Graf UK Ltd is one of the fastest growing suppliers of sustainable water management systems in the UK, focusing on three main areas: preventing flooding in increasingly extreme weather conditions through stormwater management; preventing sewage being discharged into our water courses; and putting the precious resource of rainwater to good use through rainwater harvesting. This is achieved through products which are manufactured from nearly 100% recycled plastics.
Established in 2014, Graf UK is part of the wider Graf Group, which has origins dating back to 1962. The company offers four main product groups based around water management for the construction industry. “These are stormwater management, wastewater treatment, rainwater harvesting plants, and garden products, such as water butts and compost bins,” explained Matthew Rolph, Managing Director. “The majority of these are produced from post-consumer recycled plastic waste – it can’t be 100% because some products can’t be manufactured this way, but the majority are.
“This ties in with our other environmental benefits. Most of what we do is all around saving water. Our stormwater management products and rainwater harvesting products are focused on conserving water and preventing flooding, and we also offer reduced power consumption on sewage treatment plants.”
The company’s wastewater treatment product range spans everything from cesspools to septic tanks to full sewage treatment plants, ensuring there is something to suit any application. As well as supplying the systems, Graf UK offers design, installation, commissioning and maintenance/servicing.
There are a range of different wastewater treatment systems depending on your needs, and if you are not connected to the main sewer network, then you will need to install some form of sewage treatment system to process the wastewater into a form that can be safely drained into your local water course or discharged into a soakaway. Graf UK’s website features full details on its different treatment systems and encourages customers to get in touch so it can advise on which one is best suited to your needs.
Similarly, Graf UK offers a range of different rainwater harvesting systems which offer a straightforward way of collecting rainwater. There are four main underground tanks that can be used for rainwater harvesting, and Graf UK’s packages are available for any of the tanks. More information on each system and Graf UK’s standard packages can be found on the website.
This year, Graf UK is seeing increased interest in its wastewater treatment and rainwater harvesting systems. “These are what we are spending most of our time working on and that are continuing to grow. We’ve also noticed that we’re dealing with a lot more self-builders now than we ever have before. I don’t know if this is COVID-related or not, but the self-build market has grown significantly for us, which has allowed us to carry on through the pandemic and lockdown.
“A lot of self-builders are particularly interested in saving and reusing rainwater and the benefits this provides. Additionally, they can’t connect to mains drainage for sewage disposal, so they are having to purchase sewage treatment plants as well.”
This is not the only change Graf UK has seen this year. “A key thing we’ve done this year is that we’ve taken our garden products and created an e-commerce site for them, which was driven by the fact people are spending more time at home and in their gardens. Because this was so successful, we’ll be doing a similar thing with our rainwater harvesting systems. Some self-builders or people doing extensions to their home are considering rainwater harvesting systems, so we’ll be selling them on their own e-commerce site.”
Looking to the future, Graf UK will be continuing its admirable work in offering sustainable water management systems for the construction industry, as well as adding value to the market with training schemes. “We’re going to start training installers for servicing and maintenance of wastewater treatment systems. We usually run seminars in Banbury for installers to become accredited service providers. We managed to do some of these this year, but obviously couldn’t do as many as we wanted to due to the pandemic.
“We’re looking forward to doing more of these in 2021 to help build a growing network of trained personnel that can look after the systems. This is mainly for wastewater treatment systems, with some involvement in the rainwater harvesting systems as well.”
If you would like to find out more information on everything Graf UK offers, head to the website or get in touch using the contact details below.
Contact
T +44 (0)1608 661500
info@grafuk.co.uk
www.grafuk.co.uk