Creating safe, independent, sustainable water systems
Like many countries with warmer climates, Mexico is in the throes of a water crisis. Every year more aquifers are overexploited as they struggle to cope with the pressures of population growth.
With many welled systems already working to capacity, it is becoming increasingly important for communities and local businesses to create independent, sustainable water systems, rather than relying on centrally controlled large-scale infrastructure to provide all of their water.
For this particular project, Blue Mountain Co supplied Hidrotecno, a local company that works to provide rainwater harvesting solutions for commercial, industrial, and residential buildings to help them save water, money, and the environment.
Hidrotecno had been contacted by the factory manager of a company that specialised in water technology and services for the control and prevention of infections and were seeking to save more water and improve their environmental impact at one of their factories.
It was their intention to reduce their reliance on water trucks and municipal supply and to use rainwater harvesting as a source of clean water to supplement their existing channels.
Cuautitlan Izcalli journey to abundance
Previously, this factory in Cuautitlan Izcalli had only used rainwater to assist their sewer system and were only scratching the surface in terms of their potential capability
The goal was to install two new systems to cover 1200 m2 and rearrange the network of piping to maximise the rainwater catchment area on the surface of each system.
From there, a recycled 5000-litre storage was used in conjunction with two new vertical tanks with 2570-litre capacity to ensure there was sufficient capacity to store enough rainwater to maximise collection, for today, and for future use.
In addition, there were four smart, simple products that were specifically chosen to facilitate the collection of an abundance of clean water.
- Leaf Eater Commercial
- First Flush Diverter Kit
- Maelstrom Filter
- Flap Valves
The finer details of the systems
Some extra information about the products chosen for these systems:
Leaf Eater Commercial
The Leaf Eater Commercial Rain Head is a robust rain head designed specifically for large-scale and commercial buildings. They are built to handle huge volumes of water, to the tune of 20 litres per second. Easy to install, and even easier to maintain – the angled mesh screen ensures leaves, debris, and mosquitos are kept out of the rain harvesting system.
First Flush Diverters
First Flush Diverters capture and isolate dirty water from the roof/collection surfaces, preventing it from ending up in the tank.
First Flush Diverters are important for capturing smaller particles, like animal matter, paint or dirt. These are elements that can land on the roof and be washed into the rainwater tank if there is no First Flush in the system.
When First Flush Diverters are used in combination with the Leaf Eater Commercial, large and small pollutants will be captured before they reach the rainwater tank, ensuring cleaner water is harvested.
Maelstrom Filter
The Maelstrom Filter’s advanced design combines super-fine filtration and super-high water catchment efficiency to capture massive amounts of water while removing ultra-fine particles down to 180 microns.
Flap Valves
An important tool that ensures rain harvesting systems can handle high water flows and stay oxygenated. Flap Valves help keep pests out of the pipework while ensuring there is an unimpeded flow of water during rainfall events.