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Water and Sewer

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Columbia Prof Gets $1.5 Million Grant for Ghana Sewage-to-Biofuel Project – CleanTechnica: Cleantech innovation news and views. Biofuels Published on June 2nd, 2011 | by Tina Casey Here in the U.S., we’re starting to reap a rich harvest of sustainable resources from our municipal wastewater treatment plants. The current and potential haul includes biogas, biodiesel, bioplastic, reclaimed wastewater for irrigation, and sludge “cake” that can be used as a soil enhancer.

Hydrokinetic power is another option, and treatment plants often make ideal locations for solar power and wind turbines. Wastewater as a Resource If the name Chandran rings a bell, you may have read about him in a couple of previous Cleantechnica posts on one of our favorite topics, wastewater. The Coming Flood of Waste The funding, through the Gates’ Grand Challenge in Global Health organization, specifically addresses the problem of fecal waste disposal in communities where piped water-based sanitation is unaffordable or not feasible. The Next Generation of Waste Control Wastewater as a Treasure Trove About the Author. Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster. Home | Rain Harvesting. WATERLIFE - NFB. Living Machine. Graywater Reuse and Rainwater Harvesting. Graywater Reuse and Rainwater Harvesting by R. Waskom and J. Kallenberger* (5/12) Quick Facts... Graywater reuse may not be a permissible use of water under a domestic well permit or a community water supply system.

Graywater Systems Graywater refers to the reuse of water drained from baths, showers, washing machines, and sinks (household wastewater excluding toilet wastes) for irrigation and other water conservation applications. Graywater is of lesser quality than tap water, but generally of higher quality than blackwater, or water from sewage systems. The most obvious advantage of domestic graywater use is that it may potentially replace other water used for landscape irrigation, although many interests are now advocating the use of gray water for toilet flushing. Graywater use may offer financial savings to already overburdened municipal sewage treatment facilities because graywater use diminishes sewer flows, thereby lessening the need to expand such facilities.

Rural Applications. Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster » Blog Archive » Harvesting Air-Conditioning Condensate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Beyond. Or If You—and Your Drink—Sweat, Then Harvest Condensate By Brad Lancaster, www.HarvestingRainwater.com, ©2010 I am finally getting to the sharing of my travel gleanings. This is the first of a series to follow – so keep checking back. This piece is from my U.S. April 2009 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, receives only about 2 inches (50 mm) of rain a year. In this hot and humid coastal desert climate, air conditioners abound and their condensate steadily and wastefully drips into the street, pooling where mosquito populations then mushroom.

Bucket and condensate creek, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Hoses directing air-conditioner condensate to courtyard plantings, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia How much condensate can you harvest? IN A DRY CLIMATE/SEASON: • A home air conditioner can generate 0.25 gallons (1 liter) of condensate/day • A large commercial air conditioner can generate 500 gallons (1,900 liters)/day IN A HUMID CLIMATE/SEASON: • A home air conditioner can generate 18 gallons (68 liters) of condensate/day. The Living Machine. A living machine. Sounds suspiciously dangerous. Science fiction is full of those confused computers who threaten astronauts' lives and rebellious robots that require Arnold Schwarzenegger-types to save the human race.

But at the Penn State Center for Sustainability, a living machine is not a fictional antagonist. In fact, it's the opposite. It's here to save the day. When the Class of 2000 voted to restore the greenhouse on Old Botany Building as its gift to Penn State, the Center's vision of an ecologically sound water-treatment facility became a reality. A Living Machine (capital letters, it's a patented invention) is a series of tanks teeming with live plants, trees, grasses and algae, koi and goldfish, tiny freshwater shrimp, snails, and a diversity of microorganisms and bacteria. The Center for Sustainability is collaborating with Ocean Arks International, a Vermont-based not-for-profit that has been designing Living Machines for over ten years.