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saltydrawers

Common Greywater Mistakes and Preferred Practices - 0 views

  • Only Looks Like a Tempest when You're in the Teapot > Bad news: > Greywater reuse offers much more benefits than are realized > in most systems. > Good news: > Even the worst shortfalls in greywater design rarely cause > actual harm, and for the few that do, it's not much. > For every hundred greywater users in the US, probably 15 are achieving most > of the benefit they should, eighty-some could do better, and a few systems have > overall negative net benefit. > Of these, most have an overbuilt system—the problem is that the ecological > cost of the pumps and pipe are greater than the saved water. > Perhaps one greywater user in a thousand is discharging diaper greywater directly > to a water way, which is about the only way you can create a significant health > hazard. Almost all such systems date from a time when the ecosystem was much > bigger and the human imprint much smaller. > There has not been one documented case of greywater transmitted illness > in the US. > In our area, we have curbside recycling of mixed recyclables as well as trash > pick up. > I've observed that well-meaning citizens put plenty of stuff which looks vaguely > recyclable but is not in their recycling bins (e.g., polystyrene packing), as > well as totally recyclable materials in in a form which is impractical to recycle, > like thousands of bits of loose paper, broken glass, and specs of plastic. At > the sorting facility, they send this sort of stuff to the landfill. > For some households, the percentage of their recyclables which are actually > recycled is as low as 20%, though it could be 95% with good information. This > does not mean recycling is dangerous or illegal. > This is a totally different kind of "failure" than, say, burning > PVC in the backyard (which forms clouds of carcinogenic dioxin). These folks > just need to know what they're doing wrong, and how to do it better. > The aim of this web page is to share with greywater users and regulators > what they're doing wrong. The aim of our > greywater > books > is to detail how to do it better. > Please bear in mind as you read the exhaustive litany of "problems" > that even the most pathetically misguided attempts at greywater reuse still > wind up showing some net benefit relative to the alternatives. > Here's an overview of the failure of greywater reuse to achieve more of the > benefit which it easily could: > Most new complex grey water reuse systems are > abandoned, most simple ones achieve less than 10% irrigation efficiency within > five years. > If grey water treatment systems were built according > to overdone legal requirements, many would consume so much energy and materials > to save so little water that the Earth would be better off if the water were > just wasted instead. > Claims made for packaged grey water filtration > systems are often inflated. Some are very expensive and many don't work. > Some also have the preceding problem. > The majority of successful grey water recycling > systems are so simple and inexpensive they are beneath recognition by regulators, > manufacturers, consultants, and salespeople. > A web search on "grey water" "greywater" > "gray water" or "graywater" will yield hundreds examples > of the errors below. Many are designs from the early 70's, reprinted on the > web as cutting edge, despite having been discredited in the field for twenty > years. >
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    Gray water solutions
saltydrawers

Inhabitat » iSAVE Water-Saving Faucets - 0 views

  • Inhabitat May 8, 2007 iSAVE Water-Saving Faucets by Jorge Whether you live in a drought-plagued region or you’re just trying to be efficient, there are a myriad reasons to conserve water. That’s why we love the iSAVE faucet by Reamon Yu- a design so clever and efficient that it was recently chosen as a runner-up in the Metropolis Magazine Next Generation awards. The gadget easily attaches to your sink or showerhead to provide a digital readout of the amount of water that was being used in a shower. What’s more, iSAVE is powered by energy generated by the water passing through it using a small turbine embedded the device.
saltydrawers

Inhabitat » GREEN ROOF TILES by Toyota Roof Garden - 0 views

  • GREEN ROOF TILES by Toyota Roof Garden by Emily While green roofs may be universally accepted as wonderfully sustainable landscapes for a myriad reasons, the thought of installing one atop your own home may nevertheless seem daunting, expensive, and difficult to maintain. But the folks from Toyota Roof Gardens (a subsidiary of the Prius-creating car company) have solved your green roof installation qualms with a tile-based system that’s as easy as laying down carpet. The TM9 self-watering turf tiles measure twenty inches square, and connect directly to irrigation systems, making them entirely self-watering. And at a slim 2 inches thick, the tiles lightweight and do not require any additional structural upgrading to your existing roof. At only $43 per tile, the TM9 system provides a modular, easy-to-install, cost-effective option for green-minded homeowners. In terms of maintenance, the tiles need only be cut once a year, thanks to a special breed of Korean velvet grass. And of course, like all green roofs, you’ll rest easy knowing that your easy installation is providing a natural cooling effect, thermal insulation, and a little extra flora in your home environment. + Toyota Roof Garden Via GreenGeek
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    this may be an expensive option. $27 per square foot. also does not absorb water/requires irrigation, so cannot be considered a particularly sustainable product.
saltydrawers

www.agreenroof.com - 0 views

  • Aerial Advertising function doRollover(elem, rollover_color, text_color){ // set background color of TD if (elem.parentNode){ // IE5, IE6 and Netscape 6 if (rollover_color == 'transparent'){ // Netscape does not like the word "transparent". elem.parentNode.bgColor = ''; } else{ elem.parentNode.bgColor=rollover_color; } } else if (elem.parentElement && elem.parentElement.setAttribute){ // IE4. elem.parentElement.setAttribute("bgColor", rollover_color); } else{ // Netscape 4.6x or 4.7x //alert("Must be Netscape! do nothing"); } // set color of the link text if (elem.children){ // IE4, IE5, IE6 and Netscape 6 elem.children(0).style.color=text_color; } } Home Business Opportunity Green Roof Info Extensive Green Roof System Intensive Green Roof System Hybrid System Living Wall System Purchase Living Wall Panels Aerial Advertising Green Roof Comparisons: Why EZ Green and Green Living Roofs? Benefits Plant Material FAQ News and Links Green Roof Studies Free Quote
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    Green roof and wall company. 
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    Given google earth, this is a fantastic idea...
saltydrawers

Inhabitat » RUBBERSIDEWALKS - 0 views

  • Across the country, cities constantly struggle with public safety and ongoing financial burdens caused by tree roots lifting cracked concrete sidewalks. Rubbersidewalks offer a convenient solution to this problem. The modular sidewalk system allows air and water to reach the soil below, and can be pulled apart for easy tree and root maintenance, decreasing the need for urban tree removal. Rubbersidewalks are made of 100% recycled tire rubber. The waste rubber from one passenger tire creates one-square-foot of Rubbersidewalk, helping to recycle the more than 34 million passenger tires disposed in California alone. At the end of their lifecycle (at least 14 years), Rubbersidewalk pavers can be recollected and recycled back into the manufacturing process.
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    Interesting for Panama
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