Create An Off The Grid Source Of Water For any off-the-gridder or survivalist, having a safe, adequate, and reliable source of water is just about as basic as it gets. Water independence is the clear goal for all who want to be prepared for all contingencies, and digging your own well is the obvious way to set yourself up in anticipation of a time when utility companies can no longer be relied upon to supply vital services to their customers. But digging a traditional well is not the only option. There is another type of well that is perfectly capable of providing sufficient supplies of fresh, clean, potable water to meet the needs of most households, especially if at least a degree of water conservation is practiced. Even though driven-point techniques have been in use for a long time, many are still not familiar with all the particulars of this kind of well. Installing a Driven-Point Well: The Basics Once water has been found and the driving stopped, the basic structure of the driven-point well will then be in place.
Peak Oil Review - Oct 15 1. Oil and the Global Economy Oil prices jumped about two dollars on Tuesday as Turkish-Syrian tensions increased, but remained relatively steady for the rest of the week with Brent closing down $1 on Friday at $114.62 a barrel and NY down to $91.86. The IEA’s new forecast of slightly lower oil demand for 2012 and 2013 helped send prices down on Friday. The IMF now is forecasting that world economic growth will be only 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 next year, adding to the pressure. Europe continues to grapple with the Greek and Spanish debt problems amid growing concerns that another global recession is in the offing. The weekly US stocks report showed crude inventories increasing by 1.7 million barrels but product inventories falling, with gasoline inventories down by 500,000 barrels to the lowest level in four years. 2. The IEA reports that Iranian oil production has now fallen to 2.85 million b/d, the lowest in level in 23 years. 3. 4. Quote of the week
Building a biological DIY greywater system (with no reedbeds) - Milkwood - Permaculture courses + skills for Real Life Our criteria for building the greywater system for the tinyhouse was pretty simple: cheap, made from readily available materials, and effective. We also wanted to use the outputs to irrigate a grove of important fruit trees, as water is very precious here, especially in a dry year. After many, many hours of research on systems involving reed beds, infiltration trenches, fancy UV zappers and all the rest, we decided, on the advice of permaculture and greywater specialist Ross Mars, to keep it simple, and let the biology do the work. To summarise the approach (and Ross Mars’ general take of domestic greywater), we decided that the intermittent trickle of water coming from our bath and shower would be best dealt with in a living and dynamic system, rather than in a series of reed beds or trenches. I should note here that our greywater output is coming from just our bath and shower, so it contains water, a little soap, and the inevitable bits that come off a human when they wash.
Building a biological DIY greywater system (with no reedbeds) October 16, 2012 | Natural Building, Water Harvesting + Reuse | 37 Comments | Author: Kirsten Bradley Our criteria for building the greywater system for the tinyhouse was pretty simple: cheap, made from readily available materials, and effective. We also wanted to use the outputs to irrigate a grove of important fruit trees, as water is very precious here, especially in a dry year. After many, many hours of research on systems involving reed beds, infiltration trenches, fancy UV zappers and all the rest, we decided, on the advice of permaculture and greywater specialist Ross Mars, to keep it simple, and let the biology do the work. To summarise the approach (and Ross Mars’ general take of domestic greywater), we decided that the intermittent trickle of water coming from our bath and shower would be best dealt with in a living and dynamic system, rather than in a series of reed beds or trenches. What Ross suggested was a very simple system. >> More posts on appropriate technology
Harvesting energy from all forms of sunlight Polycristalline silicon wafer in photovoltaic module. (Photo: Wikipedia Commons) Chris Smith from the Naked Scientists, a British science radio show, recently spent some days in Oslo interviewing Norwegian scientists. Here he talks to Per-Anders Hansen from the Department of chemistry, University of Oslo. Per: Sunlight consists of small energy particles called photons and these can have a lot of energy like ultraviolet light or blue light or they can have medium energy like red light or visible light, or they can have very little energy like infrared or heat radiation. When these photons hit the solar cell, what they do is that they knock loose one electron and this electron can then travel around in our circuit and give us power. Chris: So if we had a way of taking some of those photons that have very high energy, and converting them into more photons at a lower energy, we could get more electrons out and therefore, the overall efficiency of the cells would be much higher. Per: Exactly.
Grey Water Systems for Landscape Irrigation I Flotender Washing Machine Greywater Resources Pantyhose filter For those of you attending our Wednesday night greywater workshop at Good and for those of you who can’t, here’s a list of resources for using your washing machine as a irrigation source: The New Create an Oasis with Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systems by Art Ludwig. Ludwig’s open source Laundry to Landscape system. 1″ polyethylene tubing–an alternative to PVC pipe. Oasis Biocompatible detergent, the only laundry detergent we can find that’s appropriate for greywater use. A selection of three way diverter valves. A local Los Angeles source for drums, the Apex Drum Company: www.apexdrum.com. A description of our greywater fruit mini-orchard. Our greywater surge tank version 1.0. A liquid fertilizer of the type that you could add to your greywater surge tank during a wash cycle to fertilize your garden. Oaktown’s Greywater Guerrillas, another source for inspiration.
Live | Build | Sustain | | Originally published in the October 2010 issue of Architectural Record A new green building program aims to push the design and construction industry well beyond current best practices. October 2010 By Nancy B. Solomon, AIA Continuing Education Use the following learning objectives to focus your study while reading this month’s Continuing Education article. Learning Objectives - After reading this article, you will be able to: Explain the goals of the Living Building Challenge.Describe its organizational framework and requirements.Discuss the hurdles to achieving Living Building designation.Compare the Challenge and the LEED rating system. Credits: 1.00 HSW This course was approved by the GBCI for 1 GBCI CE hour(s) for LEED Credential Maintenance. This test is no longer available for credit The Living building challenge is not for the faint of heart. The program challenges like-minded people to avoid any further degradation when they build. Although the Montana project was never built, Bob Berkebile, FAIA, a founding principal of BNIM, and Jason F.
Greywater Reuse - Greywater is gently used water from your bathroom sinks, showers, tubs, and washing machines. It is not water that has come into contact with feces, either from the toilet or from washing diapers. Greywater may contain traces of dirt, food, grease, hair, and certain household cleaning products. The easiest way to use greywater is to pipe it directly outside and use it to water ornamental plants or fruit trees. Our philosophy We believe that for residential greywater systems simple designs are best. We promote greywater reuse as a way to increase the productivity of sustainable backyard ecosystems that produce food, clean water, and shelter wildlife. We believe more complex systems are best suited for multi-family, commercial, and industrial scale systems. Basic Greywater Guidelines Greywater is different from fresh water and requires different guidelines for it to be reused. Don’t store greywater (more than 24 hours). Types of Simple Systems From the Washing Machine Laundry Drum:
Laundry To Landscape Graywater Systems; Design & Parts Complete information from the original inventors by Art Ludwig We originated the Laundry to Landscape Greywater System and published it unpatented into the public domain in 2008 for the good of all. This site has the most up-to-date, reliable, and complete information, and is the source of much of the info replicated on tens of thousands of other pages on "Laundry to Landscape." Please help the quality of information on this system and support our continued research by "liking" and linking to us, getting our instructional DVD or book, and encouraging organizations that have not done so to credit us as a source of original information on this topic--thanks! New Greywater Book and Video Set: The New Create an Oasis, Builder's Greywater Guide, Principles of Ecological Design, Laundry to Landscape instructional DVD $51.80 ($13 savings) Laundry to Landscape Instructional Video Produced by Art Ludwig, published by Oasis Design, 2010. 90 minutes Digital Download—$14.95 Choice of resolutions. Parts