Biospheric Resonance

Depleted aquifers, chemical pollution, microbiological contamination – these are just the three biggest challenges among many facing the fulfillment of the world’s need for a sustainable and secure supply of clean, safe, potable water. Clearly, such a supply is of the absolute essence for the survival of humankind and all life on the planet. By reviewing, enhancing, and securing your own water needs and supply system, you can indirectly  contribute to water-related wellbeing worldwide.

In the developed world, most households are hooked up to a municipal water utilty for supply, and to a sewer or septic tank for wastewater disposal. Though this may seem mighty convenient, a worse system for dealing with our water needs could hardly be conceived of.Wastewater from the sewer often gets re-deposited in the very same lakes and rivers that serve as the source for the water supply. It is true that this wastewater usually undergoes various “treatments” before it is piped out, and then gets even more of those as it is recycled into tap water, but as we will see, this does not make for an end product that comes anywhere near true drinkable quality.

All that these “treatments” do is remove solid particulate matter, kill microbes, maybe remove a few easily detectable chemical contaminants. Worse yet, other highly toxic contaminants such as chlorine and fluoride are deliberately added. Still typically present are countless pharmaceuticals, agricultural inputs, jet fuel ingredients, and other hazardous substances.  Not exactly an enticing cocktail, is it? And because most of these water utilities are run by political entities or political-corporate partnerships, you have no control whatsoever over the quality, nor over the cost of any of these processes.

If the water in your home is coming out of a municipal pipeline, the first absolutely essential step for your wellbeing is to run that water through one or more additional filter(s) before you use it. I will  set up a separate resource page discussing the pros and cons of various end-user filtration methods, so bookmark this post and check back soon. In my series of posts on soil conservation, I have written  about what I consider the best universal alternative to municipal water wherever conditions allow: rainwater harvesting and storage. On this topic there are already some resource pages up and running with tons of practical information on how to do this.

The same issue exists on the outgoing wastewater side of the equation. Here, it is important that we move to systems that separate the different kinds of waste at the source, instead of throwing them all together.  Apart from the stormwater, which was discussed in the soil conservation posts, there are two other distinct wastewater streams from the household. One is that from sinks, showers, baths, washing machines, etc.  The other is from toilets. The first, also known as greywater, is fairly easy to treat on site and recycle into garden irrigation water. (This can be a future post topic, if you’re interested.)

The second is a waste product that really shouldn’t be mixed with water at all. That means considering the switch to a waterless composting toilet the next time you renovate/move/build. Composting toilets have become accepted into the national and international building codes, and various highly efficient units are available ready-made on the market.  DIY is also an option, especially in exurban and rural areas. Watch this space for the release of a set of building plans and instructions for the ultimate DIY composting toilet in the near future. For now, remember: when you flush something down, it isn’t really gone – part of it comes back, via a detour,  out of your kitchen tap. Eeuwww.

Looking beyond the home and the water you use there, it is wise to look at the water usage in industry and agriculture. Most of the stuff you can buy represents a greater or lesser amount of embodied water usage and degradation in its production process. Food, electricity, fuels, paper, and many other products can take surprisingly large amounts of water to produce. Within each category, buying those alternatives that are easy on water supports the development of more innovative production technologies that can achieve high quality results using no or as little water as possible. Please make it known in the comments if you’d like to see a product-water-usage report chart made available on ths site for your perusal.

Clean water is a resource that is becoming scarce at an alarming rate. Skyrocketing prices and violent conflicts are just around the corner. By taking resolute measures now to make your water supply safe and sustainable, you have a better chance of being to enjoy this necessety for the foreseeable future at an affordable price and by peaceful means.

Tags: clean drinking water, composting toilets, ecological sanitation, greywater, potable water, rain water catchment, resource conservation, wastewater treatment, water pollution, water purification, water usage

In part one of this series, we introduced the concept of looking to the traditional ecological knowledge contained in the creation myths of the ancient Polynesian cultures. There are to be found clues to the importance of soil and to simple, actionable ways we can conserve this resource. We looked at rainwater runoff as a key factor in soil erosion, and its first cause, deforestation and consequent lack of shade, plus ways to counterbalance it.

Now, let’s continue exploring the causes of excessive runoff. The next one that needs to be discussed is the proliferation of non-permeable surfaces. A non-permeable surface is any surface that collects and then sheds rainwater rather than letting it through into the soil beneath it. In practice this basically means roofs of buildings, and all paved surfaces such as roads and parking lots, most man-made objects that occupy surface space on the earth. Of course we need buildings to live and work in and roads to travel on, etc. So I am not proposing that we eliminate all such things from the landscpe. However, the way we situate, design, and construct these objects has a tremendous influence on the runoff situation. This means there is a lot you can do in that area to minimize their negative impact.

Many roofs still shed directly onto the surrounding ground , eroding it right there and then. Others have gutters diverting it to a sewage system, turning valuable pure water into destructive waste. Every roof needs to have gutters connected to catchment tanks. The supply of clean fresh water is dwindling very fast on this planet and wars are already at this moment being fought over it. Forget oil for a moment, without water you won”t live to enjoy another drive in your car. Even if you”re currently hooked up to a municipal water supply, catching the rain off your roof is extremely beneficial to your security and will save you tons of money in the long run.

Roads and parking lots are part of a complex, large-scale polluted runoff problem. Good solutions are already being applied in some places in the public and private infrastructure. On a smaller, down-home scale, you can minimize problems associated with paved surfaces in the following ways:

• Make driveways and other paved surfaces only as large as they need to be to function.
• Construct flat or gently sloping driveways and parking spaces out of a thick bed of open-grade gravel or cinder.
• Construct steep driveways with two concrete “tracks”, with turf, gravel, or ground-cover plants in between.
• Another good alternative for all paved areas where locally available is interlocking pavers with holes or open spaces. In these holes, grass or groundcovers can be allowed to grow.
• Wherever water sheets or gushes off existing paved surfaces onto the ground when it rains, create small ponds and gardens with moisture-loving plants to retain the water.

For more in-depth recommendations please visit our resources pages.

Tags: better site design, erosion prevention, land management, land use, landscape construction, local ecological knowledge, rain water catchment, soil conservation, sustainable design