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With water shortages reported across the globe – we are increasingly becoming aware of the fragility of this planet’s future and our place within it. We have huge quantities of water on the ‘blue planet’, yet only 2% of it fresh water. We have a growing population, set to hit 9 billion by 2042. Not unreasonably, they will all want drinking water, bathing water, better food and a better quality of life – all of which demand more high quality water.

So first of all let’s ask the fundamental question – why do we want to ‘harvest’ rainwater? The answer. Because it’s free and with the changing weather patterns it often arrives in huge quantities that sees much of it wasted as it makes its way into the river network or worse, it results in floods that can damage crops and cause soil erosion – neither of which are helpful to a world that needs more food and more land to grow it on.

We currently collectively participate in a major waste of expensive, cleaned water. For years, here in the UK we have happily ‘polished’ the water supply before flushing it down the toilet. Do we need to use potable – drinkable water to flush our toilets, to wash our cars, to water our gardens? The answer is no.

Rainwater is in the main clean and an excellent source of water for those tasks that don’t involve drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. It would make huge sense is if all homes and businesses had two sources of water – one for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene and another for flushing toilets and washing cars and arguably our clothes too. That might happen in time but in the meantime, many people are looking at the option of voluntarily harvesting the rainwater that falls on their roofs, that then makes its way through a mesh filter, into a holding tank, usually underground, before pumping it from that tank to be used in a number of non-potable applications. This can clearly reduce the demand on the potable water supply provided by the water companies and it can reduce water costs – particularly if you have a metered water supply.

Across the world, rainwater harvesting technology is being considered much earlier in the planning and construction process. There’s no problem adding rainwater harvesting technology to an existing building, but if it’s planned into a new building as part of the construction process, it clearly makes storage of rainwater and distribution of that rainwater to the required outlets in the building far simpler.

Leading pump manufacturer Wilo has been offering rainwater harvesting solutions to its customers for many years. An excellent recent example of the technology in action is in Northern Ireland – a part of the world that gets its fair share of rain of course!

The stunning new Belfast Metropolitan College project at the Titanic Quarter is an exciting one with which to be associated. Wilo has developed an enviable record across Northern Ireland for the quality of its products and the expertise it can share with its customers, and it was pleased to be able to play a major part in this landmark project.

Wilo was selected to supply the project’s pumping hardware for contractors the Harvey Group after a competitive pitch, through merchant, BSS in Belfast. Wilo was proud to supply all the key pumps for the project including those for the heating and air conditioning systems, the potable water pressure boosters and a rainwater harvesting system that ensures the toilets flush throughout the building, utilising the huge quantities of rainwater that are captured from the roof of the building, stored underground in collection tanks and pumped around the building to save using expensive drinking water to flush the loos.

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Creating a unique bedside bracket for the suites of Norwegian Epic cruise ship, Chelsom teamed a contemporary chrome LED reading bracket with a stunning shade which stretches soft white PVC across a multi-faceted frame. An internal wrapped cylinder diffuses the light source to provide subtle illumination for these luxury staterooms.

Designed in part by Tillberg Design, cruise line specialists, the interior design scheme throughout the ship is fresh and fun, offering innovative and flexible accommodation for a variety of guests. The lighting brief required contemporary fittings throughout the ship which were highly functional yet unique in appearance.

Will Chelsom, who spearheads the Chelsom cruise lighting division comments, “this bespoke design cleverly blends two of our best selling ranges into a striking fitting which is perfect for this environment. The LED flexi-arm offers excellent reading light; the main part of the fittings is low energy and finished in contemporary chrome and the PVC shade is very easy to maintain.”

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To coincide with the launch of its latest TV advert, Beko plc, one of the UK’s leading appliance manufacturers, has updated its UK website (www.beko.co.uk) to give consumers an even better experience, featuring easier navigation and an integrated look and feel with the brand’s on-going marketing initiatives.

The new look for the website has been designed with both new and existing customers in mind, to ensure that they can quickly navigate to the product information or page they are seeking. The cleaner layout features clear visual clues such as product imagery to guide consumers through the site.

In addition to product specifications and information for existing customers, the website will host the brand’s latest news as well as videos of current ad campaigns and advice to help consumers choose their perfect appliance.

Teresa Arbuckle, Marketing Director of Beko plc, comments: “We have invested heavily in marketing the Beko brand this year through spending on print and broadcast advertising, our sponsorship of the FA Cup and long-running Facebook initiative, Beko Mums United. The new-look Beko website acts as an information hub – not just a directory of products but a resource for new and existing customers to find products, choose an appliance or see the latest installment of our popular baby Billy TV campaign.”

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Setting new standards in customer support, Wavin has launched an online newsletter and web-based advice service that is totally free and developed specifically to support professional plumbing and heating installers.

Plumbed-in brings together all Wavin’s market-leading brands like Hep2O, OSMA, Hepworth and Thermoboard onto one platform that shows how they provide an integrated solution to all domestic plumbing heating and drainage.

The Plumbed-in email not only gives news, tips and know-how but also provides updates on the latest products and ideas. Online, professionals can register on the website www.plumbed-in.com to receive news, tips and technical features with expert advice on everything from underfloor heating to push-fit plumbing.

Whether by email or website, subscribers to Plumbed-in will be the first to hear the latest offers and promotions from the UK’s leading supplier of water management, plumbing, heating and drainage systems for the Building, Construction and Utilities markets.

The website offers detailed advice from Wavin’s technical team, which offers all the help needed for any aspect of domestic installations, together with an email enquiry service to deal with any practical query. Not only are there specialist heating engineer and plumbing zones but the site offers downloads to help with every element of everyday work. These include product and technical literature, video guides and demonstrations, press articles and features.

The move is Wavin’s recognition that customers are becoming far more familiar with digital formats and that these offer significant benefits, being faster to update and more accessible to customers as well as being sustainable as they require no paper, ink or logistics.

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Interior designers will be able to share their creative vision with clients in an instant with a new, free iPad app from Dulux Trade paints. The Dulux Trade Colour Concept app allows professional designers and architects to bring their ideas to life by quickly and effortlessly creating concept boards.

Via the application, designers can choose from an array of shades in the Dulux Trade Colour Palette, explore coordinating colours and draw inspiration from a gallery of images to bring together their concept on screen. What's more, designers can upload and incorporate their own images into a mood board and match them up with existing Dulux Trade paint colours.

Ideas can also be combined, edited and reworked with ease on the free form interactive canvas which designers are able to annotate to add useful project tips and information. The creative concept boards can then instantly be shared with clients, colleagues and other designers online or via email.

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As the UK’s leading developer of electrical software, AMTECH offers a complete electrical design solution for electrical engineers and consultants working on major projects.

The complete range includes ProDesign for fast, accurate electrical system design and calculation, SingleCable for quick single cable calculations and Protect LV or HV for protection studies and device selection. Designer Suite packages also incorporate PowerNet HV for the calculation of short circuit currents in low and high voltage distribution systems.

These market leading design software packages are available in a range of levels so that users can select the functionality that best suits their needs – all designed to accommodate the changes being introduced in Amendment 1 to the 17th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS 7671).

With high performance functionality and full integration between ProDesign, Protect and FastTest Test & Inspection software, AMTECH software helps users work smarter with major time savings and productivity improvements.

The top 20 electrical consulting companies choose AMTECH… Why not join them today?

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New TROX FLEXTRO flexible plenum boxes, available for circular or square ceiling air diffusers, provide valuable practical advantages due to their innovative design. They provide a high degree of architectural flexibility, meaning that they can be fitted with a wide variety of ceiling diffusers. They can also be integrated into any kind of ceiling system, guaranteeing fast, problem-free installation into grid, plaster or profiled ceilings.

In addition, the innovative ‘collapsible’ design means that the FLEXTRO plenum box can be transported and stored ‘flat’ – making them just one third of the height of a standard steel construction plenum box. This capability, combined with a light-weight construction (50% of the weight of a standard plenum box) has significant logistical advantages. Transport and storage volume is reduced by 60%, offering easy handling at reduced cost.

FLEXTRO also incorporates a number of features for superior air handling control and performance, including an acoustically optimised damper blade for flow rate balancing, and a connecting spigot with a double lip seal and interlock in 15° increments from 0 to 90°. These features contribute to improved air distribution, across the whole of the face of the plenum, with lower noise, for high levels of comfort in the occupied zone.

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The new XARTO range of swirl diffusers from TROX features a choice of beautiful and elegant face plate designs to meet the widest range of interior design requirements. The XARTO range also offers performance advantages, with improved mixing and lower sound power levels at high volume flow rates.

New XARTO swirl diffusers are available with a choice of ten diffuser face plate configuration variations, manufactured in galvanised steel. These provide interior design consultants with a large selection of aesthetic options, so that every creative or architectural concept can be realised.

The design of the plenum box has also been given careful consideration, to ensure the units combine aesthetic appeal with superior air handling performance. The air distribution element benefits from high quality ABS polymer construction and includes an acoustically optimised damper for flow rate balancing, and a spigot featuring a double lip seal. Improved mixing, low pressure drop and low noise enable the units to achieve excellent comfort levels in the occupied zone, even with comparatively high volume flow rates

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