Whilst greywater recycling is not a new concept and is offered by many others, the term ‘Water Wizard’, implies and embodies a number of unique concepts to the South African market, which will no doubt, in time be copied, but for now are unique to us:
1.    The Water Wizard filter as detailed below
2.    The delivery / irrigation systems as detailed below

In the case of existing homes / guest houses, greywater (waste water) is redirected away from the sewage system into the re-cycling system. Existing bath, shower, and basin outlets are disconnected from the sewage system and re-directed by means of 40mm piping directly to the Water Wizard tank.

The Water Wizard tank and filter is the core of all of the Water Wizard systems and consists of a number of elements:

The primary filter – has been developed by and is unique to Go-Green Water Conservation Systems.

CLICK TO ENLARGE Water Wizard - Greywater recycling system

This filter unit receives the greywater as described above and filters out all hair and solids larger than 1,0mm Ø.

What makes this filter unique is that it

• acts as the diverter back to sewage when the system is switched off for periods over 24 hours, if pump fails or during times of high rainfall when plants can be given a respite from greywater.  This feature is critical as greywater cannot be stored for longer than 24 hours and must be diverted away from, not through the collection tank.
• acts as the overflow for your system if, for whatever reason, your system is not distributing the collected water (pump malfunction that you are not aware of) or system switched for short periods (under 24 hours) while working in irrigated areas etc. The tank will fill and overflow back into the filter system where it will simply run back into the sewage system together with the filtered hair etc.
• never has to be removed.
• is 90% self-cleaning.
• only requires a 30 second burst of hosepipe water (lift lid) every second week to maintain its performance
• automatically re-directs the hair and filters solids back into the sewage system, doing away with the messy job of rinsing out basket filters and disposing of waste materials.

Once filtered then water runs into the tank.

In the tank, the water rises to a specific level (dependant on the design of the system), where it activates the pump, pumping the water through the distribution system.

Hair is the greatest problem in any system such as this and it is imperative to filter hair, not only from a hygiene perspective, but also because hair will destroy any pump and block any distribution system used.

The tank collects the water, allowing the water to rise to a specific level (dependeant on the design of the system and calculated not to exceed the expected daily collection), where it activates the pump, pumping water through the distribution system.

Water Wizard Watering Systems

The sprinkler system is the least costly and in most cases preferable way of watering your garden.  The system comes complete with a ‘primary supply’ leading to areas that have been designated to us.  From this primary supply, we provide 2 sprinklers with sufficient hosepipe length to reach required areas.  The system can be partitioned in two so that, for example, the front garden is watered for four days and then simply by closing a valve and moving the sprinklers, the back garden is watered for three days.  The sprinklers will need to be moved on a daily basis to cover the greatest possible area and to avoid over-watering of any area.

• Advantages
  • Low cost
  • Ideal for lawns
  • Large coverage
• Disadvantages
  • Can switch on at any time, so not ideal for traffic areas
  • Water could pool on paths etc

The Dripper System is designed for areas where water has to be specifically directed or where there is human traffic that can’t be allowed to get drenched. As with the sprinkler system, primary supply can be led to a number of areas, where watering is required.

• Advantages
  • Drip irrigation is generally considered as the best means of grey water irrigation
  • Can be used in confined spaces
  • Ideal for beds alongside walkways etc
  • No concern about system switching on at any time and wetting people
  • No ‘overflow’ watering
  • Ideal for guest houses
• Disadvantages
  • More expensive
  • Not as flexible
  • System has specified design requirements (to be discussed on site)

The majority of guest’s will consume more water per person than you do, simply because they either aren’t aware of the water situation or they just don’t care because they aren’t paying for it.

PE’s Guest Houses have the most to gain from recycling of greywater as proven through research carried out at two Summerstrand guesthouses over the months of November, December & January.  As a guest house owner, the abuse of water is probably going to become your biggest headache (apart from broken toilet seats and shower doors)!

A block of four guest rooms connected to a Water Wizard System, relates to a 28,000 litres of water available for re-cycling. Equating to a total monthly saving of R380 per four rooms!  During the research period, at one of the guesthouse’s, a single guest staying for 4 days, consistently drained the 150l geyser each morning, leaving the adjacent room without hot water!

Also,

• Half of your guests shower morning & evening
• The majority switch the shower hot tap on and leave it running whilst brushing teeth, or using the toilet.
• Most guests will leave the basin tap running whilst brushing their teeth and shaving

On this basis a guest will consume a daily average of 200l, made up of 1.5showers (60l per shower), 4 toilet flushes (12l per flush), 2 basin usages (30l per usage)

If a block of four guest rooms is connected to a system, and assuming an occupation level of 75% and a 50/50 split between single and double occupancy, the four rooms will host an average of 140 room nights per month. This relates to a 28,000 litres of water available for re-cycling. Even at the commercial rate of R7.57 per liter, this amounts to R212 that can be saved in water costs. Apart from this, the commercial sewage rate is R6 per kl of water consumed, so a sewage saving of R168 can be added to make a total monthly saving of R380 per four rooms!

Guesthouse laundry also consumes huge amounts of water. During the research period, it was noted that at 75% occupancy, each room generates an average of 12 loads of laundry per month at 120l per load, using 1,440l per month. Assuming a 6 room guest house, laundry water for rooms only, is 8,640l. Added to laundry from the main house (1 load per day), laundry water generated for recycling amounts to 12,000 l per month.

Assuming two separate systems, the average 6 room guest house can easily re-cycle 40,000 l of water per month – a water cost saving of R300 and a sewage saving of R240 – not to mention the added benefit of being able to water your garden!

Courtesy: Nelson Mandela Bay Metro

Households, irrespective of number of occupants are expected to restrict usage to 400l per day.

Whilst this at first may not seem to be a problem, it must be considered in the light of current water usage of around 240l per person per day, which means that any dwelling of more than 2 persons is going to be faced with serious cut-backs or dramatically increased water bills!

Most people don’t realize it, but your sewage charge is based on your water consumption, so added to the saving on water consumption, you also save on reduced sewage charges at a rate of R6.00 per kl of water consumed. By recycling  (reducing consumption) by 18kl, you save a further R108 per month in sewage charges.

Once you have exceed your 400l per day, basic allowance, your water will costs you between R9.50 & R14.88 per kl consumed. Every liter saved or recycled results in a saving at penalty rates and probably at the highest rate because most households will struggle to meet even the second tier of penalties, being less than 1kl / household / day.
Added to this, you must consider that the Municpality charges your sewage based on your water consumption so each litre saved or recycled results in a double saving – water and sewage.

A saving of 18kl of water recycled per month produces a saving of between R170 & R215 on your water bill and a further R108 on your sewage bill – a total saving of between R278 & R323 per month!

Pay for water once but use it twice with the Water Wizard re-cycling system –see how it’s done!

The 24 hour call free number
0800 20 5050
or
The newly established e-mail address
waterleaks@mandelametro.gov.za

With the high water consumption over November and December 2009 the dams have dropped to an alarming 45%. Water restrictions are now in place and if no further rain falls we will run out of water in 10 months.

Click here to see a copy of the restriction notice
Click here to view water saving tips

A.A. SAIDEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: INFRASTRUCTURE & ENGINEERING

Water Wizard – the proprietary name for GO Green Water Conservation System’s products that cater for specific water recycling & harvesting needs.

It’s not just about saving money, Go-Green and consider the environment!

Anybody looking at water saving & recycling purely from the point of the monthly water saving cost is extremely short sighted and doing himself and the community a great dis-service.

Infinitely more important than the monthly cost of water saved is the effect on the environment.

Recycling = water saving.

Every litre recycled today is a litre saved today and every litre saved today is a litre available for tomorrow and the day beyond – recycle and extend the duration of water availablability!

Recycling = less impact on our ecology.

Every litre re-cycled is a litre less going down our already overloaded sewage system. Every litre recycled is a litre less effluent pumping into our rivers and oceans.

Recycling = maintaining your garden at no cost.

Ever considered the cost of re-establishing your garden? Port Elizabeth, regularly experiences the drought / flooding cycle and when the floods arrive as they no doubt will, our dams are filled and we are lulled into a sense of false security. When this happens and water restrictions are lifted, we all rush off to the nursery and spend thousands re-establishing our gardens, only to watch them die again in a few years time when the next cycle of restrictions is imposed – don’t be short sighted, save your garden & save your money! Recycling saves in both good and bad times!

Recycling = food for the soul.

Think of the impact on you, from your environment and particularly your garden around you! There is no doubt that a good garden enriches the soul – there is nothing more soul destroying than watching your garden being strangled through lack of water. Once it’s dead, it’s dead and revitalizing it not only costs money, but takes time.

Recycling = a contribution to the environment & the community.

Go-green, spread the word and watch the impact on those around you when you tell them that you have invested (at no long term cost) in your home, your environment and your sanity!

The majority of guest’s will consume more water per person than you do, simply because they either aren’t aware of the water situation or they just don’t care because they aren’t paying for it.A block of four guest rooms connected to a Water Wizard System, relates to a 28,000 litres of water available for re-cycling. Equating to a total monthly saving of R380 per four rooms!

PE’s Guest Houses have the most to gain from recycling of greywater as proven through research carried out at two Summerstrand guesthouses over the months of November, December & January. As a guest house owner, the abuse of water is probably going to become your biggest headache (apart from broken toilet seats and shower doors)!

The majority of guest’s will consume more water per person than you do, simply because they either aren’t aware of the water situation or they just don’t care because they aren’t paying for it. During the research period, at one of the guesthouse’s, a single guest staying for 4 days, consistently drained the 150l geyser each morning, leaving the adjacent room without hot water!

Also,

• Half of your guests shower morning & evening
• The majority switch the shower hot tap on and leave it running whilst brushing teeth, or using the toilet.
• Most guests will leave the basin tap running whilst brushing their teeth and shaving

On this basis a guest will consume a daily average of 200l, made up of 1.5showers (60l per shower), 4 toilet flushes (12l per flush), 2 basin usages (30l per usage)

If a block of four guest rooms is connected to a system, and assuming an occupation level of 75% and a 50/50 split between single and double occupancy, the four rooms will host an average of 140 room nights per month. This relates to a 28,000 litres of water available for re-cycling. Even at the commercial rate of R7.57 per liter, this amounts to R212 that can be saved in water costs. Apart from this, the commercial sewage rate is R6 per kl of water consumed, so a sewage saving of R168 can be added to make a total monthly saving of R380 per four rooms!

Guesthouse laundry also consumes huge amounts of water. During the research period, it was noted that at 75% occupancy, each room generates an average of 12 loads of laundry per month at 120l per load, using 1,440l per month. Assuming a 6 room guest house, laundry water for rooms only is 8,640l. Added to laundry from the main house (1 load per day), laundry water generated for recycling amounts to 12,000 l per month.

Assuming two separate systems, the average 6 room guest house can easily re-cycle 40,000 l of water per month – a water cost saving of R300 and a sewage saving of R240 – not to mention the added benefit of being able to water your garden!

Being a practical, hands on person, I pride myself on being your specialist Guest House maintenance man. Whilst there are many maintenance companies out there, there are very few, if any, that understand the demands and constraints of maintenance work in the B&B environment.

My name is Clifford Hanks (Jnr.) and I am ‘The Guest House Guy’.  I have an extensive background in the industry, having trained at the International Hotel School, where after I occupied various positions in hotels in South Africa, Botswana and England.

The past two years were spent managing an 11 room Guest House in Knysna, before moving to PE and buying our own guesthouse, which my wife looks after.

Being a practical, hands on person, my aim is to become your specialist Guest House maintenance man. Whilst there are many maintenance companies out there, there are very few, if any, that understand the demands and constraints of maintenance work in the B&B environment.

You may ask the question “Why should I use the Guest House Guy and not just the local maintenance man” and the answer is really quite simple:

Being a Guest House owner myself, I fully understand and appreciate -

• The difficulty in coordinating various trades on site, running off to buy paint etc, all while you have to serve breakfast, check guests in etc, so I take that pressure off you totally, allowing you to run your business effectively.
• The urgency related to breakdowns, be it electrical, plumbing or electronic and the critical need to attend to emergency repairs on the day – if I can’t get there personally, I will ensure that I get a specialist to site to solve the immediate problem
• The need to consider your guests when carrying out work and to ensure that renovation or maintenance work only starts after 08:30am
• renovation or maintenance work ceases before 04:30pm
• all work areas are tidied, cleaned-up and hosed down at the end of the day
• rubble is stored out of site (where possible) and cleared regularly
• tools, wheelbarrows and supplies aren’t left lying around

Looking forward to being of assistance to you.

Clifford

So, if you have a problem, all you have to do is remember The Guest House Guy is on call to attend to maintenance issues, emergency repairs and  renovations of rooms & bathrooms.

Cell  083 6666333                       Email   info@theguesthouseguy.co.za

Grey water recycling can save up to 18,000 l of water & R300 per month – what is grey water?

Assuming a household of 4 persons and 1 domestic worker / gardener, under normal conditions, daily use would be in the region of:

Converting this to a monetary cost, you will be charged 12 kl at normal rate and 14.7 kl at penalty rate, so total water bill is R203.50 – without watering your garden or filling your pool (both of which are currently prohibited).

Added to this, the normal garden tap discharges around 15 l / min (conservatively), so if you were to use a sprinkler system or hosepipe for 2 hours twice a week, you would be using around 16 kl per month at a cost of R11.92 / kl, = R190.00 per month.

By installing a Water wizard Grey Water System, you would recycle in the region of 600l / day or 18kl / month – nearly 20 hours of hosepipe time – all at no cost, so a R190 per month saving.

Most people don’t realize it, but your sewage charge is based on your water consumption, so added to this, at a sewage charge of R6.00 per kl of water consumed, by recycling  (reducing consumption) by 18kl, you save a further R108 per month, so total saving is R298.00 per month for a family of four.

Once you have exceed your 400l per day, basic allowance, your water will costs you between R9.50 & R14.88 per kl consumed. Every liter saved or recycled results in a saving at penalty rates and probably at the highest rate because most households will struggle to meet even the second tier of penalties, being less than 1kl / household / day.

Added to this, you must consider that the Municpality charges your sewage based on your water consumption so each litre saved or recycled results in a double saving – water and sewage.

A saving of 18kl of water recycled per month produces a saving of between R170 & R215 on your water bill and a further R108 on your sewage bill – a total saving of between R278 & R323 per month!

Pay for water once but use it twice with the Water Wizard re-cycling system –see how it’s done!