As urban life develops, the need for treated water increases, and so do the costs. In urban water supply systems, all water has to be treated to drinking water quality but only 1% of water consumption is used for drinking. In Ireland, daily water consumption rate per person is 148 litres. However, only 67 litres of this is used for personal hygiene and nutritional consumption. This means that approximately 80 litres of water per person on a daily basis do not need to be high quality. For other purposes such as watering plants, toilet flushing, cleaning or even carwash, rain water harvesting can be a good, cheap, and environment friendly solution.  

     How much can you save using rainwater harvesting systems?

     The answer to this question depends on where you live, i.e. how much rain falls annually, the area of your water catch surface and your water consumption. However, to make a rough estimation, you can save €1 for each square meter of your horizontal water catch surface annually. Read more »