Precast concrete manufacturer's rainwater harvesting innovation

South Africa's National Water Week, hosted by the Department of Water Affairs earlier this month, emphasised the importance of conserving and protecting the country's water resources, bringing home the fact that there is not enough clean drinking water for human consumption in South Africa, he says.

The company plans to do its part by developing innovative products such as Rocla's ecoRain, designed for rainwater harvesting. Kretzmar says that, while traditional rainwater harvesting methods use above-ground plastic tanks with a capacity of up to 5 000 l to collect water from one downpipe, Rocla's concrete ecoRain tanks are installed underground, where they collect water from several downpipes.

The modular system means the tanks have no maximum storage capacity. A recent Rocla client - a shopping centre - required 150 000 l of storage space to harvest rainwater, specifically to wash its dustbins. In addition, the underground ecoRain tanks can easily be built-over and the cold, dark environment makes it difficult for bacteria and other microorganisms to survive in the water. Lastly, Kretzmar tells Engineering News, because the tanks are precast, installation is quick and maintenance and cleaning are simple.

Read the full article on www.engineeringnews.co.za.