar rainwater harvesting system collects the run-off from the roof area, via the sealed gutters. The flow is then passed through a series of filters. The first is the leaf filter, which removes leaves, twigs and other light debris. The water flows down into the underground concrete storage tank, through a calmed inlet.

Water is then pumped, via a pressure switch & buffer vessel, to a header tank. This is then gravity fed into separate pipework for non-potable applications – toilets, washing machines, outside tap.

Enroute to the header tank, the harvested rainwater passes through two further filters – the final filter removing the fine sediment, down to 5 microns. In times of heavy rainfall, the RAINstar system is designed to overflow to storm drain via a trapped overflow syphon. If the tank runs empty, the system automatically switches over to the mains water supply. It’s that simple.

Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting

• Can reduce Domestic water consumption by >50%
• Can reduce Commercial water consumption by >75%
• Reduces the volume of surface water to drainage
• Reduces the level of flood risk
• Reduces the demand volume on water from reservoirs
• Ideal for Garden Irrigation – no chlorine
• Reduces the amounts of detergents used in washing
• Ê»Soft Waterʼ can increase lifespan of washing machines
• Ideal for Vehicle Washing
• Commercial Applications will have a Pay-back Period