NovaGrey Spring Hill Enviro Cottage

H2O – Manna from heaven…

The Spring Hill “Enviro-Cottage” Project aims amongst other things to demonstrate how a small inner-city worker’s cottage can be sustainable from a water management perspective, to the point of being water self sufficient.

The “Enviro-Cottage” greywater system ensures as much water as possible is recycled and re-used on site. This ensures the rainwater storage system does not have to be as large as it otherwise might be.

With water efficient appliances, taps and showers installed, the “Enviro-Cottage” will still need about 110,00 litres of rainwater (hot and cold) for uses such as drinking water, showers, bathroom basins, cooking and dishwashing etc. At least 85% of that rainwater once used, will be directed back into the greywater processing system for re-use around the house (eg laundry, garden and toilets).

The “Enviro-Cottage” rainwater capture system is designed to ensure that almost every drop of rainwater falling on the 300m2 block is controlled, captured and directed to a storage facility. This includes rain falling on the roof, rain falling on the open courtyard and other external spaces and rain falling into the eco-pool. This rain is stored onsite for use throughout the house and only when all rain storage is completely full, will water be passed as stormwater off the site and back to the street.

The “Enviro-Cottage” will have one main 23,000 litre rainwater tank, one 4,000 litre under-garden rainwater storage tank and a small overflow sump tank, from where excess water is pumped as stormwater, as a last resort, to the street.

With the help and advice of the Project’s GreenPlumber partners - Slade Brothers, the Spring Hill “Enviro-Cottage” rainwater management system seeks to capture, store and safely use the rainwater which falls on the site. Design details are as follows:

Rain falling on the roof passes through a Rain Harvesting Blue Mountain Mesh gutter guard system which filters leaves and other debris

The downpipes then drop the water from about 200mm onto the open ground, where it passes through stone, sand and geotextile filtering systems into the underground Atlantis Flowcel drainage system, which directs the water to the main 23,000 litre rainwater tank, installed under the central courtyard by East Coast Environmental Solutions.

This water capture and filter design means there is no need to use rainheads or first flush systems, which means a more refined design is possible with less maintenance required

The Atlantis underground matrix tank design also means that rainwater falling on the open courtyard will also find its way into the tank, having been filtered through the grass, sand and geotextile material on top of the tank.

In additional to the main rainwater tank, another matrix tank has been installed under the main garden bed. This tank fills with rainwater falling on the garden itself and also acts as an overflow store for the main rainwater tank. The bamboo and other plants growing in this garden bed feed off the water stored in this tank as it evaporates, and so will rarely if ever need additional watering.

When the main rainwater tank and the garden bed tank are totally full, any additional water overflows to a small sump tank which then triggers a Davey pump to pump the water as stormwater to the street

When a shower or basin tap is turned on, or the dishwasher fills, the Davey RainBank system will start the Davey pump in the main rainwater tank and provide water as required

The rainwater passes through a Davey filtering system which includes a 20 micron filter, followed by a 1 micron filter and then through a Steriflo UV disinfection system to ensure the water is safe for residents to drink
This design, in conjunction with the Water Gurus NovaGrey greywater processing system, will ensure that, subject to reasonably average rainfall patterns, the Spring Hill “Enviro-Cottage” will be able to be water self sufficient, rarely if ever using water from the town water supply. You can view more detail on the Spring Hill “Enviro-Cottage” and follow progress at www.envirocottage.com.au.

You will be able to see the full working rainwater management system at the Spring Hill “Enviro-Cottage” when it opens to the public later this year.

Content courtesy of Pro Tem Consultancy Services