Episode Ten: Water

Water Conservation

"Today's challenge is to use water efficiently in every way we can. We want to bring as little water into the house as necessary, make sure it's clean for drinking and bathing as well as the cleaning of dishes and clothes. We have to see if we can reuse as much of it as possible in the garden rather than sending it to the sewer, and we have to see if we can use the sun's power to heat the water for bathing and cleaning so we spend less on resources and money."

— Building Green host Kevin Contreras

Clean Water

Building Green health expert Alyssa Alvord explains why clean water is so essential to our health: We are lucky to have the water treatment that currently exists in this country; however, we still need to protect ourselves from the chemicals that do end up in the water supply.

We live on a planet that is 75% water, yet only 1% is drinkable. And that 1% is being increasingly compromised by chemical pollutants. Through water filtration, we can protect ourselves from the thousands of particulate, organic, inorganic, and microbial contaminants, many of them carcinogenic, which threaten human health.

Filtering your own local water is much greener than buying bottle water. A recent study determined that the importation of a one-liter bottle of drinking water from a well-known South Pacific island requires more than 14 pounds of water per bottle for manufacturing, transportation to the source and then on to the U.S. It also creates more than half a pound of greenhouse gases. None of these numbers account for the transportation and disposal of the empty bottles. Not to mention the fact that plastic bottles have been found to leach chemicals, especially when heated or frozen.

It's best to purify what comes to our homes from local systems. To find out more about that process, Kevin talks to water expert Dana Harrison.

Dana explains that it is crucial to get both the lead and chlorine out of the water that comes into our homes. And not just drinking water; during a ten minute shower, our skin absorbs approximately 8 cups of water and all the contaminants in that water.

Dana explains that a whole-house water conditioning system will remove all the contaminants of any water that enters your home.

Saving Green

Buying bottled water is much more expensive than filtering and drinking your own water. It can cost between $1 and $4 dollars per gallon. That adds up to about $400 dollars a year, per user, while the cost of a water filtration system and replacement filters will be between $100 and $200 dollars a year for most users.

It's the only way to go.

Easy Steps

Filter and bottle your own water.

As Sloan Barnett from Shaklee, a world-wide natural nutritional company, explains, it is easy (and green) to purchase your own water filtration device and carry a refillable, reusable glass or metal water bottle, rather than buying plastic water bottles.

Gray Water

Kevin explains to his father how the water from his vanities and showers will be piped directly to the garden for watering plants.

The water coming from the house will only contain a bit of soap, and because Kevin will use natural, biodegradable soaps, it can go right into the yard, ensuring that he will never need to use any extra water for garden.

Gray water is defined as nonindustrial waste water generated from domestic processes such as laundry and bathing. It's distinct from black water in the amount and composition of its chemical and biological contaminants like feces or toxic chemicals. Gray water gets its name from its cloudy appearance and from its status as being neither fresh nor heavily polluted.

Gordon Hopkins, Kevin's gray water expert, explains how the gravity-fed system will run into the yard without any pumps or tubs where the water might stagnate.

Kevin then explains that any pipes running through the straw bale walls must be covered in a sleeve, so that condensation does not collect in the bales.

Heating Water

Kevin explains how and why he has chosen to heat his home with radiant in-floor heating. For more information on radiant in-floor heating, please read our guide to Episode Two: Foundation.

While the radiant heating system will cost more than a forced air system would, Kevin will save lots on his heating bills.

Easy Steps

Stop those drips! A leaky faucet and/or toilet bowl can waste thousands of gallons of water a year, and fixing them is simple.

Next Week on Building Green: Landscaping