Air Conditioning World
CISTERN USES AC CONDENSATE TO FLUSH T
wo directors of a UK building services company have launched a cistern to use condensate from air conditioning units to
flush the toilet, which until now has been drained to waste. Data from hotel benchmarking specialist STR
shows 15,119 rooms in 114 hotels are currently being built in the UK. Compared to traditional cisterns, using the
product, Encore, would save each hotel 1.92 million litres a year based on standard 80% occupancy levels. In total, it would save them 218 million litres of
water, which for context would fill the equivalent of 87 Olympic swimming pools a year. And the water savings are even higher in hotter climates where more condensate is generated. In the US, the 1,477 hotels currently in construction would save 4.7 billion litres of water a year and 2.4 billion litres for the 302 hotels in the Middle East. In another first for cisterns, it will also allow those specifying to secure two extra BREEAM credits and LEED points. Director David Davis said: “For decades we’ve designed and installed schemes and watched the stream of water produced by air conditioning units
How it works
The cistern holds 18 litres of water which is three times more than a conventional cistern, but its dual-chamber design means it still fits like standard models.
David Davis with Encore cisterns that would save the 114 UK hotels currently being built enough water to fill the equivalent of 87 Olympic swimming pools every year
literally go down the drain but not via the toilet. “When you consider how many buildings use air conditioning across the world, billions of litres of condensate water is generated all of which has been wasted – until now.
The bottom chamber holds six litres, which comes from the mains pipe. The upper 12 litre chamber is filled with air conditioning condensate. When the toilet is flushed, the lower chamber empties and refills with condensate from the upper chamber. If there are multiple flushes close together or the air conditioning is not in use, the cistern is filled in the conventional way from the mains fed pipe. If the toilet is not used for a while, surplus condensate is fed away. The product is as easy to fit as a conventional
cistern, is compatible with industry standard rack mounting and there’s no expensive initial cost or long pay back period. It does not use electric pumps. Instead, gravity feeds condensate water into the cistern.
“Responsible businesses striving to construct
the greenest buildings know BREEAM credits and LEED points are very hard to come by.”
ECONOPLATE BV SERIES Providing compact response to DHW demand for pubs, restaurants, sports pavilions and all commercial buildings of similar size.
• Specifiers with a wide choice of sizes and outputs • Hybrid unit takes up less space • Could typically cut capital cost by £2K or more • Supplies domestic hot water direct on demand • Stored volumes can be 300, 500, 800 or 1,000 litres • Five heat output capacities • Peak output over one hour can be 4,851 litres • Recovery time as little as six minutes • Sophisticated control options • Multiple units can be installed in parallel
THE CONSULTANTS’ & CONTRACTORS’ CHOICE. For further information or to receive a technical guide tel: 0208 783 3050 or email:
info@stokvisboilers.com
20 September
2017www.stokvisboilers.com www.heatingandventilating.net
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