Managing water demand in buildings requires the same kind of thinking as epitomises good practice in energy management, say Ant Wilson and Charlotte Parkes.

Meeting new requirements for lower water consumption is not difficult and need not be expensive. Jacob Tompkins explains how.

Oventrop Brawamix thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs) are used in the DHW systems of the new £30 million Nailsea School to simplify commissioning and achieve significant energy savings by controlling temperature and flow in the DHW system. Aquastrom T Plus multifunctional secondary-circulation regulating valves have been installed in the return pipework.

A freely available online water-footprint calculator has been developed by Shawn Coles, founder of Water Saving Week, sponsored by Roca. The average amount of water consumed per person per day in the UK is about 150 l, rising to 168 l in London. That use is for drinking water, toilet flushing, bath, washing machines etc.

The first installation of Daikin UK’s combined VRVIII/heat recovery/hot-water system is in the London headquarters of a large international technology. The system combines VRVIII heat-recovery air conditioning with the provision of domestic hot water via special hot-water modules. It was engineered and installed by Airtech Air Conditioning Services and effectively supplies DHW at no cost.

Dimplex has expanded its SCx range of unvented water cylinders to include commercial sizes with capacities from 450 to 4000 l. Each of these stainless-steel cylinders is bespoke designed to individual specification, with the customer choosing the type and number of fittings. There is also a choice of coils to enable cylinders to be integrated with solar thermal, heat pumps and other renewable, as well as gas.

Rada’s Acu digital thermostatic mixing valves are designed to provide touch-free hand-washing for all healthcare applications. Maximum, minimum and default temperatures can be programmed, and these valves also have duty-flush and thermal-disinfection capabilities. (important for controlling legionella), complemented by temperature and data logging.

Tempomatic 3 Electronic taps and mixers from Douglas Delabie now incorporate an anti-legionella automatic flush device. It actives a 45 s flush cycle each 24 h after the last use to prevent water stagnation and bacteria development in the supply pipes.

Reliance Water Controls has introduced a new range of thermostatic mixing valves for water from showers and taps. Heatguard DC3 is TMV3 approved and complies with the NHS DO8 healthcare specification and is suited for hospital and care environments. Heatguard DC2 provides TMV2 protection for homes.

Pegler Yorkshire’s Performa T555 dual-control thermostatic bath and shower mixers enable the water supply to be turned off at the body of the tap using an isolation key. There is no need to remove a bath panel. These mixers are also said to eliminate any possibility of scalding by mixing hot and cold water at a preset temperature — with a maximum of 46°C.

JG Speedfit has introduced a wider and improved WRAS-approved range of fittings for metric-size cold-water services. These fittings have a body of black polypropylene and an improved collet (gripper) with stainless-steel teeth to provide extra grip on the pipe.

Glow-worm has introduced a range of single-coil hot-water cylinders that operate directly from mains water, so they do not need a feed from a cold-water storage tank. There are six cylinders with capacities from 115 to 300 l, and they can work with any boiler in open-vented and sealed systems.