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Rainwater Tanks Empty At Essex Eco Home

Posted: 02/05/2006

Green builder Pat Wilkinson woke at 3am worrying because the tank which collects rainwater at his East Herts eco-house is empty. "What happens if you turn the tap on and no water comes out?" he asked. "The rivers can run dry — the climate is changing. We'll be fighting in the streets for water and food. People will say I'm being alarmist and talking rubbish, but it is a potential outcome."

He was speaking at the site of Touchwood, an impressive four-bedroom house with a range of environmentally friendly features, which he is building in Gravesend, near Albury. The walls are made of recycled bricks, while second-hand tiles have been used on a roof which includes large solar panels and a 2.8kilowatt photovoltaic array for water heating.

There is a back-up mains supply and a wood-burning stove in the event of a particularly bleak winter. An ultraviolet filter and three other filters recycle rainwater collected in the tank, which was full when work began. Recycled newspapers, treated with boron salts and gypsum to reduce flammability, insulate the airtight construction and a heat recovery ventilation system (HRVS) keeps in the warmth.

Wilkinson's son Adam explained: "It uses the hot, moist air out of the bathroom, takes away the heat and moisture, and puts the heat back into the dry air coming from outside, which is then pumped into the bedrooms downstairs. The heat rises to the top, is picked up and the whole process starts again."

Adam, 32, feels big housing companies are too concerned about "chasing the dollar" to worry about the planet. He said: "It's something we've got to be worried about — I used to fish in a river in Much Hadham and there was trout all year round, but that river dries up now. That's changed just in my lifetime."

The Wilkinsons are doing their part by educating people about green building. Wilkinson Builders completed its first energy-efficient house in Hempstead, Essex, 10 years ago and has successfully completed numerous other projects in the South East. They are due to start on another building in Westmill soon.

East Herts Council is considering renting Touchwood for use as an environmentally friendly show home before it is sold on the open market, when it is expected to fetch £700,000.

The house has economical as well as ecological benefits. The environmental features amounted to four per cent of the building costs, with a return on the investment expected within a maximum of five years. Although the photovoltaic panels were expensive at £20,000, half of the cost was met by a Government grant.

The real motivation behind the project, however, is to save the planet. Wilkinson, a member of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth for 20 years, said: "We simply can't carry on as we are — more has got to be done. It's our future and the future of our kids."

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