www.RainWaterHarvesting.co.uk TANK SIZE CALCULATOR 2009 2011 RainWaterHarvesting.co.

uk
Insert your building's data in the yellow boxes.

Client and details

From the roof area off your property, you assess the amount of water available, and equate it to the amount you will use. 1 Main Building area Building width (metres) Building depth(metres) Rain Collection Area 1 (square metres) 2 First extension/conservatory/porch/garage/shed etc width (metres) Depth (metres) Rain Collection Area 2 (square metres) 3 Second extension/conservatory/porch/garage/shed etc width (metres) Depth (metres) Rain Collection Area 3 (square metres) 4 Third extension/conservatory/porch/garage/shed etc width (metres) Depth (metres) Rain Collection Area 4 (square metres) 5 Calculate the area of any remaining useful roofs as a figure in square metres and enter directly in the yellow box to the right 6 TOTAL of collectable roof areas (square metres) 7 Rainfall per year in your area (cms). Use rainfall chart on sheet 2, a figure between 60 and 170. 8 Collectable rainwater per annum (in litres - discounted by 20% to account for water loss) (YIELD) 9 Use of water in the building
Washing machine and toilet flushing are the main usage for rain water in domestic systems. Add an allowance for daily garden use.

10 15 150 10 15 150

300 66 158,400

Number of people in the house Number of clothes washing cycles per day (50 litres each) Number of toilet flushes per day (4.42 flushes per person, average 5 litres each) Outdoor use per day (minimum 5 litres per person per day) 10 Amount of water you require every day Amount of water you require every year (DEMAND) 11 How many days drought protection do you need? Enter a number in the box to the right, typically 21 12 Capacity of water storage in litres required for drought protection The lesser of YIELD (8) or DEMAND (10) per annum Therefore, volume of rainwater storage required 13 Is there sufficient roof water available (CONCLUSION): or adjust till F46 = F35 more or less

5 1.25 22

people 63 111 25 198 72,270 40 7,920 72,270 7,920 YES

14 Tank size required - either, in the bestselling Carat range, or, in the shallow-dig Platin range, or, in the Rondus range, or, if your tank is going to be above ground, in the Balmoral range...

Use a twin 6500 Carat kit [13,000 litres] Use multiple Platin tanks Use multiple Rondus tanks Use a 10000 litre Balmoral tank

15 Cross check with the British Standard BS 8515:2009

Based on British Standard BS 8515, the rainwater tank must be big enough to hold 5% of the annual rainwater yield, or 5% of the annual non-potable water demand, whichever is the lesser. The figures below serve as a check against the tank size recommended above.

5% of annual rainwater yield (in litres) 5% of annual non-potable water demand in the home (in litres) To be conform to BS8515, tank must hold at least (in litres)

7,920 3,614 3,614

Check stock and prices at www.rainwaterharvesting .co.uk or by email at [email protected]

MB file Tank_Size_Calculator Rev7f 30Mar2011.xls

UK Rainfall (source Met Office)

Annual rainfall in centimetres UK England Wales Scotland N Ireland England & Wales England N England S Scotland N Scotland E Scotland W England E & NE England NW & Wales N Midlands East Anglia England SW & Wales S England SE & central S 2010 94 72 112 123 105 78 82 67 126 108 135 73 102 64 58 135 68

Historical data for comparison

2006 118 85 142 165 116 93 102 76 182 117 194 79 140 80 63 113 79 2008 130 98 166 172 127 108 117 88 185 131 198 95 155 94 68 169 85 2009 121 88 149 169 126 96 101 81 177 131 199 80 136 78 60 162 82 2010 94 72 112 123 105 78 82 67 126 108 135 73 102 64 58 135 68

V% 06-10 80% 85% 79% 74% 91%

Rainfall in centimetres per year: UK trend by regions

200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 2006 2008 2009 2010 England Wales Scotland N Ireland

www.RainWaterHarvesting.co.uk TANK SIZE CALCULATOR 2009 2011 RainWaterHarvesting.co.uk Notes on use of the calculator
1) Lines 8 to 52 replicate the calculations of the UK Communities and Local Government paper "The Water Efficiency Calculator for new Dwellings" May 2009 available on the internet at http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/water_efficiency_calculator.pdf This is the official version of the same calculator required by the Code for Sustainable Homes as issued by BREEAM and by the Building Regulations Part G 2) Our tank size calculator is simplified in only one respect, that is the amount of water used by typical toilets. The official calculator provides space s for you to define single flush or dual flush toilets and their capacity or flow rate, whereas ours simplifies this to an average flush of 5 litres (at best, cistern of 6 litres and low flush of 2 litres, but often larger flush volumes). We retain the Code's 4.42 flushes per day ("Use Factor") times this 5 litres average volume per flush. If in doubt or if required by the authorities you should run the complete calculation which you can find at http://www.wrcplc.co.uk/PartGCalculator/Calculator.aspx Our washing machine usage is based on a wash for everyone in the home every 4 days. 3) The official calculator requires a minimum outdoor water of 5 litres per person per day. If you insert a larger figure in cell F42, as we suggest, and if the rainwater Yield of your roof is greater than the Demand, then the calculator will recommend a suitably larger tank. A small garden needs 200 litres a day and half an acre more like 400 litres a day (in spring and summer). 4) Paragraph 12 provides you the volume of rainwater storage required according to the "Code" calculation as referred to in 1 and 2 above. Our tank size recommendations are based on this. 5) We add in the light green box at the bottom the recommendations of the British Standard BS 8515-2009. This will typically give a smaller tank size because the drought protection is about 18 days not 21 days. Use it as a check, or select this volume, as you choose. Our calculator uses the BS 8515 "intermediate approach".

5) Paragraph 8 use a roof and filter coefficient of 80% (cell F35) which is 10% loss of water off the roof (mostly evaporation) and 10% filter loss (water going to drain with debris and leaves). Roof loss is much greater is you have a cedum or other organic roof.

Please address comments and questions to [email protected] UPDATES to this calculator (for office use only) Oct08 MB. Rev 5 Jun09 MB (BSI check added). Rev 6 Nov09 Text tab changed. Rev 7 Feb11 Other tank ranges, redundant lines deleted Rev 7b Feb11 Other tank ranges, redundant lines deleted, toilet volumes adjusted, notes added Rev 7e Mar11 Rainfall figures updated and trend graph added Rev 7f Mar11 Flush reinstated to 5 litres average from 3 as unrealistic

1) We attach the Tank Size calculator completed with your figures showing a roof area of annual rainfall in your area of and, therefore, total annual collectable rain (Yield) of 2) We have then calculated your typical daily usage of rain water indoors and in the garden. The number of people in the building is taken as A washing machine cycle needs 50 litres and we assume For toilets, we assume an average flush of 3 litres and We assume some water needed outdoors of This makes a total daily use of or a total annual use (Demand) of You can see that if the total amount of rain collectable, above, is more than or about the same as this figure,you have a coherent rain water "budget". Do you? 3) The drought protection provided by this rainwater system is: The capacity of rainwater storage for drought protection is The lesser of Yield and Demand Therefore optimal volume of rainwater storage is Tank size required - if in the bestselling Carat range 4) Cross check with the British Standard BS 8515:2009
Based on British Standard BS8515, the rainwater tank must be big enough to hold 5% of the annual rainwater yield, or 5% of the annual non-potable water demand, whichever is the lesser. The figures below serve as a check against the tank size recommended above.

300 square metres 66 centimetres 158,400 litres

5 people 1.25 washing machine cycles per day 22.10 flushes per day per person 25 litres per day 198 litres per day 72,270 litres across a whole year YES 40 days 7,920 litres 72,270 litres 7,920 litres Use a twin 6500 Carat kit [13,000 litres]

5% of annual rainwater yield (in litres) 5% of annual non-potable water demand in the home (in litres) To be conform to BS8515, tank must hold at least (in litres)

7,920 3,614 3,614

litres litres litres