St Peter’s Street Public Toilets in Yeovil consist of a total of eight cubicles, two of which rely on a rainwater recovery system for flushing. The toilets, operated by Yeovil Town Council, had for years been plagued with issues due to undiagnosed faults with the rainwater recovery system. Having sought the help of multiple engineering firms, who failed to identify or rectify the faults after numerous attempts, Yeovil Town Council contacted WCI for our advice as a last resort before (they believed) conversion to a mains supply would be inevitable.
On visiting the toilets, the WCI service team was able to establish a catalogue of errors due to poor installation and a lack of maintenance. The wiring to the mains water top-up solenoid valve was incorrect and wasn’t connected directly to the incoming live supply. The float switch that controlled the mains water top-up had also failed due to an ingress of water, and during tests this caused the RCD which supplies the unit to trip.
The submersible pump that sat within the rainwater tank did not run when energised due to an electrical fault within the motor. Additionally, the pump was not to the required specification and lacked the floating strainer system that is commonplace and desirable in many rainwater recovery systems. This meant the pump was unable to draw water from just below the surface, increasing the volume of debris entering the system.
After a thorough assessment, Yeovil Town Council was happy to accept our recommendations to bring the rainwater recovery system back to an operational condition and our engineer returned to address the issues he’d highlighted.
Having installed a new pump, mains water top-up float switch, and rectified the electrical connection issues, he was able to switch back from mains to rainwater and check the operation of the system as a whole.
With the rainwater pump running correctly and delivering water to the furthest cubicles, he cleaned leaf filter in the tank, secured the lid with screws and gave it a clean bill of health.
The system now receives a regular six-monthly service from WCI which includes cleaning of all filters, removal and inspection of the pump, and functional and electrical checks. The toilets are now fully operational and saving vast volumes of water every year through effective and reliable rainwater recovery.
If you have a water or wastewater treatment plant that you feel needs our attention get in touch service@wci.co.uk or give us a call on 01984 623404.
