Direct Feed or Gravity Feed

One of the first decisions about the type of Rainwater Harvesting System you are going to purchase is how you want to control the water around the home.

Please note if you are only looking to use the rainwater for the garden you do not need to read this page, unless of course you have never thought of using it for the home.

There are two types of systems, Direct Feed and Gravity Feed and hopefully below we will explain the two different types.

As a starting point if you do not have a loft space i.e flat roof or building in the loft then your only option is a Direct Feed System.

Our Rainwater Harvesting Direct Feed System is designed for the home owner to collect, filter and store rainwater within an underground tank for both domestic and garden irrigation purposes.

Rainwater is classed as non-potable, allowing water to be used for toilets and washing machines. Together with garden use, this equates to around 50% off your incoming water.

In this system, water is fed directly from the submersible pump in the underground tank to each appliance.

Due to the submersible pump featuring pressure sensitivity, whenever a toilet is flushed, the pump will register a drop in pressure, then pump until the cistern is full and automatically switch itself off again.

Should the rainwater tank ever run dry in drought periods, the system is provided with a mains water backup – the Rain Backup in a Box® 

The system uses a level sensor in the tank to open a solenoid valve within the control unit to allow around 200L of mains water to enter the tank.

The mains water back up device used in our direct feed system is designed to deliver a small amount of mains water to ensure all domestic appliances are kept fully functioning during times when the underground rainwater tank has insufficient water due to lack of rain fall.

Our innovative low energy Gravity Feed Rainwater Harvesting System, specified to nearly all customers when a small header tank can be situated in a loft space.

The system works by pumping from the underground tank, through a control unit, into a Smart Header Tank within the loft space.

Water is then gravity fed to toilets and washing machines. The Rain Director® has huge benefits over traditional systems.

Most systems start and stop the pump every time the toilet is flushed, meaning the pump cycles 15-20 times per day. The Rain Director® uses 6-8 times less energy than a traditional system by completely filling the Smart Header Tank, then not using the pump again until the Smart Header Tank is nearly empty.

This reduces pump cycles to around 1-2 per day, and therefore greatly reduces energy consumption and pump wear & tear.

Should rainwater ever run low in the underground tank, the system automatically registers and delivers mains water directly to the Smart Header Tank. This means your toilets will work in every eventuality- low rainwater, pump failure or even power cut.

The system also features intelligence such as a “Mains Water Mode” to divert the home onto mains water, so rainwater can be conserved for the garden if hosepipe bans are being introduced.

Unlike any other gravity feed system, the Rain Director® also features a “Holiday Mode” recycling the water in the loft space every 3 days if it has not been used to prevent stagnation.

• Low energy system 6-8 times less energy than other systems

• Provides water in every eventuality- low rainwater, pump failure or even power cut

• Fully WRAS Approved• Intelligent user functions

• Prevents water quality issues/stagnation

• Reduces pump wear & tear

• Silent operation

• Plumber friendly push-fit connections and installation guide