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permaculture - re: Water Purification

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: be417@freenet.carleton.ca (Robert W. Tom)
  • To: permaculture-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu
  • Cc: sol3az@igc.apc.org
  • Subject: re: Water Purification
  • Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 11:30:57 -0400


on Wed Jun 19 00:13:25 1996
sol3az@igc.apc.org (David Fuller) wrote:
re: Water purification

[ snipped & pasted ]

> ...relative economic advantage of using solar distillation versus
> filtration, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, etc.
> Any pointers to sources welcomed.

There is an excellent paper/discussion on domestic water treatment methods
at:
http://mha-net.org/msb/html/papers-n/palo01/wastewa.htm

It describes the design of the waste water treatment systems used at the
CODICILE project (aka Toronto Healthy House ). The design has been built
and is currently open for viewing.

Some excerpts from a CMHC booklet describing an early version of the
CODICILE design (some details have been changed on the built version):

... small three-storey dwelling ...for construction on the rear portion of
urban lots facing a back lane

...850 sq foot home is a six metre (20 feet) cube with two bedrooms and
a rooftop greenhouse [ the built design was enlarged ]

...the house is entirely self-sufficient, making no use of the urban
energy grid or the municipal infrastructure for sewage, storm water,
potable water or waste disposal


OCCUPANT HEALTH
* many of the materials and products which are common sources of off-gas
emissions are eliminated from this design

* the house includes a ventilation system designed for ultra low-energy
operation

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
* well-insulated cube design has inherently modest space heating demands
which can be met by an efficient wood stove together with active and
passive solar gains

* the house is not connected to the hydro grid. Electricity needs are met
by a photovoltaic array and a thermopile which converts heat from the
woodstove into electricity. Battery storage is included in this
system.

* carefully selected lighting and appliances require minimal electricity

* vegetative cover on exposed surfaces provides transpiration cooling in
summer

RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
* the house is not connected to municipal water and sewage services. It
is designed to catch rainwater which is then purified by reverse
osmosis and UV system and then held in storage

* Greywater from the house is bio-treated in organic filtration beds and
then returned to the purification process for re-use

* Food wastes and toilet discharge are composted

* All water fixtures are conserving. The toilet requires only 350 ml (11.83
US fl oz) per flush

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
* Organic wastes are converted to soil additives and used on site

--
Rob Tom
---------- * ------------
be417@FreeNet.Carleton.ca
Kanata, Ontario, Canada



  • Water purification, David Fuller, 06/19/1996
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • re: Water Purification, Robert W. Tom, 06/19/1996

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