Ninety one brand new, true zero-carbon homes in Bicester, Oxfordshire, have been fitted with complete rainwater harvesting and stormwater management systems from Graf UK – helping them achieve Code for Sustainable Homes Level Five standards and minimise flood risk.
The true zero-carbon homes are the first to be built in the UK’s first ever eco town, North West (NW) Bicester, and are all fitted with extensive efficiency measures, such as solar PV panels and triple glazing.
To reach Code for Sustainable Homes Level Five standards, developers A2Dominion needed to limit each property’s potable water consumption to just 80 litres per person per day.
As well as reducing pressure on the mains supply, flooding protection was also a key concern – so they enlisted the expert help of civil engineering consultancy Infrastruct CS Ltd to specify a water management solution.
The Infrastruct team worked with Graf UK to design, install and commission a complete rainwater harvesting and stormwater management package for each of the 91 properties – consisting of a 1,500L Platin tank and a soakaway made of Rain Bloc modules. These stormwater tanks all feed into a central soakaway, where water is gradually released back into the underlying ground conditions in a controlled way – reducing pressure on the drains and minimising flood risk.