From the category archives:

WATER

Reedbeds, not sewers

by Nick Rosen on January 15, 2010 · 2 comments

in OFF-GRID 101, WATER

Melvyn Rutter knee-deep in reed-bed

Melvyn Rutter in reed-bed

Reedbed Filtration is a natural approach to human waste water treatment. International environmental scientist, MELVYN RUTTER is a born-again reed-bed enthusiast. Here he describes his personal journey.

I began my research in the spring of 1995, shortly after graduating as a mature student from Huddersfield University. I visited many sites with reedbeds, learned their designs, and saw what they did. I formulated a design that avoided all of the faults and mistakes of the systems I studied.

All methods of waste water treatment harness the work of bacteria to break down nutrients and pollutants. In the presence of air ( oxygen ) things break down, and in the absence of air ( oxygen ) things build up. The original developers of reedbeds used a horizontal flow system. This is where the effluents flow in the top and out of the top of the bed. They normally used a single bed. Sometimes they elongated it, and twisted the flows round and round again.

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Humanure – sawdust toilets

December 13, 2009
Humanure – sawdust toilets

Sit, flush and forget, that's what most of us do, multiple times a day. We use perfectly good, drinkable, potable water to flush our waste, what a waste it truly is. After we flush, we don't think about all the water that is used/wasted to process the sewage that is created, chemicals are pumped into our water system, the water we DRINK, so that we can do it all over again. I'm starting to sound pretty green aren't I?

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Off grid questions

December 1, 2009
Off grid questions

Every now and again, I get an email with some great questions, this evening I received such an email from a new 'net friend, Marcy. She has recently taken the plunge to live completely off grid. She is starting out in a rather primitive way, much like we did. I found her questions very good and decided I would post the email exchange here. Thanks Marcy, enjoy!

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Wish we thought of that!

November 23, 2009
Wish we thought of that!

The rainbeers are coming! An Atlanta Brewery which was making beer from rainwater has been told to stop gathering  the water by city officials.  Probably encouraged by Miller lite and other big brewers, the EPA and officials at the local and State level have been persecuting the tiny indie brewery.

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Shoestring Survivalism – book review

October 20, 2009
Shoestring Survivalism – book review

This is the third book I received from Paladin Press to review. I appreciate the chance to read and review these books, I have enjoyed them immensely. This book is about survivalism on a budget. Being on a budget is a full time occupation for most of us.  With these uncertain times, it's good to have backups, ways to get along if things go wrong. It's ludicrous to think the government will step up and take care of us, your best bet is to be your own best advocate, take care of yourself and your family. With the knowledge gained from this book, even someone on the tightest of budgets should be able to implement many of the ideas in this book with little or no financial output.

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Solar farms spark water wars

October 2, 2009
Solar farms spark water wars

On the face of it large-scale solar farms are a get-out-of-jail-free card for a society hooked on ever increasing doses of energy. They apparently generate clean power from thin air. Visual pollution aside, they seem to have no negatives.

But the best sites for solar farms are the sunniest places. And the sunniest places tend to be the driest places. And therein lies a major headache for dozens of giant solar developments. It turns out that even a medium sized solar farm uses millions of gallons of water a year for cleaning and

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Dishwashers make eco-sense

September 29, 2009
Dishwashers make eco-sense

Its childishly simple Dishwashers help the environment and your pocket book compared to washing dishes by hand. Researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany found that using a dishwasher cleaned the dishes better and saved energy, time and water.

Washing dishes by hand can cost a household more than $431 in additional energy and water bills over the estimated nine-year lifetime of an Energy-Star certified dishwasher. Energy Star dishwashers use less than half as much energy as washing dishes by hand and save nearly 5,000 gallons of water a year. They can also save you more than 230 hours of personal time over the course of a year.

According to Energy Star, hand rinsing your dishes before placing them in the dishwasher can waste up to 20 gallons of water per load.

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All I need is the air that I drink

September 15, 2009
All I need is the air that I drink

All I drink is the air that I breathe A new generation of machines sucks the moisture from air to provide clean drinking water.  And they use relatively little energy to do so.

The summer of 2009 was the hottest ever recorded in parts of Texas and the accompanying drought has prompted authorities in many areas to order residents to reduce their water use. The average temperature of 88.6 degrees in August was almost 2 degrees hotter than the previous high in 1925, according to the National Weather Service.

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Alive and well-updates

July 20, 2009
Alive and well-updates

Alive and wellHere is an update on what has been going on in our off grid life. I know I haven't written in a while, I took a mini-break from blogging and writing, it was something I needed to do, but now I'm back. :)

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