[Greenbuilding] water conservation

[Alan Abrams]

IMHO, the low-flush toilets are a high priority for places like Phoenix
or CA, with extremely limited water supplies.  In my area, the largest
groundwater recharge area in the states, and next to the Missouri river,
water conservation is moot. 

Aha, but what about the other end of the pipe?  Doesn't reducing the volume
of effluent -- even if it has been effectively concentrated (by low volume
flushes) -- reduce the burden on treatment plants?  This is of concern in
Washington DC, which usually has ample supplies of water, but is served in
part by an antiquated combined sewer system.  With every significant rain
event, the treatment plant is overwhelmed, and untreated waste is dumped
into the Potomac / Chesapeake watershed.

Alan Abrams  
Thankfully Upstream from Blue Plains 


See:

http://www.washingtonpeacecenter.org/articles/sewerbill.html

"One-third of the District, predominantly the central part of the city, sits
above a combined sewer system. The combined system funnels polluted storm
water runoff from streets and roofs and raw sewage from homes and offices
into one underground pipe for transport to the Blue Plains waste treatment
facility. Whenever it rains as little as 2/10", the rainwater that cascades
off streets, parking lots and other impervious surfaces overwhelm the
Combined Sewer System. This polluted runoff - along with garbage, sediments
and raw sewage - is dumped directly into our waters through 60 outfall
pipes."