Cape Town water crisis

[Dr Who]

Hi All

Assuming one does not have a a grey water harvesting system how would you address the following challenge: The shorter you shower the less water which is captured. Now do you extend your shower so that you can use grey water to flush your toilet or do you just use clean fresh water in the toilet?

Talk about an ethical dilemma.

 

[WAslayer]

if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down..

 

[The_Librarian]

Hi All

Assuming one does not have a a grey water harvesting system how would you address the following challenge: The shorter you shower the less water which is captured. Now do you extend your shower so that you can use grey water to flush your toilet or do you just use clean fresh water in the toilet?

Talk about an ethical dilemma.

it is possible - depending on your location and $$$

If you're in a block of flats, or sausage houses, forget it.

If you're on a normal residential erf, then buy two tanks, a small 250l one and a larger 1000l one.

small 250l take grey water from shower (NOT the kitchen it'll stink ) and pump it up to the 1000l one (which is on a 5m high tankstand) - which means you'll need to have a float switch which'll regulate the pump (switch on when tank is full and off when it's empty)

same goes for a smallholding or farm or any other place where you'll need water for a flusher. But make provision to fill it up should you not produce enough grey water
if you want, use a booster pump, else use gravity feed for the water to go to the toilet cistern from the 1000l tank.

Or you can look at a compost toilet system.

 

[Nerfherder]

Hi All

Assuming one does not have a a grey water harvesting system how would you address the following challenge: The shorter you shower the less water which is captured. Now do you extend your shower so that you can use grey water to flush your toilet or do you just use clean fresh water in the toilet?

Talk about an ethical dilemma.

I did have that dilemma for a while. We were not capturing enough water during the dry season, the water was being used on the garden.

This was before level 4 restrictions and you could water your garden twice a week at night. I just decided that the clean water was better than showering just to water the garden.

 

[genelock]

The new water restrictions requires a daily use of 87L / person

My household consists of 5 people (4 grownups and a teenager).

Last month my water bill came to R50,62 for an average daily use of 303 L of water - that is 60.6 L /person every day

I'm very proud of my family for this effort

 

[pinball wizard]

Sorry, what are sausage houses?

 

[bromster]

Sorry, what are sausage houses?

Next to every block of flats is a sausage house. These abattoirs ensure speedy production of sausage for poor people like myself who can't afford free-standing houses.

To make the sausages appear larger, abbatoirs often use a process called water injection whereby water is injected into the sausage in the same way that it is commercially used on cheaper variants of supermarket chicken.

The nett result is an abnormally high water consumption, hence the dilemma.