Category Archives: water conservation

Energy Efficient Gardening – What about your soil

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So you have your soil test back. Hopefully you have planted several plantings of your favorite stuff to eat so that they will continue to produce for as long as the weather will allow. In a totally fluke year I had some spinach that lasted for a year and well into the next spring.

It is time to start both improving your soil and planting your “main” crops. The soil test says that you “need something”. Now I am not going to cover all of the soil additives but usually there will be somekind of chemical deficiency. Here you run smack dab into your modern industrial farming dilemma. Don’t worry, this will only last for a year. At the end of World War II the world had a total surplus of explosives and poison gas. What to do? Well they converted the explosives to nitrogen fertilizer and they turned the poison gas into herbicides and pesticides. Farmers fell in love with them and well here we are no longer loving our food. NO2 (commonly called Nox) is a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2 It is estimated that when farmers fertilize there fields they castoff more greenhouses gases than the entire world’s transportation fleet:

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/5/16/124957/304

Nitrogen bomb

‘Science’: nitrogen as important as carbon in climate change

Posted by Tom Philpott at 5:05 PM on 16 May 2008

Speaking of the troubles associated with industrial agriculture and its fertilizer regime, check this out:

“The public does not yet know much about nitrogen, but in many ways it is as big an issue as carbon, and due to the interactions of nitrogen and carbon, makes the challenge of providing food and energy to the world’s peoples without harming the global environment a tremendous challenge.”

The speaker is University of Virginia environmental sciences professor James Galloway (quoted in an AP piece), talking about his paper published (abstract here) in the latest Science.

According to Galloway, “We are accumulating reactive nitrogen in the environment at alarming rates, and this may prove to be as serious as putting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

Nothing new here that I can tell at first glance. (I’d love to read the paper, but it’s password-protected.) I agree, though, that nitrogen’s role in climate change is way under-discussed.

The same issue of Science also contains an article about how synthesized nitrogen affects the oceans — specifically their role as greenhouse-gas sinks.

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So what to do about nutrients? Well it all comes down to crap. That’s right manure, excrement or poo. Not your’s. Though there is a case to be made for that, the small scale gardener is hard pressed to deal with human crap. In fact there are better fertilizers around. But lets take a step backwards, in the “old days” of sustainable farming the farmers had all kinds of animals, goats, cows, horses, mules, and chickens to name a few. They would collect this shit and straw from their animal’s housing and their yards and toss it in a pile. At the end of the growing season they would take all this manure and spread it on their field. Over winter it would break down. Then in the spring when they plowed they would turn it into the soil and “there you have it” fertile soil.

http://www.aces.edu/department/crd/publications/ANR-723.html

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION SERIES
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Agriculture & Natural Resources

EXTENSION ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, AUBURN UNIVERSITY, AL 36849-5647

Using Livestock Manure As Fertilizer

ANR-723, 1992. By Charles Mitchell, Extension Agronomist, Agronomy, Auburn University

Livestock manure is an excellent fertilizer for the soil, providing such nutrients as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Manure application can also benefit the soil’s water holding capacity and tilth. When using livestock manure, however, one should follow good management practices in order to avoid hazards to the crop and the environment. Sources Of Livestock ManurePoultry waste, cattle manure, and swine manure are all used as organic fertilizers in Alabama. They are all excellent sources for nutrients; however, nutrient compositions will vary among operations and over time. Users of manures from broiler houses, lagoons, or feedlots should have an idea of the total and available nutrient content before they are applied to land.Possible ProblemsBecause nitrate-nitrogen can leach into groundwater and both nitrogen and phosphorus can erode or runoff into streams, manure applications should be based strictly on the nutrient requirement of the crop. Therefore, the soil should be tested to determine nutrient needs for the crop to be grown.Good Management PracticesThe following precautions should be taken in order to prevent nutrient losses through leaching, erosion, and runoff:

  1. Eliminate excessive applications.
  2. Time applications appropriately, rotate crops,
  3. and use winter cover crops. Apply manure when it will be utilized by the crop.
  4. Incorporate or inject the applications into the
  5. soil. Do not leave the manure on the soil surface.
  6. Do not apply manure to steep slopes or during
  7. periods prone to erosion and runoff.
  8. Document the amounts and contents of material applied.
  9. Protect soil from erosion.
  10. Use filter strips or buffer zones between fields
  11. and nearby streams

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So when I end my growing season, I take a couple of big tubs to a local animal farm and I get free poo and straw from the farmer. Take it to my garden and toss it on. Big draw backs? It’s hard work and it stinks. But so what? Why did I say that this will be a problem for you only a year? Well because you have started a compost pile (hint hint) and you have located a farmer (hint hint). What to do now for you though. Well, you can go get fertilizer for one year and tell yourself everyone has to start somewhere. Or you can buy composted manure. Here again you have be to careful. Transportation and its oil use is the real issue so read the labels. Buy the composted manured produced the closest to you. If you are lucky you can find some poo from your own state. Now, if you have started your seeds inside and it’s time to plant YOUR plants. Or if you depend on a garden center it’s time to plant THEIR plants. Try to stagger them just like you did for your early crops so that they will produce for the entire growing season.

Oh, and for awhile you maybe a standard “row” gardener but there are more efficient ways to use your land:

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

The Official Site of Square Foot Gardening and Mel Bartholomew, Originator and Author

Welcome  To  My  Garden

No Work, Organic Gardening the Square Foot Way

 

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or french intensive gardening

 

http://www.learn2grow.com/gardeningguides/edibles/planting/FrenchLesson.aspx

A French Lesson in Intensive Planting
Linnea Thornton

Juvenile Garden
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Barbara Wilde, L’Atelier Vert,Everything French Gardening, frenchgardening.com
This juvenile bed in a French garden shows how closely young plants are crowded together in intensive planting.

Crowding a bunch of plants in a narrow plot might not seem like a good idea at first. After all, it runs counter to everything you’ve learned about gardening. But this specialized method of planting – called French intensive gardening – is actually a tried-and-true technique to maximize your harvest in a small space. Even if you’ve only got a tiny plot, you can get amazing results if you develop it properly.
As you might’ve guessed by its name, French intensive gardening evolved in Europe. Its purpose is to make the most of limited growing space. Known as “square-foot gardening” in the US, it’s also the preferred method of many growers who want extra produce for themselves or to share with friends and neighbors.

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Garden To Save Energy – How to rev up the veggies

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OK so you have picked the site for your garden. You have picked the size of your garden. You have turned the soil for your garden. You have sent your soil off to be tested by the Ag extension office (if you are in the USA). There are a couple of things that you can plant now that are soil indifferent while you are waiting for the test results. The list includes most roots, like carrots, potatoes, turnips, radishes, and parsnips to name a few. All the roots care about is that the soil is well worked – no stones, no clumps and broken up deep. The onion family will grow almost anywhere any time. This is also true of the leafy vegetables. From lettuce to kale to spinach they all can be planted early and often. Sandy soil is the one thing that negates all that I have said so far. Because it drains fast and has few nutrients. But you  can see whether your soil is too sandy just by looking at it.

sand.jpg

Today I want to discuss 2 factors to keep in mind at this stage of your gardening, besides saying that you will make mistakes and nature will deal you a bad hand at times. It happens to all of us. 1. Assess your tastes. Tastes change over time and if you have never had the plant that you are growing FRESH, get fresh and try it. In my case, I had never had fresh spinach. I had grown to quickly hate the canned spinach dished out by mom and the school cafeteria, thus I thought all spinach tasted like that. Boy was I wrong! Fresh spinach rocks. I have gotten to the point where I cook with it alot too but it takes practice.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/04/earlyshow/living/recipes/main2883739.shtml

(CBS)  When the editors of Taste of Home magazine asked their readers for submissions for their Garden Bounty recipe contest, they were inundated with all manner of delicious dishes, from appetizers to salads to vegetarian entrees to fruit-laden desserts.

After reviewing all the recipes, they found their winner: Kathryn Pehl, the third 2007 Taste of Home contest winners to appear on The Early Show. Katie hails from Prescott, Ariz., and the judges could not resist her Spaghetti Squash with Red Sauce, especially her flavorful tomato sauce, which is served over spaghetti squash instead of the usual pasta.

If you’re interested in participating in a Taste of Home recipe competition, the next contest is “Corn is King.” You can also still submit a recipe for Slow Cookers. To get more information, click here.

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2. Every “GOOD” gardener will tell you to buy plants at a greenhouse or a garden center for great production. But think about it. The main reason this Site is discussing gardening is to SAVE energy. If the greenhouse grew their plants from seed, fine. But a lot of places truck their plants in…and that is kinda missing the point. I urge people to start there plants from seed where and whenever they can:

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/seeds_veg.php

A Beginners Guide to Vegetable Seed StartingA Beginners Guide to Vegetable Seed Starting

by miss gard(e)ner Inhabit Hardiness Zones 5 through 8?
Ready to start your growing season?
The much anticipated moment has arrived.

Planning

Keep the following in mind when planning your garden:

    Climate: What grows well in your region?
    Space limitations: How extensive will your garden be?
    Domestic habits: What would you like to eat from your garden?
    Production levels: How many tomatoes do you really need?
    Aesthetic desires: How would you like the space to look?
    Make a list of your top ten most desired veggies. Start with them.

Seed Sowing Schedule

This seed starting chart will help you figure out exactly when to plant different seeds.
First, determine your region’s frost-free date. Ask your local plant nursery or gardener neighbor. Alternatively, check out–www.almanac.com. The reality of weather makes an `exact’ date rarely exact. Keep in mind the forecasts for your region. A colder, longer winter? Push the date forward a few weeks. As they say, better safe then sorry.

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Or the millions of other sites set up for this:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Starting-Vegetables-Indoors-from-Seed&id=479111

http://www.vegetablegardeningguru.com/seed-starting.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_12174_start-vegetable-seeds.html

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This early in the game you can do other things to save energy, like starting a compost pile:

http://www.hribar.com/how-to-save-energy.htm

www.backyardgardener.com/compost/index.html

Compost heaps

There are several ways in which compost heaps can be made and various theories exist as to the way in which they should be treated. There are two important points which are essential for successful compost making and these are adequate drainage and aeration and sufficient moisture.

A compost heap is a necessary feature in the average garden. It provides a means of collecting the surprising amount of waste material which is gathered together during regular garden maintenance and it supplies the garden, or rather, the soil, with valuable organic matter. This organic matter fulfils several vital functions. It helps to improve the structure of the soil, especially the heavy clay types and the light sandy kinds. It encourages a vigorous root system and also acts as a sponge to retain moisture. Light, sandy soils tend to dry out rather badly and a high humus content is necessary to overcome this problem. Well-rotted composted vegetable waste can be used as a mulch around plants and between rows of vegetables where it will smother small annual weeds and prevent the surface soil from drying out badly.

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Save water by using a soaker hose and:

http://www.uk-energy-saving.com/saving_water.html

Tips on Saving Water in the Garden

  • Collect rainwater and use a watering can instead of a hose. If you prefer to use a hosepipe, fit a trigger nozzle to control the flow. Water Butts for your garden can be purchased at Greenfingers Trading Ltd
  • Water your garden in the cool of the early morning or evening. This will reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation.
  • If you water plants and shrubs too often their roots will remain shallow, weakening the plant. Leave them alone until they show signs of wilting.
  • Regularly weed and hoe your garden, to ensure that watering helps plants and not weeds.
  • Plant flowers and shrubs that thrive in hot and dry conditions such as thyme, evening primrose, rock rose, Californian poppy, pinks, lavender, buddleia and hebes.
  • Mulches such as wood chips, bark and gravel help to prevent water evaporation and also suppress weed growth, saving you both water and time spent weeding.
  • Lawns can survive long periods of dry weather if the grass is not cut too short. Even if the grass turns brown, it will quickly recover after a few days of rain.
  • Garden sprinklers can use as much water in an hour as a family of four uses in a day. If you use a sprinkler, many water companies require you to have a water meter fitted.

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This can become a lifestyle if you let it and I do.

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Changing To A Sustainable Economy A Matter Of Choice – It’s in the can man

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It really is a matter of quitting. We do not have to emit life threatening  green house gases into the upper atmosphere if we do not want to. That’s a fact jack:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-sweden-carbonfree_goeringmar03,0,3023238.story

Going green: Entire Swedish city switches

to biofuels to become environmentally

friendly

Industrial community makes change with a minimum of cost, pain

By Laurie Goering |Tribune correspondent
March 3, 2009

KALMAR, Sweden — Though a fraction of Chicago’s size, this industrial city in southeast Sweden has plenty of similarities with it, including a long, snowy winter and a football team the town’s crazy about.

One thing is dramatically different about Kalmar, however: It is on the verge of eliminating the use of fossil fuels, for good, and with minimal effect on its standard of living.

The city of 60,000—and its surrounding 12-town region, with a quarter-million people—has traded in most of its oil, gas and electric furnaces for community “district heat,” produced at plants that burn sawdust and wood waste left by timber companies. Hydropower, nuclear power and windmills now provide more than 90 percent of the region’s electricity.

Kalmar’s publicly owned cars and buses—and a growing share of its private and business vehicles—run on biogas made from waste wood and chicken manure, or an 85 percent ethanol blend from Brazil.

ust as important, the switch from oil and gas is helping slash fuel bills and preserve jobs in a worldwide economic downturn. And despite dramatic drops in fossil fuel consumption, residents say nobody has been forced to give up the car or huddle around the dining table wearing three sweaters to stay warm.

“We are not eco-freaks,” said Carolina Gunnarsson, a sustainability officer with the Kalmar County regional council, as her teenage daughter, wearing a tank top, lounged on their living room sofa on a snowy February afternoon. “We’re just making it easy to change, giving people the tools.”

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If you think it’s just those liberal Swedes whose sole reason for their success is “it’s small and has a homogenous population”. Like why they can supply nationwide healthcare, universal education, paid maturnity leave and have the happiest population in the whole world. Well they do the same thing in Illinois, I mean the environment part.

http://www.prairiecrossing.com/pc/site/index.html

Welcome to Prairie Crossing

Prairie Crossing is a critically-acclaimed conservation community that was designed to combine responsible development, the preservation of open land and easy commuting by rail. The community offers a variety of housing options, including 359 single family homes and 36 condominiums, all designed in Midwestern vernacular architecture and built to the highest standards of energy efficiency. The single family homes are sold out, but a limited number of condominiums are still available! Please explore our website for information about the Organic Farm, shops and restaurants, Metra commuter rail service, Charter School, and our restored natural areas, as well as the Guiding Principles underlying the community. 

wetlands-home1.jpg

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Then you could say, “well that is all well and good for Illinois. But that wouldn’t fly in a small rural state”. Of course unless you are in say Georgia:

http://www.serenbecommunity.com/home.html

At home at Serenbe.
Let’s say you could create the perfect place to live. Blank slate. Anything you want.

You might want a place where your quality of life was extraordinarily high. Where you felt an easy sense of community. Where the principles of sustainability touched everything from your home’s methods of construction to the organic produce on your table that was grown by one of your neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, you might prefer an eclectic group, from artists to writers to farmers to business people. You might like to walk paths that take you through both forest and meadow, ride horses along tree-canopied trails, or hear music outdoors in your neighborhood amphitheatre. Maybe you’d just like a place to get away, a place where you can enjoy a simpler life. For miles around you the Chattahoochee Hill Country is protected with a master plan that calls for 80% green space.

Let’s say you’d like a place where you can stroll as well as stride. Where you can spend time being as well as doing. Then perhaps Serenbe is a place you’d be at home.

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Cisterns, Another Personal Story – A house that was meant to recycle water

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I was reminiscing with a Guy who grew up in a rural Sangamon County household whose house was built to recycle water. I was telling him about my daily bucket brigade duty when I was staying at my great grandparents house. His name is David. He said, “OH yah well I had to do that everyday for almost 15 years”. He said that he grew up next to his grandmother’s house and she already had a well. It was hand dug by his dad and his grandfather. There was no way his dad was going to dig another well. So when they build his families house they put in a huge tile lined cistern feed from all of the downspouts off the roof. That was fed into  a tank inside the house by an electric pump which pressurized the whole system. The holding tank fed a hot water heater and a cold water line. The rest of the house was plumbed like a regular house.

The reader is probably thinking that what we are describing is a classic quaint little farmhouse setting with the large kitchen with the little bedroom off the kitchen for the married couple. They had a slightly larger “sitting room” that had a couch, some over stuffed chairs, a desk and some pictures on the wall for more formal entertaining and the children lived in the cramped attic. Where they sweltered  in the summer and froze in the winter. These house were usually all porch because folks spent most of their time outside. Well yes I am talking about those houses BUT these people have a cistern too:

 

http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~liz/home.html

 house_dec03.jpg

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That’s right please also note that there is a solar water preheat system (not shown) on the garage. This is a house in Floirda that is totally disconnected from any centralized distribution system, and they use a chemical composting toilet.

They did not drink cistern water mainly because of taste. Dave said the well water from his grandmothers house was so sweet it was like drinking candy. So that was his job as the little man in the house, he went to the well and filled up a 2 gallon porcelain bucket twice a day everyday until he went off to college. He noted that the job changed as he got older and so did his grandmother. He first started checking on her to see if she needed anything. Pretty soon he was getting water for her too. He said she had a reservoir on the back of her cob cook stove (which I had forgot about – my grannies did too). Eventually he was taking her ashes out for her too. The advantage was he got one breakfast from mom and then another from his grandma. 2 Breakfasts in one day. What a treat.

But the funniest stories were the ones about water conservation. He said repeatedly, “We were taught water was precious”.  Those lessons have not changed:

 http://www.charlottesville.org/Index.aspx?page=1681

He said, “You got whatever it was wet (teeth, body, dishes) and then you did whatever you needed to do. Then you turned the water back on BRIEFLY.” He said,”When you were in the shower if you heard the pump come on you knew it was time to get out of the shower no mater what because it was about to get real cold.” Laundry day was the toughest because his mother had a wood rod that she could stick in the cistern to measure its level. She knew that she could only use so much water washing clothes because they needed it for other things..the nearest water was 10 miles away.

Finally he said, “This was rammed home to us every couple of years because when it got really dry in some summers and falls we had to buy 500 gallons of water at a time. This guy from Sherman had a water truck and he would fill it up. He run a hose to your well or wherever you wanted it and dumped away.” It was kind of exciting when you were a kid. But, as he got older he realized that those gallons of water meant fewer new clothes for the school year, or that his shoes would have to last longer, or that maybe his sister couldn’t go to the Prom at school.” Then he said it again, “You know water is precious.”

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These people think so too:

 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/30/MNC615JNHB.DTL

Severe drought expected after mild January

Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 30, 2009

 

California teeters on the edge of the worst drought in the state’s history, officials said Thursday after reporting that the Sierra Nevada snowpack – the backbone of the state’s water supply – is only 61 percent of normal.

January usually douses California with about 20 percent of the state’s annual precipitation, but instead it delivered a string of dry, sunny days this year, almost certainly pushing the state into a third year of drought.

The arid weather is occurring as the state’s water system is under pressure from a growing population, an aging infrastructure and court-ordered reductions in water pumped through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta – problems that didn’t exist or were less severe during similar dry spells in the late 1970s and late 1980s.

“We’re definitely in really bad shape,” said Elissa Lynn, chief meteorologist with the state Department of Water Resources. “People can expect to pay higher prices for produce … and more agencies may be rationing … some raising fees. We just don’t have enough water.”

In Sonoma County, water managers are expected to take a bold step Monday – telling residents to prepare for severe rationing within weeks.

“We have entered uncharted territory,” said Pam Jeane, deputy chief engineer of operations at the Sonoma County Water Agency. “A 30 percent mandatory rationing order is just the beginning. Further decline in reservoir levels could necessitate 50 percent cutbacks.”

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Life With Cisterns – My Great Grandparents were big water recyclers

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When I was a young boy in the 1960’s I spent 2 weeks with Edna and Court Lutz, my great grandparents. They were independent hog farmers on a subsistence farm in a rural unincorporated village called New Philadelphia Illinois. It was a subsistence farm which for years had no running water. Part of the roof runoff went into rain barrels, and part of it ran directly into their well. The well was in the back of the house and it had a big 3 foot tall pump on the top it. Court had run a water line from the well into the house in the pantry/sink area off of the kitchen and put in a much smaller hand pump on the edge of the sink. We ate and cooked in the much larger 15 x 15 kitchen area which housed a 6 burner corn cob cook stove a big kitchen table and the refrigerator.

pump.jpg

www.depagro.com

short-pump.jpg

www.oak-barrel.com

I learned a lot about hard work from those folks, but in many ways they were the original eco friendly folks. I got my first tastes of many things the Christmas before our first summer stay. The Ross side of the family had Christmas dinner at Court and Edna’s  house. After dinner (it was actually late lunch but they called the evening meal supper) Edna said, “Would you boys pump some water for me”. So we rushed into the pantry and proceeded to pump and pump and pump. Finally between the two of us we got the water coming and filled up one of the sinks. But we were tuckered out.

Edna filled up a large kettle to heat water to wash the dishes and then started in on them.

kettle.jpg

www.physics.uc.edu

Mabel (my grandmother) decided that she wanted some lemonade and needed a gallon of water to make it. Court offered to go out to the bigger pump and get it. Steve and I said,”Will do it”! Once bundled and outside Court watched amused as we tried to get the pump arm to even move. Both of us at 6 and 7 years couldn’t budge it. Court laughed and said here let me get it started for you and he pumped the handle a couple of mighty pumps. We got water on about the third pump but we filled up the bucket which was way to much water. Damn thing was hard to control. We never asked about the toilets. We were not there long enough to need them. As we were leaving, I asked Court why they had rain barrels on the front gutter downspouts. He said that I would find out soon enough.

rainbarrel.jpg

www.iaswcd.org

We went back the next summer of 1961. We had been prepared somewhat. We had been told what outhouses were and of course because our father was a Biologist we were told how they worked. We had been told about chamberpots and how to deal with them. We had been given a deck of cards and informed that they had no TV. We had been told about their half acre garden and had been given some gloves. Also some advice on dealing with blisters. We had been warned about hogs (they had 5) and that Court got up early in the morning. BUT WE HAD no idea what we were infor. And yes that is all one word.

outhouse.jpg

truenorthhh.org

pot.jpg

www.crabcoll.com

truck.gif

truckpatchfarms.com/products.html

hogs.jpg

www.soc.iastate.edu

Little did we know we were about to become water mules. Court got us up at 4:30 in the morning. Gave us coffee. Something that we had never had before, and then took us out to “slop the hogs”. Which involved hauling food scraps and water in 8 gallon pails out to the hog lot. Then we had to “mix the mash” which amounted to us hauling water out to an out building and pouring it in barrels of corn to ferment. Then we hauled already fermented mash out to the hogs. Then we hauled our sad asses into the house for breakfast. Which we ate ravenously. More coffee. Grandma clucked. Then we went to take care of the garden. Which amounted to….you guessed it hauling water in 8 gallon buckets out to the biggest garden I had ever seen. I mean row after row. We hauled it from the rain barrels which were much closer and easier then pumping at the well. Yep that is what water recycling is all about. PHwefff  Sometime I will tell you about the 2 hole outhouse. Nothing left that farm but pigs and people. The pigs mercifully did not come back.

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For more info about up close and personal water recycling please see:

 http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

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Green Roofs – The ultimate water recycler

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Green Roofs or the idea that you could grow plants on the roof as a form of insulation and an absorber of water are gaining traction in the US Market. This new, some would say radical, idea is actually not new for people who live in rammed earth homes and underground or planned caves. These structures seed what are their roofs with grass. In the summer they allow the grass to grow tall which adds insulation value to the home. Green Roofs are this idea transferred up in the air.

I think that this idea would work best for low slope roofs with some access to enjoy the greenery. We have a sharply sloped roof so it would not work on our house. We have low sloped roofs on the garage and a very large shed so we could do Green Roofs there. It has the advantage of some carbon sequestration as well, depending on what you do with the green waste.

http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inventory/Roofs/green-roofs
Find manufacturers of this PATH Technology Inventory item

Green roofs, also called living or planted roofs, are systems of living plants and vegetation installed on the roof of an existing or new structure. The green roof concept is not new. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon constructed around 500 B.C. were perhaps one of the first green roof systems. Planted components of a prevegetated modular green roof system. Photo courtesy of LiveRoof, LLC Terrace structures were built over arched stone beams and waterproofed with layers of reeds and thick tar on which plants and trees were placed in soil.

Popular in Europe for decades, technology has improved upon the ancient systems, making green roofs available in and appropriate for nearly all climates and areas of the United States. All green roof systems consist of four basic components: a waterproofing layer, a drainage layer, a growing medium, and vegetation. Some green roofs also include root retention and irrigation systems, but these are not essential.

Green roof systems are often broken down into two types—extensive and intensive systems. An extensive system features low-lying plants such as succulents, mosses, and grasses. They require relatively thin layers of soil (1-6 inches), and plants usually produce a few inches of foliage. Extensive systems have less of an impact on the roof structure, weighing 10-50 pounds per square foot on average, and are generally accessible only for routine maintenance. Most residential applications are composed of extensive green roof systems. Intensive systems feature deeper soil and can support larger plants including crops, shrubs, and trees. Intensive systems can be harder to maintain, depending on the plants used, and are much heavier than extensive systems—they range from 80 to more than 120 pounds per square foot. Intensive systems are typically designed to be accessible to building inhabitants for relaxation and/or harvesting.

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For people who are “doing it” so to speak:

http://www.hadj.net/green-roofs/project-info.html

Welcome to the project! We intend to examine the feasibility of green roofs (extensive roof gardens) for residential scale construction. As you know, green roofs are common in Germany, France, Swizerland, and England, and are gaining a foothold in Canada and the U.S.

However, the vast majority of these roofs are commercial scale. The total area of residential roof surface, compared to commercial roof surface, is much larger and has a much more profound impact on the environment. Also, the largest and fastest growing encroachment on open space and riparian waterways is not commercial but residential development.

There are several challenges to developing a residential market:

  • The intial cost of green roofs is higher (however, their life cycle cost is competitive with conventional roofs).
  • Builders and developers want to offer a low sticker price for their product. They are responding to a market that does not frequently calculate life cycle costs.
  • Weight: the 3″ to 6″ of soil plus geotextiles on a roof can require added structure. In seismic zones there is a concern in that more weight is placed higher up in a structure.
  • The simple novelty of green roofs. I remember when the U.S. construction industry was talking about going metric, 35 years ago.

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AND:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/49803/doityourself_green_roofs_eco_roof_installation.html

Home Improvement for the Planet

Green roofs or eco roofs are an excellent way to reduce energy costs and reduce urban “heat island” effects that increase atmospheric temperatures. A green roof is a roof that is covered with vegetation. Green roofs are still relatively scarce in the United States today but appeared throughout the Midwest prairie homes of decades gone by. They are common throughout European commercial and residential areas today, covering over 100 million square feet of rooftops.

In both commercial and residential applications, green roofs offer many benefits to property owners. Green roofs reduce energy costs by adding insulation in winter and absorbing heat in summer. Estimates of energy savings range from 6-50% depending on the roof size. When installed in new construction, the incorporation of a green roof into the project’s design allows a reduction in the size of heating and cooling systems needed. This adds an upfront savings s smaller units may be installed for smaller heating and cooling loads. In today’s housing market, energy savings equals increased property value. Some green roof projects are eligible for tax credits and other “green” incentives. Green roofs transform impervious surfaces such as tar and asphalt into useable green space that absorbs solar radiation and carbon dioxide.

Until now, green roofs in residential areas have been outnumbered by commercial coverage because the task of installing a green roof can be overwhelming for individual home owners. In part this is due to expense but also attributed to a lack of knowledge in general about green roofs, their benefits and how to install them. As such an important feature of a home’s structural soundness, the thought of an “outside the norm” roof treatment can be intimidating.

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For much more information please go to their sites and thank them for being pioneers.

Should You Be Drinking Cistern Water – I am not sure it’s such a good idea.

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Look if the world falls apart, like the survivalists predict. Civilization falls and the barbarians are at the gates. By all means drink any water you can get your hands on. But for day to day useage right now I would not. If you are seriously harvesting rainwater and recycling water your useage would be so low that sipping from the public water supply would be minimal. One of the problems is we so heavily pollute the air that you could never be sure that you were harvesting minute amounts of things like lead and mercury.

But if you must:

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http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education2/9-cistern-water.htm

CISTERN WATER

In some areas there are attempts to collect rainwater in cisterns. In general, these cistern waters are harder and contain more total solids than rain. This is due to the accumulation of dirt and dust on the surface of the cisterns. One study shows that in 500 household cisterns, hardness ranged from 35 to 150 ppm. Further, cistern waters often have a high bacterial count and noticeable color. While in many cases the organisms found in cisterns are nonpathogenic, it is advisable to chlorinate this water where it is used for drinking purposes.

According to recent news and reports, most tap and well water in the U.S. are not safe for drinking due to heavy industrial and environmental pollution. Toxic bacteria, chemicals and heavy metals routinely penetrate and pollute our natural water sources making people sick while exposing them to long term health consequences such as liver damage, cancer and other serious conditions. We have reached the point where all sources of our drinking water, including municipal water systems, wells, lakes, rivers, and even glaciers, contain some level of contamination. Even some brands of bottled water have been found to contain high levels of contaminants in addition to plastics chemical leaching from the bottle.

A good water filtration system installed in your home is the only way to proactively monitor and ensure the quality and safety of your drinking water. Reverse osmosis water purification systems can remove 90-99% of all contaminants from city and well water to deliver healthy drinking water for you and your family.

Click to see details of Ultra Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System !
Healthy and Convenient! Our Featured Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System

 

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Indeed some claim that it could be real dangerous. If you have a weak stomach quit reading:

 http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/13/1/38

Atmospheric Deposition and Roof-Catchment Cistern Water Quality1

Edward S. Young, Jr. and William E. Sharpe2 ABSTRACT

The water quality in 40 roof-catchment cistern systems in rural Clarion and Indiana Counties, Pa. was studied to determine the impact of atmospheric deposition. Roof-catchment cisterns are open to atmospheric contaminants such as the toxic metals Pb and Cd, and corrosive acid components present in acid precipitation.

Bulk precipitation samples failed to meet the drinking water standard for Pb on several occasions and were consistently quite corrosive. Mean Pb, Cd, and Cu concentrations were well below drinking water limits for all cistern water samples. Cistern water was corrosive in all but a few cases, as indicated by the Langelier saturation index, although not as corrosive as the bulk precipitation due to the dissolution of CaCO3 from cistern walls and floors. Vinyl-lined cisterns contained water nearly as corrosive as the incoming precipitation.

Seventy percent of the systems on one or more occasions exhibited cistern bottom sediment/water Pb or Cd concentrations that exceeded the drinking water limits. This indicated that metals deposited on roof catchments were accumulating at the bottom of the cisterns. Standing tap water samples exhibited high Pb and Cu concentrations. Nine of the forty systems studied produced standing tap water Pb concentrations that averaged above the drinking water standard. The mean Pb, Cd, and Cu concentrations of running tap water samples all fell below the drinking water standards. Atmospheric deposition of Pb and its infusion into tap water as a corrosion product pose a significant health threat to users of roof-catchment cistern systems in western Pennsylvania.

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On the other hand after proper filtration and clorination these folks seem to think its OK. But I let you read it for yourself:

 http://www.inspect-ny.com/water/WaterCisterns.htm

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Gray Water VS Clean Water – OK so the water is in the tank

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Now What? The first time you may run into the idea of Gray Water is in discussions of what to do with the water headed for your cistern when it first starts to rain. This is because that water could be polluted with natures by-products like leaves and dirt but more importantly bird poo, pesticides, and degraded gasoline products.

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 http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1978-05-01/The-Homestead-Cistern.aspx?page=3

To aid in keeping their collected water clean, most cistern owners install a “shut-off” (or short length of movable pipe) in their systems’ downspouts. Then, during the first few minutes of a rain—when all the soot, bird droppings, etc., that have accumulated on the roof’s surface begin to wash away—the runoff can be diverted away from the cistern. (This tainted water can be shunted to the garden or used in any way you’d use “gray water”.) Shortly afterwards—when it has rained a few minutes and the water flowing through the downspout appears clear and clean—the shut-off can be switched back to direct the remaining portion of the shower or storm into the cistern.

The filter mentioned above is usually nothing more than a concrete enclosure (see diagram) that’s divided into two sections by a partition reaching two-thirds of the way to the chamber’s top. One of the two sections is left empty, while the other is layered full of filtering material(s) . . . usually gravel, fine sand, and/or activated charcoal. The idea is that as water flows from the downspout to the first (i.e., empty) section of the “filter box”, bits of leaves, dirt, etc., will settle out . . . then—as the collected liquid spills over the partition and begins to percolate down through the layers of filtering material—smaller impurities also will be removed. A screen prevents any remaining debris from flowing into the supply line that connects the filter box with the cistern.

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Not to get too technical but water is usually divided into Black Water, Grey Water and White or Clean Water. Water is also heavily regulated. It is regulated by people who are interested in drinking water. It is regulated by people who are interested in pollution control. It is regulated by people who are involved in pest and animal control. If you are on an island or in a deeply rural area you only have to worry about your own personal health. If you are in the middle of Chicago, good luck.

But for simple presentations Black Water is what goes down the toilet. Some people use dry chemical toilets and they recycle there own human waste as soil enhancers. This is only for the very hardy right now. Other people use septic tanks to recycle at least the water and some nutrients back into the environment. This can be dicey at times. But hundreds of thousands use these devices. Most people would have to (yes say it) “let that go”.

OK so you have this tank full of rainwater. If you are smart and your storage is up in the air then all you need is a hose attached to it. Then using gravity you can direct that water where you like. If it is stored on the ground you may need a little pump to achieve that end. If your tank is below ground well you need a bigger pump.

Gray water is that water not considered good enough to drink. This is where the legal tussles began. To give an example, some people flush their toilets with spent dish washing water. They use a bucket and pour it in the toilet tank. Other people divert their clothes washing water to their garden by either running a hose there directly or by running the water into a tank. Why do I raise this? Can a person drink the water in your cistern?

For an EXTREMELY spirited discussion of all of this please see:

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http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/

The Greywater Guerrillas are a collaborative group of educators, designers, builders, and artists who educate and empower people to build sustainable water culture and infrastructure.

We teach about sustainable water use through hand-on workshops and presentations.

We recently published the anthology “Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground” 

Available from 100 Fires. Read more about the book.

The politics of water – as this brilliant anthology makes clear – are the politics of human survival. Read this, and believe me, you’ll never flush with the same equanimity again.”

Mike Davis, author of City of Quartz and Dead Cities

A sweeping overview of water use issues. Dam Nation is an accessible and energizing resource for the next generation of activists and radical plumbers.

—Art Ludwig, author of Create an Oasis with Greywater

Dam Nation is a people’s history of water—and the water grid; a detailed accounting of  the fallout from a century of Manifest Destiny’s attacks on wild rivers. The book traces how—across five continents—beleaguered commoners block the neoliberal makeover of the world and endeavor to restore balance between humans and watersheds. These strategists and innovators blow open the scarcity myth to show how local democratic control coupled with watershed restoration can provide water for everyone.

Check out dozens of greywater and composting toilet systems.

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Water Conservation And The Purpose Of These Posts – Americans have gotten complacent about water

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Most people in the US assume and expect when they turn on a facet or flush a toilet that water will magically appear. When it doesn’t they have no idea what to do. The point being that global warming could change all that.

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http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/awr/dec99/Feature2.htm

Global Water Shortage

Looms In New Century

When most U.S. citizens think about water shortages — if they think about them at all — they think about a local problem, possibly in their town or city, maybe their state or region. We don’t usually regard such problems as particularly worrisome, sharing confidence that the situation will be readily handled by investment in infrastructure, conservation, or other management strategies. Whatever water feuds arise, e.g., between Arizona and California, we expect to be resolved through negotiations or in the courtroom.

But shift from a local to a global water perspective, and the terms dramatically change. The World Bank reports that 80 countries now have water shortages that threaten health and economies while 40 percent of the world — more than 2 billion people — have no access to clean water or sanitation. In this context, we cannot expect water conflicts to always be amenably resolved.

Consider: More than a dozen nations receive most of their water from rivers that cross borders of neighboring countries viewed as hostile. These include Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, the Congo, Gambia, the Sudan, and Syria, all of whom receive 75 percent or more of their fresh water from the river flow of often hostile upstream neighbors.

In the Middle East, a region marked by hostility between nations, obtaining adequate water supplies is a high political priority. For example, water has been a contentious issue in recent negotiations between Israel and Syria. In recent years, Iraq, Syria and Turkey have exchanged verbal threats over their use of shared rivers. (It should come as no surprise to learn that the words “river” and “rival” share the same Latin root; a rival is “someone who shares the same stream.”)

More frequently water is being likened to another resource that quickened global tensions when its supplies were threatened. A story in The Financial Times of London began: “Water, like energy in the late 1970s, will probably become the most critical natural resource issue facing most parts of the world by the start of the next century.” This analogy is also reflected in the oft-repeated observation that water will likely replace oil as a future cause of war between nations.

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Water Cisterns – Once you have done the little stuff there is so much you can do

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LowFlow Showerheads are mandatory but once you start there is serious stuff you can do to save water. Cisterns. It used to be that everyone had them. Some were as simple as a hole in the ground covered with screening. Sometimes they were even built as part of the house. Sort of your own personal water tower. But with the advent of modern drinking water systems they fell by the wayside.

http://www.harvesth2o.com/plumbing_codes.shtml

History

Cisterns are an ancient technology. In the Middle East in 2000 B.C., typical middle-class dwellings stored rainwater in cisterns for use as a domestic supply as well as private- bathing facilities for the wealthy.

The world’s largest cistern may be the Yerebatan Sarayi. On the European side of Istanbul in Turkey, it was constructed under Caesar Justinian (A.D. 527-565) and measures 140 by 70 meters. It can store 80,000 m³ water. The underground structure is based on intersecting vaults. Today, it is a tourist attraction which is visited by boat, drifting through a forest of columns. Another cistern in Istanbul is called Binbirdik, believed by some sources to have been constructed under Caesar Constantine (A.D. 329-337), with a capacity of 50,000 m³. Each cistern served as centralized storage for water collected from roofs and paved streets and featured a sophisticated system of filters that assured clean water.

These municipal underground cisterns may be the only examples of urban centralized rainwater harvesting of their kind. This technique was likely abandoned for two primary reasons: 1) the construction of underground cisterns is considerably more expensive than the construction of dams; 2) there is a danger of accidental pollution through human excrement in dense urban areas and a corresponding risk of epidemics.

Water Classifications

Harvested rainwater is shrouded in confusion. Some jurisdictions consider it reclaimed water and others refer to it as gray water. Actually, it is neither. To clarify, UPC offers the following definitions.

• Black water is toilet waste.

• Gray water is untreated wastewater that has had no contact with toilet waste such as used water from bathtubs, showers, lavatories and water from washing machines. It does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers.

• Reclaimed water is water which, as a result of tertiary treatment of domestic wastewater by a public agency, is suitable for controlled use. The controlled use can be the supply of reclaimed water-to-water closets, urinals and trap seal primers for floor drains and floor sinks. In areas under the jurisdiction of the UPC this system is usually called a “purple pipe” system because the reclaimed water is conveyed in pipe that is purple.

• Harvested rainwater is storm water that is conveyed from a building roof, stored in a cistern and disinfected and filtered before being used for toilet flushing. It can also be used for landscape irrigation.

As noted, Appendix J of the UPC describes reclaimed water, but according to the above definition, rainwater harvesting is not reclaimed water. Plumbing officials who do not know how to classify rainwater-harvesting systems consider them reclaimed water systems and therefore require plumbing engineers to design systems that conform to Appendix J of the UPC. This is because of the lack of guidance in the code. Since these systems are becoming more prevalent in the U.S., both the UPC and the IPC must include a section dedicated to rainwater harvesting.

Rainwater Harvesting Basics

The components of the rainwater-harvesting system include:

Roof. Rainwater should only be collected from a roof and stored in a cistern. Rainwater runoff from parking areas and other outdoor surfaces typically contain harsh chemicals and other contaminants that are undesirable in a rainwater catchment system.

Rainwater conductors. Leaders and gutters or an internally piped roof drainage system that conveys the storm water from the roof to the cistern.

Cistern. A storage tank that allows large particulate matter to settle out of the water.

Overflow from cistern. A pipe that takes overflow from the cistern to the storm drainage system.

Pumping system. Provides the pressure required at the fixture most distant from the tank.

Disinfection system. Various filtration and disinfection systems can be used.

Potable water makeup. Makeup water provided to the tank during dry seasons. Appropriate backflow prevention is required.

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But this is to CODE which may or may not apply…First you have to figure out where you are going to put the water.

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 http://www.braewater.com/index.php?/solutions/

Rainwater Harvesting

As much as 60,000 gallons of precipitation falls on a 2,000 square foot roof in Mid-Atlantic States each year. BRAE distributes Complete rainwater harvesting system solutions to put this water to beneficial use. Rainwater harvesting systems offset demands on municipal and private water supplies for outdoor watering while conserving valuable drinking water resources.

The concept of collecting and using rainwater is not new.

In addition to the advantages that rainwater is free of charge, it doesn’t have to be treated nor transported over long distances, the two most important arguments supporting the utilization of rainwater are:

1. Supplement drinking water resources
-with the benefit of saving precious potable water
2. protecting water quality by reducing impacts of stormwater runoff
-with the benefit of limiting flooding and degradation of streams and lakes

Thanks to its characteristics the use of rainwater also has positive advantages:
-Ideal for plant growth
-Better washing efficiency -up to 50% less detergent required when compared with hard water
-No calcification of fixtures and washing machines

All projects are not created equal and thus rainwater systems do not conform to a “one size fits all” sales format. There are different systems for two primary types of rainwater systems residential and commercial. Use the following resources to design and select the right system for your project.

Residential systems generally supply rainwater to toilets, washing machines, garden irrigation and hosebibs (ie car washing)

http://www.braewater.com/index.php?/products/tanks_cisterns/

Tanks/Cisterns

Water storage is the most critical component of a rainwater system. In selecting a water storage tank or cistern, there are several important questions you should ask before selecting the right tank for your project.Ask yourself…

Will I store the water above ground or below ground?
How much storage do I need?
Are there space limitations that restrict the size of water tank I may chose?
What appearance do I want for my tank?
Will the neighbors care?
Are there restrictions regarding water storage tanks?
Is my site accessible or hard to reach with a delivery truck?

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