Industrial and Commercial Rain Water Harvesting

We have all experienced the challenging situation when municipal water supply is interrupted and even our backup water tanks run dry! This is when residences, schools and businesses don’t have access to clean water and our businesses suffer losses due to low productivity!

This is usually when we start to consider investing in alternative systems which may include:

1.       More backup capacity (more or larger tanks)

2.       Borehole system

3.       In worst cases we may even consider business closure or costly moves to areas where service delivery is more reliable.

Before choosing to implement the above alternatives, Gecko Plastics would like to propose a cost saving and often overlooked alternative: Rainwater Harvesting

We have installed a 25 000-liter Rainwater Harvesting system at our Factory in Zinniaville and we cannot be more pleased with the result. Since installing it we have not been without water for a single day! Our employees can keep on working with dignity, our production process can continue uninterrupted, and our water consumption bill dropped to zero!

We have been surprised and amazed by the results and we are sure you will experience the same!

Advantages of a Rainwater Harvesting system:

• Low-cost alternative compared to borehole installation. (boreholes may also end up being dry)
• Commercial/Industrial properties usually have large roof surface areas and yard space available to collect and store huge amounts of water
• Reduced water bill, rainwater is FREE!
• Improves business continuity and the dignity of all. Usually when it rains there are several challenges such as power outages, resulting in water supply interruptions.
• Reduced use of ground water, reduced erosion due to run-off water being reduced. Environmentally friendly
• Less disruptive installation process compared to drilling a borehole. Utilizes available infrastructure (roof, gutters etc.) to capture water. No large machines need to enter your property.

Disadvantages of a Rainwater Harvesting system

• Granted, the downside is that it is only an effective backup during the rainy season, although a suitably designed system should alleviate water interruptions for up to six months!
• Initial system cost will be significant but far less than the cost of sinking a borehole
• As with any system it will require maintenance although it will be minimal

CASE STUDY Example:

Gecko Plastics’ own system installed in Zinniaville

• Roof surface area: 600m²
• Storage capacity: 25000 litre ( 5x 5000L tanks )
• Rainfall required to fill up all tanks:  42mm
• Maximum annual potential: 270 000 liters
• Intended use: Toilets and bathrooms, drinking water, production process
• Filtration installed: Yes

Needless to say after two or three showers of rain, all our tanks were full! Our original municipal backup supply was only 2400L. This means we have now by merely capturing FREELY AVAILABLE RAINWATER, increased our backup capacity by more than TENFOLD! Our usual backup supply lasted us two days, we now have 20 days. This is so amazingly liberating and goes a very long way in ensuring that we can continue our operation in a dignified and uninterrupted manner!

There are several options available as to how the harvested water can be utilized and appropriate cleaning systems are available for any intended end-use:

For irrigation purposes or flushing of toilets only , harvested rainwater can be utilized without any treatment or filtration. Rainwater captured from rooftops will however have to be filtered properly to be utilized for drinking water and washing of hands etc.

NOTE:

As an estimate of potential volume to be captured, for every 100m2 of available roof area and 450mm annual rainfall, 45 000 liters of rainwater can be harvested. Larger roof areas will require more storage to be able to capture the available volumes.

Our service:

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