Water Recycling: http://www.waterrecycling.com |
Site Map: http://www.waterrecycling.com/tableofc.htm |
Waste not, want not. Why throw away wastewater? Why call it wastewater at all, when it is loaded with valuable nutrients that need only be reclaimed and redistributed? We can extract the phosphorus and nitrogen to be used as fertilizer, and purify the “wastewater” until it is sparkling clean and ready for reuse.
Site: http://www.waterrecycling.com/philosophy.htm |
Nature reuses and recycles its resources without creating toxic dumps or polluted waterways. By imitating nature we can learn to recycle our wastewater relatively inexpensively, with minimal distribution costs, and the bonus of reclaimed resources ready to feed our fields or fish, or flush our toilets and water our lawns.
In many parts of the world, water is scarce and often polluted. In many countries, population density and the location and size of reservoirs create water distribution problems. Inadequate wastewater facilities, even in the richest countries, pour excess untreated sewage into rivers, lakes and oceans. Conventional solutions to wastewater treatment are not only expensive, but are designed to throw water away and hence, do not address issues of water scarcity and distribution, or limited financial resources.
Throughout the world, alternative systems designed to mimic nature are operating to address the problems of conventional wastewater treatment facilities. These alternative systems use man-made ponds, constructed wetlands and designed soil filters to transform wastewater.
In the case of smaller alternative systems, wastewater is treated
where it is created, with the nutrients and water often being reused on
site. At the Triangle School Wastewater Treatment Facility in Chatham County,
North Carolina, water is being recycled for toilet flushing and landscaping
and an otherwise unusable building has been reclaimed and renovated.
Stensund Folk College | Sweden
Site: http://www.algonet.se/~stensund/aqua/ecover/ecover.htm
|
Eco-Eng: http://www.iees.ch/cs/cs_1.html
|
Site: http://www.ias.unu.edu/proceedings/icibs/bjorn
|
Water Science: http://www.iwaponline.com/wst/03803/wst038030151.htm
|
For years governments have dictated that we treat our
wastewater with an array of chemicals using complex, high tech systems
built of concrete and metal, tanks and tubes (see photo above). This “treated”
water is then deposited into a natural body of water or directly onto the
ground. Ultimately, the communities of microbes that transform waste in
these high tech systems are the same as those used in nature.
Scientists are now recognizing the simplicity and effectiveness of nature's processes and are blending technology with natural systems to create more efficient wastewater management.
Natural wetlands purify water by acting like a sponge, soaking up rainwater that runs off the land before it enters rivers and streams.
Particles of sediment and metals are removed as the water flows through wetland vegetation. Other pollutants such as nutrients and pesticides are partially extracted as the water percolates through wetland soils [Waterwise, Winter 1995]. Sand dunes also act as natural soil filters, trapping particles which later become food for microorganisms.
With the goal of managing wastewater effectively, economically, and ecologically, scientists are mimicking nature's processes in the design of ecosystems for wastewater processing based on sand dunes and natural marshes. Combinations of designed ecosystems, such as a constructed wetland and a soil filter in the same system, are known as hybrid systems. These designs have already been shown to effectively process wastewater, and at a much lower cost than conventional systems.
Mimicking natural environments to treat wastewater is especially
important where conventional treatment is not possible. The home of EMJ
America and Neon Impressions is located in a 50 year old renovated school
on the shores of Jordan Lake, the water supply for nearby communities.
A standard
septic system is not an option because of the potential for contaminating
the nearby water supply. This natural model for purifying, reclaiming and
reusing water enables the restoration and use of an abandoned and historic
school house.
A standard
septic system |
Site: http://ces.soil.ncsu.edu/soilscience/publications/Soilfacts/AG-439-13/index.htm
|
Wetland Links:
| http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/constructed-wetlands-links.html
|
IWA: http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=iwaphome
|
