Greywater system

Jackie was kind enough to send me this video via facebook, and i thought it was worth sharing with everyone here.

There are a couple of really interesting things that come up in the video. The first is that the whole series focuses on "positive responses to peak oil and climate change," which I think is a really excellent attitute to have. Often, our response to any crisis is to point fingers, lay blame, and present mandates about what 'people' should do. I really respect groups that identify that there is (or may be) a problem, and who simply take initiative.

Trathen also mentioned that they are working as a network with other homes in the area, with the intent to make their homes more self reliant, and to create a model for other people in the future. This is exciting, because it is one of the key goals of our project, and is a great derivative of open source formats for development.

They mention a "graywater bible"- here's the author's website.

Hot stuff.

capturing heat from grey water

We've considered using compost to heat water, but what about using our hot grey water to heat our fresh water right in the pipes?

This Ecodrain product uses hot water going down the drain to heat water for your shower, so the water heater has to do less work. A more basic version of this has been used in many buildings, which involves wrapping the copper pipe holding fresh cold water around the drainage pipe, trying to capture some of that used hot shower water's heat.
This company created their product to more efficiently capture and redirect that heat. Their website is very thorough and informative, so please check it out for more information on specifics.

http://www.ecodrain.ca/

In the house system we could very easily connect the hot water from the compost where the water heater is in this diagram, and fresh water collection/filtration where the 'municipal supply' is indicated.
If you are bathing Japanese style like Rachel this may not be necessary, but it's a very cool idea for showering.

grey water usage

Toilet water not just for plants!

Grey water from the shower is stored for toilet use.

This is incredibly sexy- I love the views of the inside, and the images of all the piping required. It gives a pretty clear understanding of what we would need to implement this.