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Flushing your toilet with drinking water? Dual flush toilets/grey water use
Long showers or leaving the water running while brushing your teeth may be thought to be the most wanton waste of water, but the real guzzler of the house is the toilet. Each household member flushes the toilet four or more times daily on average, accounting for more than 20 gal per person. If the toilets in the house were installed before 1994, they account for 40% of the household’s total use of water.
Today homeowners have options to save water. In fact, there are two. Caroma, an Australian company, has dual flush toilets that feature two buttons: one for liquid waste, the other for solid waste. It works on the theory that less water is needed to rid the bowl of liquid than solids. The buttons provide a direct-to-the-consumer means to further conserve water each time the toilet is flushed. Choose to use either .8 or 1.6 gal. The average of the two— .95 gpf— makes a dual flush model the most water-conscious toilet on the market today.
It is a concept made effective by redesigning the flushing technology and enlarging the trapway to nearly double that of the industry average. The look of Caroma toilets is similar to traditional toilets, but inside they function on a unique principle that has allowed the brand to develop a worldwide reputation as the water-saving toilet that is nearly impossible to clog.
There are an estimated 100 million toilets in the U.S. still guzzling 3.5 to 7 gal of water each time they are flushed, well above the 1.6 maximum set by the National Energy Policy Act for toilets sold after 1994. The initial rush by domestic manufacturers to comply with the mandate for low-flush toilets resulted in a spate of toilets that did not perform well. Multiple flushes were often necessary, negating the water savings, and early models were plagued with clogging.
Today’s marketplace is eager to conserve water, but demands efficiency in performance, too. The latest plumbing lingo now includes HET and MaP. A high efficiency toilet has an even higher standard in water usage, reducing flow to 1.28 gal per flush. All HETs are scored for flushing efficiency. The maximum performance score is the best measure yet of a water saving toilet that functions effectively.
Dual flush technology is now one of the leading technologies all over the world, just not yet in North America. But, consumers here are starting to learn about the two button toilet from Down Under, which puts the household toilet way down the list in the water-waster category—well behind the washer, faucets and shower (even short ones). Long showers or leaving the water running while brushing your teeth may be thought to be the most wanton waste of water, but the real ... more -
Desalination creates no waves in UK
It looks like any other giant building site, a phalanx of multi-storey cranes and an emerging skeleton of steel deep inside the unbearably smelly Beckton sewage works in east London.
But by this time next year, what is euphemistically known as the Thames Gateway will rumble into action, using reverse osmosis technology to suck 150 million litres of brackish river water into its innards and disgorge it clean of salt to provide drinking water for close to 900,000 people a day.
It seems almost incomprehensible that London, with its relentlessly grey skies and daily drizzle, should be staring down the barrel of a water shortage. But the city has a burgeoning population (now nudging 8 million) and the rising temperatures that have come with climate change. The demand for water has risen by 15 per cent in less than two decades and a further 800,000 people are expected to throng to the city by 2016.
Now London, which uses 55 per cent of its declining rainfall for drinking water, is being forced to consider the unimaginable: Australian-style sprinkler bans and other water restrictions. A 25-year water management strategy outlined by Thames Water last week ranges from a multimillion-pound investment to replace thousands of kilometres of ageing and leaking pipes to plans for several new reservoirs and dams. Strangely, however, desalination - the solution that has caused the most consternation in Australia - has barely raised a ripple of protest in Britain.
On the drawing board since 2001, the £300 million ($622 million) plant, which Thames Water calls an "insurance policy", has quietly been under construction for a couple of years. The fact that it is being built in an area already dominated by the sewage works - not residential development - makes a big difference (although the Olympic site is very close by).
The only real objections came from the former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, who was furious about the plant's enormous carbon footprint, estimated at 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year. He demanded that Thames Water stem its leaks - estimated at one-third of all water used - before it desalinated. In the end, a public inquiry forced a switch to completely renewable energy sources, probably bio-diesel, while Livingstone's court challenge to the Government's planning approval is likely to be jettisoned after Boris Johnson replaced him at City Hall.
Livingstone and green groups fought side by side against the plant but Londoners and their neighbours, it seems, were unfazed by the notion of drinking "dry-cleaned" water. Their protests targeted NIMBY fears sparked by new reservoirs in South London and Oxfordshire and hip-pocket fears sparked by installation of individual water meters.
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Looks like Thames Water is now using their perceived water crisis after being negligent in fixing leaks in infrastructure to make money for themselves. Desalination is a last resort because it is only a bandaid, is very expensive, and is a technology that wastes much CO2. It is actually a technology that precipitates the very conditions that lead to drought. Sorry, not a good move in my opinion. It looks like any other giant building site, a phalanx of multi-storey cranes and an emerging skeleton of steel deep inside the unbear... more -
Turning Grey Into Green: Greywater Recycling Systems
First a word about something called "greywater". Greywater is basically washwater. As homeowners, we make a lot of it each day. It's all wastewater excepting toilet wastes and food wastes derived from garbage grinders. Homeowners make a lot of it each day, and no surprise, it can be re-used in your home for toilet flushing and watering gardens. Good for you, your water bill and good for the environmentespecially in drought stricken parts of the country where water is scarce. Especially when the Georgia Environmental Protection Division has recently declared a level four drought for sixty-one counties in the state.
The greywater technology, in this case a "Brac System", is designed to receive greywater -- that's water coming from your bath, shower, laundry and air conditioner. The greywater is filtered and treated bythe system, then sent on-demand for toilet flushing. By using recycled greywater for toilet flushing instead of using potable water, a typical homeowner can save 30% or more on water consumption. Most homes generate more greywater than what is needed for toilet flushing. The excess greywater is drained into the home’s sewer line, or it can be used with an irrigation system on your yard or garden. Due to plumbing considerations, this particular Brac System is more easily installed during new construction or major renovations of homes. This particular greywater recycling system was named by Sustainable Industries Magazine to its list of “Top 10 Green Building Products 2007”.
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In this case, a 53 gallon (two hundred liter) unit was installed in the home of Christine and Curt Mann by Mark Spencer of Sautee, Georgia. The Mann’s home is a meticulously renovated 1920s-era residence in Atlanta’s historic Grant Park neighborhood. Roger Cone of Southern Energy Solutions says that this Brac Greywater Recycling System is the first of its kind to be installed in Atlanta.
This is the first Brac Greywater Recycling System installed in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. The City of Atlanta Bureau of Buildings approved the system. First a word about something called "greywater". Greywater is basically washwater. As homeowners, we make a lot of it each d... more -
Grey water for outdoor plants
The United States uses more water per individual than any other country in the world. We need to find easy, consumer friendly ways of recycling water. Household grey water is perfectly acceptable for most outdoor watering whether in drought cycles or not. Reclaiming water from showers and baths is the easiest and also less likely to have other bacteria. From all the sources consulted there does not appear to be a problem watering lawns and plants with grey water. More research needs to be given to water vegetable gardens. Grey water is bath, laundry rinse water NOT black water from toilets. The United States uses more water per individual than any other country in the world. We need to find easy, consumer friendly ways of... more
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Flush your toilet with recycled gray water
When you think about it why did we ever start flushing toilets with fresh water? Surely we can do better than that? Can there be any problem with using grey water for flushing if for no other area? I think in CA you can use some grey water for watering outdoor lawns and plants. Need to check regulations for your area. When you think about it why did we ever start flushing toilets with fresh water? Surely we can do better than that? Can there be any... more
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Bottles Cans and Tires
Byproducts of modern society turned into green home building. Take a quick tour of Earthships and see how bottles, cans and tires are used to create these dynamic self sufficient homes. Byproducts of modern society turned into green home building. Take a quick tour of Earthships and see how bottles, cans and tires are ... more
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Grey Water
