As a major provider of social housing and support in the south of England, Radian has launched an innovative development which will collect data on the amount of water used, and wasted, within the home. The five houses at Five Trees, in Liss, and their residents, are each trialing different methods of water conservation to understand the desirability of these water conservation systems to residents and whether they offer a practical solution for water efficiency on a day-to-day basis.
There are problems facing the South East of England in terms of water supply. More water is consumed on average per person in the south east than in the rest of England and Wales. It is an area that is already densely populated and, with over 15,000 homes in the south east, Radian feels a responsibility to research methods of conserving water and how best to reduce demand.
The average water consumption for the South East is 160 litres per person per day; Radian is aiming to reduce the consumption of residents at Five Trees to only 105 litres per person per day.
As a major provider of social housing and support in the south of England, Radian has launched an innovative development which will collect data on the amount of water used, and wasted, within the home. The five houses at Five Trees, in Liss, and their residents, are each trialing different methods of water conservation to understand the desirability of these water conservation systems to residents and whether they offer a practical solution for water efficiency on a day-to-day basis.
There are problems facing the South East of England in terms of water supply. More water is consumed on average per person in the south east than in the rest of England and Wales. It is an area that is already densely populated and, with over 15,000 homes in the south east, Radian feels a responsibility to research methods of conserving water and how best to reduce demand.
The average water consumption for the South East is 160 litres per person per day; Radian is aiming to reduce the consumption of residents at Five Trees to only 105 litres per person per day. The most efficient houses are classed as Level 6 by the Code for Sustainable Homes, with an average consumption level of 80 litres.
“Data collected during the first 3 months of occupation shows that average water consumption per person per day is 86 litres for the homes without the rain water harvesting and 58 litres for those with. A full year of monitoring data is required before any accurate comparison can start to be made against the Code for Sustainable Homes mandatory targets, but initially these figures appear promising.” Paul Ciniglio, Radian Sustainability & Innovation Manager.
Launched on 25th March 2008, each property has separate innovative methods of saving water installed which are monitored for cost efficiency, economy and ease of use, before drawing comparisons. All homes are fitted with water butts to collect rain water, and water efficient taps, showers and toilets; three have varying degrees of water efficient kitchen appliances installed; two more have been supplied with rainwater harvesting tanks which re-use rainwater to flush the toilets, but could potentially be used for feeding the washing machine, watering the garden or cleaning the car.
There are standard meters fitted by the water company for billing purposes that will identify how much water in total each house is using. The additional meters installed on the inlets of some of the properties will allow a more in-depth analysis of water usage patterns.
Carla Hughes, resident of Five Trees, said “I’m all for saving water and any water saving devices which will help this. The idea is good in principle, but there has been some teething problems and there is room for improvement.”
Rod Murchie, Senior Environment Planning Officer at the Environment Agency, “As far as the local environment is concerned, we have to live with the existing supply of water. The only way we can do this is by taking personal responsibility for using less water and less energy. We are learning some important lessons at Five Trees for what is practical for those living with such water saving technologies.”
Stephanie Beggs, Radian Water Conservation Projects Co-ordinator, “ The South East of England has a particularly low amount of water available per person because the region receives low rainfall and has a high population density. Radian acknowledges that water resources and supply are stressed and we are proactively working to reduce demand for water, to ensure its availability in the future.”