my attempts at saving water

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anthony

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
854
Location
leeds uk
hi guys as those of you in the UK know ITS HOT and i am having to use a hosepipe to water my veg patch pluss all the plants at the front of the house i am also on a water meter so i came up with this

anthony++7-19-2013-12-59-27.jpg
 
the full instalation

all the water from my bath shower and hand basin was going down the drain i thought what a waste ans as i have already paid for it why not use it again it travels along the side of the shed round the corner and into a spare wheelie bin that has a tap fitted to it so i can fill my watering can it works a treat .it fills about two thirds full in one day as you can see the tube is made up of vacuum wands easy to slot dismantle when the rain [or winter]comes

anthony++7-19-2013-13-06-35.jpg
 
Re-using water

We ALL need to do this.... My parents and their neighbours started doing the same in the 'Big Heat' of 1976, and never stopped... Nowadays, water is no longer a 'throwaway' commodity.

All best

Dave T
 
Very nice and a sure candidate to join the Green Party. Spare a thought for the people who live in the USA where it is REALLY hot - over 40C most days in Summer, and think ourselves lucky in the UK that we only get a few weeks of temps usually no higher than 30C. Imagine what its like to live in Arizona where its over 45C at the present - this is the real definition of HOT.
We all need to conserve water and not waste it and I agree that more should be done to stop selfish people wasting it - including the greedy water companies who cant be bothered to spend their colossal profits on repairing leaks in the ancient Victorian water supply system. Billions of litres of water are lost per year because of leaks in underground supply pipes as bosses are more bothered about their own selfish profits than the limited water supply. I really despair of the way mankind has become - but at least there are some good people such as yourself left in the world. Fair do's to you!
 
Saving water

Unfortunately for those of us in newer houses with the "stack" pipe running inside the house and the outlets sealed into it, this is not such a viable option. What I will do in the warm weather is pull out a twinnie and do my laundry in it saving the rinse water for washing my car in a plastic bin - I have an inlet hose for my pressure washer that can be used with a bin or a water but. I use the wash water to wash the car first.

I will give it a clean water final rinse, but that uses far less fresh water overall. the white pipe you see in the picture is from the roof guttering - you cant see it in the picture but even it does not have a gully into the train

Al

vacbear58++7-20-2013-03-46-11.jpg
 
Vacbear58 - my aunt has this type of square guttering and she has a water saver built into the downpipe that can divert into a water butt - this very quickly fills the butt with a good thunderstorm which we will undoubtedly be getting soon with this warm weather. I'm sure you can still get these from DIY stores, and all you would need is a hacksaw and a bit of DIY knowledge which I am sure you have much of lol.
 
madabout

Actually I have the same thing, its just being obscured by the towel but you can see the hose going round to the water butt. The only disappointing thing is the downpipe is white and the diverter is black. Its an ingenious device (no moving parts) though as the butt does not overflow because of it
 
In Sa it gets really hot and some times we even get water restrictions. So all my drain gutters are hooked up to tanks. It saves a bundle.

We also use about 200L a day at my shop for washing the striped down vacuums, So I hooked up a system to use rainwater ( we filter it ) to wash the machines. I will take pictures on Monday.
 
i am also working

on another gismo that will store the used water from the washingmachine that can then be used for flushing the downstairs toilet im not a skinflint i just hate waste we also use the Hoovermatic twintub when we have lots of washing to do in a hurry even though its the last model produced its already 20 years old
 
We live in an enclosed ecosystem.

The water never "goes" anywhere -- it just gets recycled. Over and over and over. For the past 3 billion years.
 
There are several historical houses here in the city that has Large rain cisterns to catch the rain water for household use. These houses date to before public water supplies and electricity. The tanks are located in the attic area of the three story houses and are then gravity fed for use in the house. I understand the tanks are now not in use but still there for historic purposes.

However, there are some other houses that employ a gray water system, much like you have. The Dymaxicon house was one of those. One house I know of is owned by the owners of a plumbing company here. They have a 500 gallon tank underground that captures gray water, though I believe it doesn't capture the kitchen water due to grease and harsh dishwasher detergents, and it is used for lawn and garden irrigation. I believe I heard that the gray tanks also are used to flush toilets.

I always thought this was a good idea to use water that wasn't too nasty for other purposes. My grandmother always watered her flowers with the dish water but she didn't have a dishwasher. It just makes sense to use it where you can.
 
Water companies

I 'second' MadaboutHoovers' comment about profiteering water supply companies and their refusal to invest in the infrastructure. Having said that, it seems to be the same in all the 'Public Utilities'. Our electrical distribution system is now grossly overloaded (most of it dating back to the 1950s/60s), and (as MadaboutHoovers will know) the roads in the Stoke-on-Trent area have LONG had a reputation for poor maintenance, but the rest of the country seems to be catching up now. The various councils seem to be willing to spend vast sums on digging up the roads to install 'humps', 'chicanes', etc., but refuse to spend anything on actual maintenance.... :-(

Rant over ;-)

Dave T
 
You know, I never thought of that!

To all those people who buy bagless machines because they want to "save paper", just think of the water you use cleaning the bin and filters.
 

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