Janet's water-saving information

One member of the Eco House Group has sent me some practical information about her experiences of fitting water-saving devices in her home.

An alternative to getting a new low flush loo, or using the simple brick or hippo in the cistern is to fit a variable flush device to the existing toilet.

Janet says 

"The variable flush device is called Interflush. It has a website: http://www.interflush.co.uk/.  

I also found the following:

http://www.mygreenerhome.co.uk/water-savers-5/interflush-toilet-water-saving-device-1.html

http://blog.ooffoo.com/blogs/2009/03/06/Review-The-Interflush-a-flush-inhibitor/

It says a competent DIY person should be able to fit it, though I had a builder do it.  So far, there have been no problems with it, though I think the builder said it needed some careful adjustment. 

It appears to come in 2 versions: £14.95, with installation tools, and £12.95 without the tools (for the 2^nd toilet you can use the same tools again).  We still have the box with the tools - If anyone wants to borrow the tools, they’d be welcome.  There is a screw driver, 2 other things that look like tools, plus what appear to be some parts that weren’t needed and the instructions.

We now also have a ‘grey water’ system for that toilet, which uses mainly rainwater water collected from our roof and drive.  (The plumber calls it grey water, as it could be contaminated, and has labelled all the pipes accordingly).  We have mains backup using a tank with 2 ball valves.  The plumber advised having the mains valve on a trickle to avoid things seizing up during long periods when not using it.  So far (since late Autumn) the stored rainwater has held out but I suspect we’ll need mains sometimes in the summer."

1890s Extensively renovated West Bridgford semi

This was the UK's first radical retrofit of a hard-to-treat home - an 1890s Victorian semi in West Bridgford. Nottingham Ecohome has been running 11 years. Owners Penney Poyzer and Gil Schalom are acknowledged as pioneers of domestic radical eco retrofit. Both Penney and Gill have presented lectures on eco-retrofit and had students writing dissertations on their story, and have occasional Open Days. See the Nottingham Ecohome Website for more info.

Heating and Power
Heat exchange, Solar Hot water, Energy smart meter
House central heating and hot water system runs on waste wood biomass boiler
Solar thermal is used for summer heating
Single room Heat recovery devices.

Insulation
There is external insulation to side and back of house. Internal insulation to the front.
The external and internal insulation overlap relative to each other, to reduce cold bridging.
Floors and attic conversion are highly insulated.

Other green features
Vegetable garden, Water Harvesting, Water saving devices, Lexin Panels
A sewage catchment and composting system was tried, but abandoned in 2006.

A fuller list of features is on the website of the house:
List of Features: http://www.msarch.co.uk/ecohome/feature.html
Details of the renovation: http://www.msarch.co.uk/ecohome/tour.html

Ways to Save Water

The 4th in a series of events held at South Notts College in Ruddington focused on saving water in the home. Here is a short summary of the talks, and some useful facts are listed below. It’s a big topic so just a small selection included here.

Tina Holt gave an overview. In summary, water-saving habits really make a huge difference in the amount of water consumed in the home. Hot water has a much higher carbon footprint than cold water (about 5 times higher), so cut your heating bills and save carbon by insulating taps and pipes and using hot water carefully.

David Roe explained his home-made rainwater harvesting system, which supplies water to toilets, washing machine and dishwasher. To buy such a system new would be very expensive and is not as eco-friendly as it seems. However, using reused tanks and some basic pipework, this home-made approach has a very low carbon footprint.

Ian Mumford showed how to avoid paying the surface drainage charge by re-directing all the water from his roof into water-butts, and from there via pipes across his garden. There would be a big environmental benefit if every house with a garden could do this, because after heavy rain, water falling on the house and driveway normally flows rapidly into the drains and rivers and can cause flooding. However, when this water is diverted into the garden, instead of adding to the flooding problem, it feeds the local soil and sub-soil. From here it can make its way gradually into rivers, lakes and groundwater – which are all sources of our mains water supply.

Gil Shalom shared 10 years’ experience of saving water in a retrofit eco-home. Surprisingly, simple water saving habits and low flush toilets were his top tips, along with shorter showers.

Watch out – many types of low flush toilets leak from the cistern into the loo and waste huge amounts of water. If you are looking for a leak-free low flush loo, try the ES4 (a 4 litre single flush available from the Green Building Store).

If you are careful with water, being on a water meter may be cheaper than the rate-based water bill. (Try to estimate your water use accurately for a week and estimate your likely bill from the pricing information on the Severn Trent website). Or instead, try this simple water calculator: http://www.ccwater.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.388 All you need to do is download the excel document and go to the “Severn Trent” tab.

Ways to Save Water in the home

Monday 17th January 2011
7pm for refreshments, prompt start at 7.30pm

SNC Training, South Notts College
Mere Way, Ruddington Fields Business Park, NG11 6JZ

The fourth in a series of free events.

Including:
 It’s always raining – surely we have plenty of water?
 Would a water meter save me money?
 Low flow taps, showers and low flush loos
 Saving hot water
 Greywater and rainwater systems
 Water diversion
 What’s eco and what’s not? What saves money and what doesn’t?

Talks by: Members of the Eco House Group and others who have saved water in their own homes by different methods, plus a chance to ask your questions.

On a water meter already? Can you bring along your average monthly water use in cubic metres or in litres, and what that costs? Just a bit of fun – we want to compare the numbers with standard water rates, not to embarrass anyone.

Please email info@wbecohouses.co.uk if you are likely to be attending.

Directions: Follow Mere Way through Ruddington Fields Business Park. Pass the first SNC building on the left, and take the next turning to the second SNC Training building. It has a distinctive suspended curved wall with car parking beneath it. Park here or on the roadside.
Buses to Ruddington village: Ruddington Connection (Trent Barton) & No. 10 (Nott City Transport)
The Eco House Group is a project inspired by Transition West Bridgford