Embed this noticeBowserNoodle ☦️ (bowsacnoodle@poa.st)'s status on Monday, 04-Nov-2024 08:03:20 JST
BowserNoodle ☦️>Showerloop is a water filtration and purification system that recycles shower water in real time allowing you to shower with hot water for a long time but only use 10 liters of water per shower (normal shower = ~6-10l/min) and a fraction of the energy (around one tenth) compared to a normal shower. The device can be installed inside or outside of a shower stall or bathtub. The main components are a pump, sand and activated carbon filters and a UV-lamp. The system weighs around 20kg and is made from transparent acrylic, steel or plastic pipe connectors and copper, plastic or rubber tubing.
This guy made put out free plans to his DIY localized grey water treatment unit specifically built to allow you to take hot showers for longer without wasting as much water. Pretty cool.
@FourOh-LLC A pot of water and tag is not comfortable. This is a full shower nonstop that's like a mini wastewater treatment plant for the hot dirty water and mixes it back in with new hot water. I would use this in a desert situation or RV or if energy costs went way up.
I'm already setting the valve on my shower to trickle rather than to blast, because I do not like to waste water and energy either. But I am not going to install something with sand, a pump, activated carbon and UV lamp into my shower.
Just because it can be done, it does not mean its smart to do. People invent functional stuff all the time, but most have only benefits in a niche. This is one of those.
@FourOh-LLC I don't disagree, but I shared it because it's cool to me and I like to promote clever "open source" DIY ideas. I'm not putting one of these in, because I have too much in my project backlog and it's not terribly important to me besides the cool factor.
@JollyWizard Filter is mostly activated charcoal and play sand, and the creator said it's possible to recover the charcoal with high heat diy. The biggest factor is the heavy UV sterilization, which is overkill for most systems but would work in even turbid water. It's not much different from a normal multi stage filter but with the UV sterilizers and charcoal (aquarium filter medium?) to capture soap and oil emulsions. He said it's every year or two for filtes, which would be pretty cheap.
@BowsacNoodle very cool idea. I just moved to cistern country and am going with rainwater collection treated for potability to solve this problem. I am going to Strongly consider this.
the energy usage reduction here is great, but the cost of filters at the schedule proposed might be a net negative. hard to figure the math off the cuff.
rainwater has a lot of passive filtration options, and you aren't dumping a lot of soap and stuff into it.
I'm at a disadvantage energy wise, because the layout ofy property requires any collected rainwater to be pumped, but a pure gravity fed rainwater collection system is probably better cost wise. for me it's probably a toss up.
might install one as a hybrid just to be safe for power outages, etc.
very interesting, regardless. hard to believe ideas like this are "fresh" but here we are.
@FourOh-LLC I think you miss the point of this. If you're recirculating hot filtered water + more fresh hot water, you have a hot shower. Potentially would introduce some gross stuff into your shower line, but listeria is already an issue in a ton of residential water tanks thanks to EnergyStar :trademark: pushing for lower tank temps. As a pro tip, you can fix this yourself by installing a loop and cranking up your water tank temp. The loop simply introduces cold water to the extra hot water at the supply line and pushes it into your main. This is how systems used to be setup years ago but they've fallen out of favor because of muh climate.
Actually, I recall accidentally catching a segment of the Bill Cosby show recommending to put an empty soda bottle in the toilet tank to save water. This was so idiotic that it stuck in my memory.
If you want literal shit to build up in your pipes, instead of fully flushed - go ahead and do that. Water saving toilet tanks do not function as advertised.
Taking a hot shower is also a treat, mental therapy, and one of the absolute greatest blessings of our technological civilization. Don't shortchange yourself.
@FourOh-LLC Yeah it's not for a condo. Desert of functionally one, yes. Barndominiums are AWESOME brother! Farmlands often have a pretty low water table. Would it be a permit issue or just not the best area?
I am actually in the process of building a barnominium on my agri-zoned lot in a farming county, and one of the challenges will be getting water without a well - IF I go that route.
I am looking at collecting water from snow and rain, and managing to keep it potable longer than usual - 2-3 months.
I might look into that for THAT niche, but for my condo - no.
@BowsacNoodle I was wondering how he was handling all the soap, etc., and what you pointed out makes sense.
The only part I had time to read during my bathroom break was the canister filter (prefilter?) notes in the "manual", and he said he recommended change every 150 showers, which would be about every month for my family of 4.
I could see this system being most valuable prepacked with a water tank in a shipping container for remote construction sites, or other areas where rainwater collection isn't viable. It would also be really good as an RV conversion.
There is a company that pioneered containerized wasterwater treatment, and my understanding is that remote construction was a primary part of their business.
@JollyWizard Something funny I realized— he could probably set this up to allow back flushing of the first two filters and significantly extend lifespan. You'd lose some efficiency, but if "net waste reduction" is the goal, it's still there.
Its mostly a technological challenge. Collecting rainwater over my own land is not violating any ordinance and it does not require permit, none I know of and I read the county regulations many times over.
But cisterns (for potable water) are heavily regulated by the state (Illinois) health code, and they are not cheap to keep licensed. Also, the collection is limited opportunity as heavy winds are not helping, and quiet rainy days are rare.
Snow - the same. I will be leasing a small backhoe or something comparable, so collection will be easier than with rain.
I still have 10 years until retirement, and I just started clearing the still pristine forest to claim some for the build site.