Rainwater Harvesting coming to Clepington Road

Already home to one of the UK’s largest EV fleets, Dundee City Council will unveil a fourth charging hub in Clepington Road later this year, taking yet another step towards becoming the greenest city in Europe.

Having already saved more than 1,840 tonnes of CO2 through our EV fleet, we’re now collaborating with traffic technology group SWARCO to ensure this new charging hub will be our most innovative to date. This will include a state-of-the-art drinking water filtration system courtesy of the award-winning experts at Bluewater, a Swedish global water purification and beverage company that is shaping the future of sustainable hydration at work, rest, and play.

A state-of-the-art water filtration system

The new filtration system will capture rainwater from the solar canopy roof and filter it through a state-of-the-art purifying process, powered using energy from the charging hub’s solar panels. In doing this, we not only limit CO2 emissions, but also help build greater resilience and reduce the demand on the municipality’s water supply. The new Bluewater dispensers – equipped with 55” TV screens for multimedia
messaging about topics including sustainability and hydration – will provide free purified and chilled drinking water, representing a major step by Dundee to reduce consumption of single-use plastic bottled beverages. EV drivers using the new Clepington Road hub will now be able to fill their own refillable bottles with free purified drinking water on site.

Bluewater has worked in collaboration with GRAF - a market leader in rainwater harvesting technologies - to design the bespoke water management system for Clepington Road and the site will include a 5,000-litre low-profile underground water storage tank. Bluewater technical specialists have developed a multi-stage treatment process for the harvested rainwater, incorporating catalytic carbon backwashing filtration, Ozone treatment, and Reverse Osmosis purification. The solution will enable pure and delicious drinking water to be produced directly from rainwater on site at Clepington Road, reducing the demand on municipal water systems while also avoiding the wasteful and polluting impacts associated with single-use plastic bottles.

What is Rainwater Harvesting and how will Dundee Council use it?

· Dundee Council’s rainwater harvesting system processes the water quicker
due to the purification process and the solar panels, instead of being utilised
at a later point
· Rainwater is free from salinity and pollutants that can be found in
groundwater, making it the perfect choice for drinking purposes once
purified
· Rainwater harvesting minimises pressure on natural water resources and
improves environmental sustainability
· Dundee’s canopy roof uses gravity for water flow and solar energy, reducing
the electricity required by traditional water pump systems
Future plans for Dundee Council’s EV infrastructure

Future Plans for Dundee Council’s EV infrastructure

Dundee plans to expand all of its EV infrastructure with these water purifying machines when the goal of having a charging hub every 500m is met. Clean water can then be accessed by every ½ km for all of the city’s residents and visitors. The council aims to make Dundee fleet’s cars, small and medium vans 100% electric by the end of 2023, following the plans of adding second life battery energy storage solutions in addition to rainwater harvesting.

About Bluewater 

Bluewater has set its sights on being the world’s most planet-friendly beverage company by innovating disruptive water purification technologies for home, work and play. Providing health-enhancing hydration solutions which are generated and distributed at point of use, combined with reusable stainless steel and glass bottles, allows Bluewater to break the stranglehold of single-use plastic bottles and their
unnecessary, polluting transportation. Bluewater products are available to consumers, hotel and catering operations, and event and venue organisations in Europe, the USA, the UK, China, South-East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Bluewater has been honoured with two Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards, a K& B Kitchen Innovation of the Year Award and recognised for its sustainability efforts by numerous other publications.