Reclaimed Water for Drinking

Reclaimed Water Stretches the Supply in Texas

For years, cities across the United States have recycled their wastewater. The water that swirls down the drain when brushing your teeth and flushing the toilet is considered wastewater and so is the water used to wash clothes and dishes or the water that runs off the garage door as you spray it with a hose.

This wastewater travels down drains and into pipes that carry it to a water treatment plant where solids are removed and chemicals added to make it useable again, or reclaimed. Many golf courses use reclaimed water to keep their grass green.

Reputation of Reclaimed Water

Reclaimed water has the bad reputation of being dirty and not drinkable. In a society preoccupied with bottled water, the source of the water is extremely important to consumers. No one wants to read that the bottle they paid for is full of reclaimed water.

However, in drought suffering states such as Texas, the water supply is dwindling. Conservation efforts are in full swing, and Texan citizens can no longer afford to be so picky.

Texas Drought

The drought in Texas has lasted a year so far, and city planners are considering adding reclaimed water to the supply that’s pumped into homes throughout West Texas. The state’s water plan indicates that the state’s use of reclaimed water will increase by 50 percent by the end of 2012. What makes reclaimed water so attractive is that there’s a never-ending supply.

As long as people are taking showers and flushing the toilet, there will be reclaimed water. In West Texas, the three reservoirs that have given the area drinking water for years are at an all-time low. Clearly, changes need to be made and supply reconsidered.

Drinking Supply

Other states, such as California and Florida, have already added reclaimed water to their drinking supply, but this is a new venture for Texas. Currently in cities like San Antonio and Galveston, reclaimed water is shuttled to corporate campuses and industrial sites where they’re charged less because the water isn’t up to drinking standards. The reclaimed water that will be added to the future drinking supply will, of course, be safe to drink and will pass all health codes.

The new plant will cost $13 million to construct and will have two sets of filters. The water passes through the first filter to remove solids, and the second filter removes dissolved solids, like salts, out of the water. Then the water will be disinfected and will eventually join water traveling from the reservoirs into West Texas households.

Texas officials believe that because water is such a precious commodity in the drought plagued state, its citizens will understand the need for more reclaimed water and will overcome the psychological hurdle of its origins.

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Chris Keenan is a green and general blog writer. He writes for many sites including Precision Garage Door. Chris also maintains a personal house and garden blog.

Water Conservation Ideas

Water Conservation

Water conservation is important to consumers who are learning that water use patterns have effects on the world as much as their carbon prints. While many of us know about simple things to do around home such as fixing leaky faucets, there are new technologies being developed all the time to make life comfortable but also save water. Here is a sampling of just a few of the many things in the market.

5.  Many of us have seen the Seinfeld episode in which Jerry Seinfeld and his neighbor Cosmo Kramer are displeased with the low-flow shower heads installed by the apartment building’s maintenance department. In the end, Kramer purchases a showerhead that was so powerful it knocked him out of the shower. Many people share similar attitudes regarding their shower head; they simply want the pressure to feel clean. Today, manufacturers have found ways to conserve water while still giving you the water flow necessary for a good rinse. Many shower heads now offer pulsating water flow by increasing the air in the water. These can be found online as well as in home improvement and home goods stores.

4.  Another way water is conserved is in toilets. Many people share the same sentiments with water-efficient toilets, the amount of water used is just not enough. In Japan, the toilets are already very high tech with their functions similar to a bidet. The Japanese equivalent is a wash-let, which is a toilet that has all the water usage associated with toilet use in one place. It works by having the water used to wash hands be reused as the water that flushes the waste. The environmental impact of modern style wash-lets is different from regular western flush toilets. They use less water than old toilets, and the self-cleaning options also reduce the amount of detergent. Some toilets even change the amount of water for the flush depending on the need. They may even use less toilet paper. While these toilets are used in Japan, they are available in the U.S and homeowners here are increasingly using them.

3.  Toilets are getting another makeover in places that receive a lot of rain. Several LEED buildings are using toilets that function like the regular toilets westerners are used to, but use rainwater in the toilet so no culinary grade water is wasted. The water is lightly treated so it is safe and then sent to the toilets. The pipes used are colored clearly and made separate so there is no cross-contamination. This is popular in places such as New York. These can be obtained through green plumbing contractors.

2.  Outdoor water use is another area where technology has helped. Landscaping certainly helps in water use, but the ways in which everything gets watered also matters. The more sophisticated irrigation systems feature moisture-sensing timers that not only water at the right time, such as late night and early morning, but also only when deemed as needed with moisture sensors in the ground. If it rains the night before, the system shuts off until the ground is sufficiently dry. Some models do even more by allowing programs to serve new landscaping plans and plants. These can also be bought through green plumbing contractors.

1.  Similar to other water reuse systems, some water is caught using barrels and other devices. They are used to use and store storm water. Most states are allowing these to be used by revising their water rights systems because of the common good that happens from using these. These are usually found at a home’s roof and gutter system and near the side of the home or Garage Door. This is often preferable to greywater systems because of the ease of use for landscaping. LEED and green building experts and contractors are knowledgeable in this and can provide them for you. With these new possibilities in mind, there are all kinds of ways to be empowered about water use and conservation. Soon, the bathrooms, washers, and landscaping uses will have enough improvements that they may work even better than the standard pieces of the past. The market prices are also changing to be in the consumer’s favor as well.

Chris Keenan is a green and general blog writer. He writes for many sites including Precision Garage Door. Chris also maintains a personal blog at The Keenan Cookbook.

Green Movement Changes Meaning of Earth Day

April 22nd will mark the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day and with a new anniversary comes a new meaning for the day. Started in 1970, Earth Day was originally conceived as a day in which the people of the world could come together and educate themselves about the needs of the planet. However, with the Green movement in full effect, Earth Day has gone from a day of environmental education to a day of environmental action.

For this year’s festivities, a massive rally has been planned to take place in Washington that organizers are hoping will force Congress into signing a new and much needed climate bill. Organizers have also set up The Earth Day Network to give information about the day itself and give awareness to green campaigns that need members and support. One of these green campaigns is A Walk For Water. This campaign will help raise funds to build permanent water resources in West Africa, which in the 110+ degree heat of the area, will both help save the water supply and countless lives of the impoverished West African communities.

The Earth Day Network has also crafted other grassroots campaigns to help save important environmental areas like forests and wetlands. However, not every green initiative is of the grassroots variety. The major conglomerate Siemens is getting in on the movement by running a green campaign called A Million Acts of Green that motivates customers to come up with green solutions for the upcoming Earth Day.

Many other major companies like Globetrotters Engineering Corporation (an architectural company founded by CEO, Niranjan Shah) work every day to help the environment by designing energy efficient buildings and homes. This shows that the green movement is big enough even for companies like Siemens and Niranjan Shah’s Globetrotters Corporation.

Earth Day will celebrate its 40th anniversary, but in many ways this year’s celebration is somewhat of a rebirth. The day that was originally created to spread awareness and education of the planet’s problems has now become something more meaningful. It has now become a day in which the world works together to help and protect the Earth we all call home.

by Dan Grifen

http://everythingleft.wordpress.com