In July 2022, we decided to make the most of the Scottish climate and install a rainwater harvesting system to our fuel store*. Our goal when installing this system was to reduce our water and energy usage whilst also reusing a natural resource.

The rainwater harvesting system operates by collecting the water into tanks, ready for use. Our team then use the collected water for a variety of jobs, saving water and energy consumption!

We actively utilize the rainwater harvesting system on a day-to-day basis for various tasks, including plant and vehicle washing. On average in the UK, washing a car typically results in 150 litres of water waste. This is wastage that we manage to avoid contributing towards the depletion of natural resources. Additionally, we also use it to water our flourishing planters as well as for other jobs within HQ.

Over the year, it is calculated that we have prevented 12,288 litres** of clean drinking water from literally going down the drain. This in turn has prevented 19kg*** of Co2eq, which is the energy associated with the water production.

For transparency we have included the formulas below so you can calculate what you could save if you implemented these changes.

*Fuel store roof area 6.4 x 2.4m (15.36m2)

**Formula – 1 millimetre of rain over 1 square metre of roof equals 1 litre of water. Annual rainfall (in millimetres – 800mm for Aberdeenshire) x Roof surface area (in square metres) = Roof catchment capacity

***Formula 1ltr of water x 1.52grams Co2eq