Construction World November 2015

>

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Water harvesting The need for municipalities to upgrade water supply infrastructure and to supply hygienic water to all communities has never been more para- mount. Additionally, commercial and residential entities are looking to use grey water wherever possible to cut back on potable water usage and the associated costs. Rocla offers the ecoRain rainwater harvesting tanks, which are used for water catchment and recycling or attenuation, offering long lasting water storage systems. These underground concrete tanks ensure a constant temperature with no sunlight entering the system which constitutes considerably more hygienic conditions compared to above ground plastic alternatives where micro-organism growth occurs due to fluctuating and warm temperatures and light. Additionally, the concrete also has the added benefit of neutralizing the normally slightly acidic rainwater. The concrete tanks are designed complete with manhole access chambers, a sediment filtration system, velocity reducing inlet and outlet overflow control. Top-up systems, pumps and electrical control system (if required) can be supplied by the installer. The system is recommended for roof water only and connects to downpipes capturing the water for filtration and storage. This captured water supply can be re-used for toilet flushing, laundry, gardening activities and washing of equipment, dustbins, vehicle, etc. EcoRain systems are easy to install and maintain with limited annual mainte- nance requirements. Manna Hoogenboezem from Use-Rainwater, who partners with Rocla on the ecoRain system design and installation, said “The Rocla ecoRain concrete water storage tanks have generated a great deal of interest not only from the private sector but also at municipal level. The increase in interest from privately established developments as well as architects for future projects shows a keen desire to select the most suitable and long lasting water harvesting solution. Although more expensive, the Rocla technology is the most effective and has been successfully utilised in Australia”. Justin Kretzmar, sales engineer for ISG, added that “a Rocla ecoRain system comprising 50KL storage has already been detailed and specified by the relevant architects and engineers on a municipal and water attenuation and harvesting technologies that offer environmentally friendly and cost saving options for commercial and residential developments. Specialised SUSTAINABLE technologies In order to service the growing trend for owners/developers of new building and construction projects to specify the use of environmentally friendly and carbon foot- print reducing products and technologies as a priority requirement, Technicrete ISG, Ocon Brick and Rocla, part of the Infrastructure Specialist Group (ISG) of companies, offer paving, bricks, oil separators

Recycled non potable water required for activities such as sanitation and landscaping can easily be captured via the Aqua permeable paving technology from Technicrete.

These underground oil and petrochemical separators, far exceed both SA and European standards which require separation to 10 ppm.

54

building currently under construction in the Western Cape. The tanks are expected to be installed January/February 2016.” Oil separators of strict standards The catastrophe associated with oil and petrochemical contamination from small quantities up to large spills on the natural environment and the associated high clean-up costs can be prevented with the ecoLine-b, ecoSep and ecoStop separator technology which is available from Rocla. These underground oil and petrochemical separators, far exceed both SA and European standards which require separation to 10 ppm. The ecoSep, ecoStop and ecoLine-b range of separators are rated at 5 ppm and perfectly positioned to comply with future, more stringent standards, allowing for tighter environmental discharge compliance guidelines to be met with little or no modifications required. The oil/water separators are designed to separate non-emulsified light liquids or low-water-soluble fluids with a specific gravity below 0,95 (gasoline, diesel, heating oils and other mineral oils) from effluent discharge. The two-step separation process; gravity separation and removal of small oil/petrochemical particles by coalescing media elements, produces high removal efficiencies. Separators without an oil draw-off, such as the ecoLine-b unit, accumulate the separated light fluids on top of and in direct contact with the water surface. EcoSep permanently separates the oil from water by transferring this oil into its own self-contained tank, thereby allowing virtually no oil emulsion formations to develop. A standard version of ecoSep is equipped with a manual oil draw-off, a valve that can be opened and closed from ground level to collect oil in the independent oil recipient. An Automatic Draw Off device (ADD) is also available. The ecoStop Spill Control System is designed to control failures at any site where there is risk of a large potential spill due to mechanical failure of the holding tank, pipes or hoses. A spill situation results in closure of the ecoStop valve, preventing the discharge of free oil to municipal sewers or direct discharge outfalls. Ecostop maintains the

CONSTRUCTION WORLD NOVEMBER 2015