Rainwater and greywater at the Van Raay Centre

The new Van Raay Centre will get a 50,000 litre tank to store rainwater run off from the roof of both the office and Merri restaurant. The tank water will be used to flush all the toilets in the Van Raay Centre. The system will include an automatic switching system to the mains water supply in the rare case that the tank becomes empty. The tank will also be plumbed to a manifold system that directs water from different sources (rain or mains) to different uses in the building (toilets, irrigation or to sewer).

Water from kitchen sinks and bathroom basins in the Van Raay Centre will also be fed into a grey-water treatment and recycling system before being piped out and used to irrigate an urban orchard, down hill from the Merri Restaurant.

The grey-water treatment system, called an Aerated Treatment System (ATS), will be buried underground and will have the capacity to recycle 1000 litres of water per pay.

Cafe grey-water treatment system

The greywater treatment system at the CERES cafe is being given a much needed renovation. A new reed bed and gravel bed will clean the water, and a new grease trap will be installed to remove fats and grease from the water before it is piped to underground irrigation lines in the Village Green. The new system will recycling 1000 litres of water per day.

The CERES cafe gets its water from rainwater collected from the roof, which they use for washing dishes. The collected water is stored in a tank, and before it is used in the cafe it is UV filtered and heated by the sun.

The UV filter uses ultra violet light to kill bacteria in the water. The filtered water is then circulated through solar panels on the roof of the cafe, which heat the water before it goes to the dishwasher and hot water tap.

All waste water (greywater) from food preparation and dishwashing is recycled through a bio-filter that feeds into a reed bed before being piped into underground irrigation lines that water the Village Green.