getting the maximum use out of water (rain barrels, re-use, etc.)

[garmonbozia]

Does anyone else here think about ways to conserve water?

You can get rain barrels, but whenever I buy a house, I've thought of going a step further.  I'd get one of those big industrial plastic tanks (not a used one that's had something toxic in it, but a new one) that can hold about a thousand gallons or so, and route the drainpipes from the roof into it.  If it's too ugly for the neighbors, I'd put it inside a shed.  (In that case, no deed-restricted communities for me.)  It would collect the rainwater that hits the roof, to be used for watering the lawn, washing out containers for recycling, flushing the toilet, etc.

You may have heard that phrase "If it's yellow, let it mellow," meaning if you've just pissed, leave it.  I don't fully agree with that.  For one thing, little droplets of whatever's in there splatter out when you piss, and I don't want anyone else's piss getting on me.  Here's an idea I found on a website about Japanese toilets:  Re-use the water that runs in the sink, so (this would probably work better with a urinal than a full-blown crapper) instead of flushing it with fresh water, the water you've just washed your hands with does double duty, by going into a pipe leading to the urinal and then passing through there before going to the sewer.

I could go on and on about more stuff, like for instance gathering the condensate from all the air conditioners and dehumidifiers in use and pumping it to the rain tank so it, too, can be used.  But I think you get the idea.

Anyone else here ever had ideas like that, or implemented anything like that just for an excuse to design and build stuff?

[Lucifer]

i have two rain butts; bricks (or equivalent) in both my WC cisterns; i don't use water to brush my teeth until the very end; i only fill the kettle with the water i actually need; i use washing up water on my garden in the summer...

etc., etc.  so i suppose the answer to your question is "yes, all the time."  i really am that eco nut.

[Tesla]

This type of thing goes on all the time.  In fact, my wife and I work part time doing autocad work for a company that does exactly what you said.  Although, they use underground tanks instead of above ground.  Above ground tanks wouldn't work nearly as well because the gutter would have to be half full in order for the tank to be completely full. 

Here's their website, which I'm probably going to redesign soon.
http://waterrecycling.com/

At their office they take it a step further by using the black water, running it through landscaping and tanks, then end up reusing it to flush toilets and water the greenhouse.

[Parts]

I try and do you best and am very interested in this sort of thing.  One of my dreams is to live off the grid and sensible use of resources is part of that

[garmonbozia]

I took a quick look at the website.  That's definitely way ahead of anything I was thinking of.  Looks like you'd have to have a considerable plot of land on which to implement it.  I see it's based in NC.  Does that company work in other states?

I'm not quite brave enough to work with black water.  Gray water from the laundry and shower, maybe, but once it's been in the commode, I want it gone.

If I implement it myself, I'd stick with rainwater and condensate.  I'm wondering what size tank would be required to keep up with the summer rain on a typical roof, and the best way to keep it clean while it's in storage.

[Tesla]

It takes surprisingly little rainfall to fill up a tank with water.  Say you're collecting from a 500s.f. roof, you get one inch of rainfall, and that's 312.5 gallons of rainwater.

[ozymandias]

I collect rain water in the spring and summer and use that to water my gardens and store it in large plastic garbage cans.  I also fill a bucket with the first water flow when I take my shower, until it gets warm.  Then I use the water in the bucket to flush the toilet.  Yes, I follow the "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." idea.  I'd love to have a grey water system for sink and bathtub water to go out into the garden or parts of the lawn as needed.

[Peter]

I live in Scotland.

[ozymandias]

I live in Scotland.

And rain is a normal thing there.  You should be able to fill cisterns full of water!   

[Peter]

I live in Scotland.

And rain is a normal thing there.  You should be able to fill cisterns full of water!   

Or reservoirs.  There's not really a pressing need to conserve water here, and while it would be nice to be able to flush my toilet with rainwater rather than filtered and chemically treated potable water, there's not much incentive to install expensive grey water systems.

[Callaway]

This type of thing goes on all the time.  In fact, my wife and I work part time doing autocad work for a company that does exactly what you said.  Although, they use underground tanks instead of above ground.  Above ground tanks wouldn't work nearly as well because the gutter would have to be half full in order for the tank to be completely full. 

Here's their website, which I'm probably going to redesign soon.
http://waterrecycling.com/

At their office they take it a step further by using the black water, running it through landscaping and tanks, then end up reusing it to flush toilets and water the greenhouse.

It's good that you are going to redesign it, since the bolded part of the page copied below is obscured by this picture on my screen, Tesla.  It looks like an interesting site, though.

Wastewater Basics
Whether using conventional treatment or advanced treatment, wastewater follows a specific treatment path in order to meet water quality standards.

Primary Treatment separates the solid matter from the liquid waste. This 'wastewater', composed of nutrients, liquid wastes and primarily water, can be treated more quickly than solid waste which stays in the system until it breaks down.

Secondary Treatment exposes wastewater to aerobic bacteria in order to break down suspended organic matter, pathogens and other contaminants. Sewage treatment plants often use baffles with a special film coating of aerobic bacteria. Wetlands habitats naturally supply this aerobic bacteria through the microbes and bacteria found there.

Tertiary Treatment is the last step and involves the removal of nutrients from the wastewater. Many sewage treatment plants neglect this last step because of the costs involved. Nutrient removal is an important method of curtailing downstream effects such as eutrophication and algal blooms, which destroy ecosystems and habitats. Advanced wastewater treatment, such as the systems developed by IWS include tertiary treatment as a standard practice.