TURTLE FEATHER CENTRE for SUSTAINABLE LIVING

AriDynamic Water Recyling and Catchement

Water is the most precious of our natural resources, and one of the most misunderstood.  The delivery of water across our state utilises more energy to operate pumps and filtration systems than does most domestic, or household use.  Think of this every time a spigot is turned on or a toilet flushed.  In arid desert or western mountain range regions, the delivery and usage of water becomes even more critical.  The so called "sustainable" water source is generally "fossil water" or sources not self regenerating and therefeore in no way is it sustainable.  If not using groundwater, most communities import water via canals and pipelines, in most cases from hundreds of miles away and from sources with recharge rates as questionable as those of local sources.  The continued operation of pumping systems taxes the already antiquated and overloaded energy grid system.  With this in mind, ANY technique, technology or practise which conserves water and energy usage is noteworthy and warrants future consideration.

The simplier the better - let's not get sidetracked by the latest "green" solutions such as desalinisation and waste water reclamation.  Both technologies have their place, and both use huge amounts of energy to drive their systems.  Instead, let us examine the simple and the obvious - conservation and recycling at the most local of levels - in every home and structure!

A simple rain catchment system will go a long way in providing a supplemental supply of water for grounds use or irrigation, even in arid regions with less than five inches of rain per year.  The cost of such a system is short and the hardware is available through local hardware suppliers.  This system requires standard rain gutters, downspouts and filter screens to be installed on the structure.  At the end of the system, one installs a suitable container, such as a fifty five gallon barrel with a spigot installed on the low end, or better yet, an underground cistern with a solar or hand pump for retrieval.

For instance, a small cabin with a roof area of roughly four hundred square feet will produce about twelve to fifteen hundred gallons of water in average year of five or so inches of rain if maintained properly.  This may not seem much, however, it's free and if you are remote and hauling water, always welcome.  Integrating water conservation techniques along with grey water recovery systems, this almost doubles the savings. 

For those who live remotely and keep usage down to fifty gallons or less a day, this gives the potential of over a months free supply to the houshold and nearly that much for daily irrigation or non household storage!  Fifty gallons may not seem much, however, with a gravity fed system and native landscaping and dry farming techniques, this would be adequate for one to two very conservative inhabitants.

The best part, of course, is that it is ecologically sane!