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Water (catching it, saving it, treating it, using less of it, reusing it)

DIY projects to harvest rainwater, reduce water use, and reuse water.

I suppose that the only thing we waste more of than energy is water, and the consequences are probably just as bad -- maybe worse. Here are some practical ways to get started changing that.

Rainwater Harvesting
Greywater Reuse
Solar Water Distillation (Solar Stills)
Advanced Toilets
Efficient Plant Watering
Natural Swimming Pools
Random Water Ideas

Water stuff on other pages:

Solar water pumping
Solar water heating

Questions?
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Water Catchment -- catching rainwater for people, plants, and livestock
The Texas Manual On Rainwater Harvesting Manual, Texas Water Development Board	Very good how-to on designing and building a rainwater catchment system. Intended for Texas residents, but much of the material is widely applicable.
Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged, Suzy Banks with Richard Heinichen	Really good how-to book on rainwater collection systems. Nice, down-to-earth style. The authors have installed many systems, and appear to know the subject well. About the only down side is that the book only covers southern climates, and may need a bit of adjusting for other places.
Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Montana, MSU Extension Service	A fairly basic guide on rainwater harvesting systems for Montana. Most of the material is applicable to other areas.
Harvesting Rainwater for Landscape Use, Ratricia Waterfall, Extension Agent, University of Arizona 2nd edition, October, 2004 http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1344.pdf	Good guide on collection of rainwater for landscape watering purposes. The 60 page guide includes both simple systems that redirect rainwater for landscape watering, as well as complex systems that include storage.
Design for Water, Heather Kinkade-Levario	A very good and up-to-date book on rain water harvesting, stormwater catchment, and water reuse. Covers passive systems that catch and control storm water as well as active systems that store rain water for later use for drinking or landscape irrigation. Sufficient detail to support designing and building your own system. Lots of fairly detailed descriptions of residential and commercial systems. 235 pages, 2007.
Water From the Sky, Micheal Reynolds Earthship Store: http://www.earthship.net Amazon.com appears to have a better price http://www.amazon.com/Water-Sky-Michael-Reynolds/dp/0962676756	This very good book covers all aspects of the impressive Earthship water system, including roof water catchment, cisterns, water distribution, grey water and black water treatment, and grey water reuse. Earthships are typically have complete water independence -- they capture all of their water needs on the roof, and they don't export sewage -- all in a climate with 8 inches of annual rainfall. The book covers thirty years worth of lessons learned in designing these systems.
Rainwater Harvesting, Practical Action http://practicalaction.org	A practical guide on building fairly simple rainwater collection systems. Also provides information on sizing collection and storage areas.
NOAA NOAA CLIM20 Report: NOAA CLIM20 Weather Summaries by City All NOAA Weather Products http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html	The NOAA CLIM20 report is available as a free download, and has historic precipatation data that may be useful for planning a rain collection system (for example, probability that rainfall will be less than a given level)
Ersson Rainwater Harvest and Purification The How-To: http://ersson.sustainabilitylane.com/rainwatr.htm Related article: http://ersson.sustainabilitylane.com/oregonian.htm All from the Experiments in Sustainable Urban Living website	.Fairly detailed description a system for collecting and treating rainwater. Covers building and operating the system.
A Nice, Simple Rainwater Storage Setup Details...	John's system uses a nice direct connection of the roof gutter system to an water storage tank under the deck. Details...
Rainwater Harvesting with Multiple Barrels www.kidsfromkanata.org/~kfk/files/rainbarrels.html	A well thought out scheme for adding together any number of barrels for rain water catchment. Complete with good plumbing diagrams, and even a water level gage. (if supporting the barrels as shown is a problem, it would probably be possible to make the plumbing connection to each barrel down low on the side)
Build A Simple Rain Barrel, Maryland Environmental Design Program http://www.dnr.state.md.us/ed/rainbarrel.html Another rain barrel collector design, and notes on using the water: http://www.wizardanswers.com/rain-barrel.html	Describes building a simple barrel for catching rainwater for landscape watering.
Rain Barrel to Toilet Installation www.geocities.com/pmm1018/rain_barrel1.html	Very good and detailed description of how to use water collected in a rain barrel for toilet flushing.
How to Build Your Own Rainwater Catchment System - A Simple Cost Efficient Approach, Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, Humboldt State University www.humboldt.edu and, pdf with some added material	"Having your own rainwater catchment is just a weekend of work away." Some helpful information on how to design an build a rainwater catchment system.
Rainwater Harvesting http://geopathfinder.com/9566.html	Pretty complete story on a rainwater harvesting system in use since 1984. Quite a bit of how to build and how to use such a system.
Suggestions for Installing Domestic Water Storage Tanks (in freezing climates), Building In Alaska	Some guidelines on installing buried or insulated tanks for water in cold climates.
Ferro Cement Tanks http://ferrocement.com/tankBook/indici.en.html	Quite a detailed free online book on how to construct a ferro cement water tank.
Build a 6500 gallon Concrete Water Tank for $1500, Dorothy Ainsworth, Backwoods Home Magazine www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ainsworth101.html	Pretty detailed article from Backwoods Home Magazine on building a large concrete water tank to store water for home and irrigation. Lots of work, but it has held up for 23 years and counting. Could probably also be used as a heat storage tank in solar heating systems.
Portable Water Catchment and Shelter for Livestock Full build-it details ...	Ray's combination water catchment and shelter for livestock. The system collects and filters water from the roof of the shelter, stores it in plastic water barrels, and makes the water available with a float controlled water basin. Made entirely with common, hardware store materials. Full details ...
Collecting Water for Wildlife http://www.oasisguzzler.com ...	Plans and information that would be helpful in building a wildlife "watering hole" with rain collection.
Greywater Reuse Reusing grey water for yard watering or toilet flushing reduces water demand, and reduces the volume of sewage to be treated by municipal treatment plants.
Oasis Design -- Grey Water Central www.oasisdesign.net/greywater/index.htm	A good site on grey water reuse basics. The system described are simple and have been field proven.
GreyWater dot Com http://www.greywater.com/ The Greywater Guerrillas http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/greywater.html	Two more sources of practical greywater reuse information.
Occidental Greywater, Appropedia.org www.appropedia.org/Occidental_greywater	This article covers building a system to divert and treat grey water for reuse in landscape irrigation.
Greywater Ecuador La Largrima Purifificadora, Appropedia.org www.appropedia.org	Construction of a grey water purification bed. Quite a bit of detail on laying out and building the bed, liner, grease trap, ...
Grey Water Marsh, Campus Center for Appropriate Technology, Humboldt State University www.humboldt.edu	Fairly detailed article on how to design, build, and use a grey water treatment marsh.
Domestic Wastewater, David Abazs How to get articles from Home Power ...	Home Power Magazine article, issue 89. David describes installing a grey water irrigation system on their off-grid home. Also provides some information on composting toilets.
Sample soil beds for greywater irrigation and infiltration http://www.greywater.com/samples.htm	Some pictures of grey water systems using plant beds.
EPA Constructed Wetland Website EPA reference site on constructing wetlands www.epa.gov Handbook of Constructed Wetlands www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/hand.pdf Volume 2 of this handbook (Domestic Water) is here ..	EPA website with much material on designing and building wetlands for water treatment. Including a 53 page EPA handbook on constructing wetlands for treating water.
BRAC Grey Water Recycling System http://www.bracsystems.com/home.html	The BRAC system reuses grey water from the shower and laundry to flush toilets. Since about 30% of household water use goes to flush toilets, this can result in a significant saving in water use.
Greywater System for Clothes Washer Water www.lochin.us/en/Home_Projects/ Look under Sustainability	Details on a simple system to reuse the laundry water for plant watering.
Grey water for greenhouse heating and plant watering See also greenhouses and sunspaces section ... .	Using grey water for greenhouse plant watering and as a source of heat for the greenhouse seems like a potentially good way to go. I've included the (meager) information I have been able to find on this below. If you have other information, pictures, ... please let me know -- Gary. www.greywater.com/treatment.htm And, www.greywater.com/samples.htm Greywater treatment with some discussion of GH use A GH that use greywater An overview of a greenhouse that uses greywater for watering and heating.
Hydroponic Bog Garden http://www.instructables.com/ ...	Details on constructing a bog garden to treat waste water and grow water loving plants.
Water Purification For Drinking
Water Pasteurization Indicator Indicates when water has reached a high enough temperature to kill harmful microbes. http://solarwapi.blogspot.com/	"The reusable WAPI (Water Pasteurization Indicator) is a simple, low cost device containing a special soy wax that helps users determine when water has reached pasteurization temperatures. The wax melts at the same temperature as the water is pasteurized." (Thanks to Paul for finding this)
Solar Stills Solar powered water distillation..
UNDERSTANDING SOLAR STILLS Horace McCracken and Joel Gordes VITA Paper	Very complete VITA paper describing a wide variety of solar stills for making potable water. A good deal of design and construction information.
Solar Stills, From Practical Action.org http://www.appropedia.org/Solar_distillation_TB	Some useful information on types of solar stills, and on sizing, designing and operating a solar still.
Watercone Solar Still http://www.watercone.com/product.html	A slick new design for solar still. "This Invention represents a conical, self-supporting and stackable Unit made from transparent, thermo-formable polycarbonate (same as water dispensers) outfitted with a screw cap spout at the tip and an inward circular collecting trough at the base. Technically speaking it is a solar still. "
Random Water Ideas
Hippo Roller water transport From Inhabitat.com http://www.inhabitat.com/ ...	An easy way to transport several days worth of water for a family. The best designs are the simple ones.
Solar Still ElPaso Solar Energy Association http://www.txses.org/epsea/stills.html	Plans for a solar still used to purify water. Report on daily output.
Advanced Toilets -- of many kinds -- $10 and up
High Efficiency Toilets (HET's) These toilets utilize various techniques to reduce the amount of water per flush to no more than 1.28 gallons -- sometimes as little as 1 gallon. In order to receive the HET designation, the toilets must pass the same performance test that conventional toilets have to pass. Designs include Dual-Flush, Pressure Assisted Flush, and Flushometer. Since about 30% of household water goes to toilet flushing, these lower flush toilets can result in significant water saving.
Information on HET's, California Urban Water Conservation Council http://www.cuwcc.org/toilet_fixtures.lasso Primer on HET's (pdf) Toilet Performance Testing EPA on HET's Study on Dual Flush HET water savings (pdf)	The California Urban Water Conservation Council website provides quite a bit of helpful information on High Efficiency Toilets. There are currently more than 15000 HET's in use in CA. The Performance Testing link describes the MAP test, which tests toilet flushing performance. The idea of the testing program is to ensure that past problems with low flush toilets are not repeated. (my thanks to John Koeller for providing the HET information)
Manufacturers of HET's Current HET offerings (pdf)	This is a recently published list of currently offered HET's from the California Urban Water Conservation Council. All of these toilets use no more than 1.28 gallons per flush. Home Depot and Lowes have agreed to make these toilets widely available -- it they don't see them -- ask!
HET Manufacturers web sites Caroma: http://www.caromausa.com/ (will add more soon)	Websites of manufacturers of HET's -- not any an particular order.
EPA WaterSense Program www.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/het.htm	This is a program that the EPA is promoting. Toilets with this label use at least 20% less water than the current federal standard for toilets. So, ask your supplier why he does not have a bunch of toilets with this label.
Our Dual Flush Toilet ...	This is our go at replacing one of our toilets with a water conserving dual-flush toilet. All the fascinating details...
Waterless Urinals These urinals use no flush water at all. No reason you can't put one in your house.
Waterless Urinals Article: http://www.keidel.com/design/select/urinals.htm Some Suppliers: www.waterless-urinals.com http://www.waterless.com/ http://www.falconwaterfree.com www.sloanvalve.com irawoodinc.com/du08arsewaur.html	Waterless urinals save a great deal of water, and are becoming more popular for home use. Waterless urinals use a sealant liquid in a trap that is lighter that water and remains in the trap to prevent odors. More... On a commercial scale:" A Waterless urinal saves on average 45,000 gallons of water a year . Twenty-two Waterless urinals save approximately 1,000,000 gallons of water per year. It can be estimated that there are 8 million urinals installed in the US alone with approximately 100 million people using these fixtures. Assuming an average 2 gallon flush, the potable water use of urinals in this country per year is approximately 160 billion gallons."
Urine Separation Toilets These toilets separate out the urine and collect it in a separate container for use as a high value fertilizer. Separation greatly simplifies sewage treatment, and saves much water.
Urine Separation Toilets Articles: www.iees.ch/EcoEng011/EcoEng011_F1.html www.iees.ch/EcoEng011/downloads/EcoEng011_F2.pdf http://www.tve.org/ho/doc.cfm?aid=573 Some Suppliers: www.novaquatis.eawag.ch http://www.natsol.co.uk/products.html	These toilets separate out the urine and collect it in a separate container. Urine is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, and makes a good fertilizer. Separation greatly simplifies sewage treatment, and saves much water.
Composting Toilets Composting toilets turn waste into useful compost, and do not require the huge quantities of water, or generate the huge quantities of sewage that conventional toilets do.
Waterless Toilets www.greenhouse.gov.au	A good overview write up on two types of composting toilets. Covers continuous composting and batch composting toilets including some pros and cons of each.
The Composting Toilet System Book. David Del Porto and Carol Steinfeld Widely available	Very good book on composting toilets. History, types of, how they work, how to take care of them, owners stories. And, enough detail to build some of the designs. Also, a good chapter on greywater treatment and recycling.
Clivusmultrum Composting Toilets www.clivusmultrum.com/proj_residential.shtml Clivus Booklet (pdf) Clivus Residential Planning Manual (pdf) Phoenix (a Clivus competitor)	With this toilet, the composting container goes in the basement and can serve more than one toilet. This is a well established design that has been in use for several decades. The book "The New Autonomous House", Vale gives an extensive description of installing and living with this toilet -- nearly all favorable.
Composting Toilets A list of composting toilet manufacturers: www.ecobusinesslinks.com	There are a several commercial makers of composting toilets that sit on the bathroom floor. These toilets turn the waste into compost, and generally do not need water. The various designs have their strong and weak points -- some research is in order. I have to be honest here -- The reports I have read on these toilets are very mixed. A number of people in continuous use situations report having trouble making these composting toilets work -- so do your homework carefully.
The Humanure Handbook 3rd Edition, Joseph Jenkins Free download from the authors website Humanure Headquarters Gallery of Humanure Toilets http://jenkinspublishing.com	Everything you ever wanted to know about shit, and then some -- complete with cartoons. This is a serious and well respected book with much good information, but presented with some humor. And, its free! "This is the third edition of a self-published book. No respectable publisher would touch it with a ten foot shovel. Nevertheless, the book has now been sold in at least 57 countries worldwide and has been published in foreign editions on four continents. It has been talked about on NPR, BBC, CBC, Howard Stern, in The Wall Street Journal, Playboy Magazine ... "
How to Make and Use a Simple "Sawdust" Toilet http://ersson.sustainabilitylane.com/sawdust.htm	Detailed instructions on how to make a sawdust toilet -- as described in the Humanure Book above.
Composting Toilet http://biorealis.com/composter/rotating/	Plans for a composting toilet.
Composting Toilets from Living Outside the Box Composting Toilets: www.omick.net/composting_toilets/composting_toilets.htm Other Biological Toilets: www.omick.net/other_toilets/other_toilets.htm	Some experiences on designing, building, and living with several composting toilet designs over a long period of time. Very interesting and well thought out.
Compost Toilets, From Practical Action.org http://practicalaction.org http://www.appropedia.org/ ...	Building a two chamber composting toilet. Covers pro/con, and some building and operation information.
Making a Composting Toilet -- A Homemade Clivus Multrum http://www.dykema.net/Heidisloo.htm	A $250 version of the $5000 Clivus Multrum!
The Sunny John www.sunnyjohn.com/toiletpapers2.htm	A "moldering" toilet design that seems to eliminate a lot of the problems of the traditional outhouse and the composting toilet. No stink!
Sanitario Seco -- Composting Toilets es.geocities.com/permacultura_aldehuela/..	I can't read the Spanish, but the pictures are nearly good enough to tell the story by themselves.
Efficient Irrigation
Guide to Successful Drip Irrigation For Landscape Profesionals, From City Of Santa Monica Drip Irrigation Guide (pdf)	A complete guide on installing a water efficient drip irrigation system.
Harvesting Rainwater for Landscape Use http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1052/harvest.html	Designing and building simple systems to us water captured from roofs to provide landscape water.
Trickle Irrigation, University of Alaska Extension Service www.uaf.edu/coop-ext/publications (pdf)	"Trickle or drip irrigation is a method of slowly applying small amounts of water to the root zone of plants." Paper describing the benefits of, and how how to implement an efficient trickle irrigation system.
Natural Swimming Pools
Taking the Plunge Naturally, Permaculture Magazine www.permaculture.co.uk/mag/Articles/Swimming.html (this link may be broken Jan 20, 08) and, Building a Natural Pool (pdf) Mother Earth News Article: Natural Swimming Pools quite a bit of how-to make one.	These beautiful swimming pools clean themselves naturally (no chemicals). Less impact, less energy, nicer looking, less expensive to build and maintain.

Gary 02/10/07