Project/Home Water Cycle
From Drexel Smart House
PURPOSE This project was started as part of the class requirements for Special Topics in Smart Design - Fall 2007.
Contents |
Introduction
Our vision is to create a plumbing system that will harness the water from precipitation to meet the demand of the house. Our ultimate goal is to create a self sustaining water system, through the use of new techniques in water recycling and conservation, which could be repeatable in locations throughout the country and world.
The self-sustaining system of the home is similar to the natural water cycle. New water first enters the house by precipitation on the roof. It is collected along the roof and channeled into the enclosed rooftop garden where preliminary filtration takes place. From the roof the gray water filters down into a storage tank. The collected gray water will be used to flush each toilet throughout the house. The gray water line will pick up other gray water sources such as sink and shower drains as the plumbing line moves down inside the house. Once it reaches the basement level, the gray water line has supplied every toilet and picked up every other fixture. It then drains into the sanitary line through a one-way valve. The sanitary line leaves the house and flows into the backyard filtration system. After being cleaned by the backyard filtration system, potable water is pumped back up to through the home where it supplies sinks and shower fixtures.
The application of wastewater sanitation technologies represented a breakthrough in public health and ecology (to a lesser extent). Prior to the early 1900’s, public sanitation systems did not exist, and highly polluted wastes entered the ecosystem through a variety of sources. Fixed central plants changed that, and introduced point source loads to streams, rivers and surface waters, with an overall positive net impact on surface water quality.
Unfortunately, the central systems have several unintended impacts which limit their sustainability. They pose risks to the ecosystems nearby the plant even while protecting other areas. Of primary concern in the sustainability of these massive plants is the inefficiency of energy used in the process and hazardous byproducts. Many byproducts result from poor lifecycle utilization of industrial and household wastes. Nutrients that could be recycled are instead ending up in these plants as hazardous wastes.
Many of the technologies that led to the revolution in wastewater treatment are based on natural processes that have been accelerated to serve human functions. The majority of these natural processes involved bacteria and microorganisms functioning as ‘digestive’ forces which are able to break the waste down into simple constituent parts.
The idea behind our living wetland system is to supercharge the natural processes locally at the source of waste and cut out hazardous byproducts. By applying principals of sustainable design to an ecological system the greenhouse wetland will serve many functions in tomorrow’s home.
As inspiration and concept we are using the 19th Century greenhouse. These structures were brought into vogue during London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Engineer Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace was built to showcase innovations of the Industrial Revolution and the great technological achievements pioneered by the British and their many colonies. We find these structures ironic and appropriate case studies for a new 21st Century implication. Combining the old 19th Century ideals with the new 21st Century technologies is the basis for the design process. From here we will utilize the roof using extra structural elements to support the innovative greenhouse design for water purification purposes. The backyard, as well as part of the parking lot (the parking lot and road will be moved north) will be utilized for water storage, pumps, and filtration. Ultimately, we plan on designing a eco-friendly, sustainable, living organism which functions without or close to no outside sources. This design hopefully and should become a prototype to be used around the globe.
Design
Hardware
Timeline
Budget
Personnel
Principal Investigators
Interior Design: Dr. Eugenia Ellis
Design Course Team
Architectural Engineer: Nick Calcagni
Mechanical Engineer: Alexander McLean
Civil Engineer: Alex Lannan
Interior Design: Leandra Kern
Interior Design: Maria Lucoff
Downloadable Materials
References
Plumbing Fixtures "Kohler Enters the Waterless Urinal Market" http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=150509a.xml
"Waterless Dishwasher Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Will Represent Australia in Electrolux Design Laboratory Competition" http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=2104
"Composting Toilet Systems" http://www.oikos.com/library/compostingtoilet/
"City of Philadelphia Plumbing Code" http://webapps-test.phila.gov/li/UpdDocs/PlumbingCode.pdf
Gray Water Systems "Safe Use of Household Gray Water" http://cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_m/m-106.html
"Common Gray Water Errors and Preferred Practices" http://www.oasisdesign.net/greywater/misinfo/index.htm
"Model Green Home Building Guidelines" http://www.nahbrc.org/greenguidelines/userguide_water_indoor.html
Indoor Air Quality "Using Pot Plants To Clean Indoor Air" http://www.rentokiltropicalplants.com.au/Downloads/nursery_%20paper_oct%2004.pdf
"Can House Plants Solve Indoor Air Quality Problems?" http://www.practicalasthma.net/pages/topics/aaplants.htm
"Water Efficiency Practices for Domestic Indoor Water Use" http://www.des.state.nh.us/factsheets/ws/ws-26-2.htm
"Plants Actually Clean The Air!" http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/envirohort/articles/misc/plntclar.html
"NASA Study Shows Common Plants Help Reduce Indoor Air Pollution" http://www.zone10.com/tech/NASA/Fyh.htm
Housing Sizes "Housing: Then, Now, and in the Future" http://www.moyak.com/researcher/resume/papers/housing_summary.html
"Enviro Friendly Products: Quantum Heat Pump" http://www.enviro-friendly.com/quantum-heat-pump-water-heater.shtml
"Philadelphia Weather" http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/pennsylvania/philadelphia.htm
Household Water Filtration Systems "Rain Dance Water Systems" http://www.raindancewatersystems.com/whole-house-reverse-osmosis.html
"Water Filtration Comparison" http://www.waterfiltercomparisons.net/Compare_Whole_House_Filters.cfm
"Water Purification" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_purification
"Activated Carbon Filters Vs. Reverse Osmosis Systems" http://ezinearticles.com/?Activated-Carbon-Water-Filters-Vs.-Reverse-Osmosis-Systems&id=796175
"A Guide to Water Filters and Water Treatment" http://heartspring.net/water_filters_guide.html
Greenhouses "Housing Then Now and in the Future" http://www.moyak.com/researcher/resume/papers/housing_summary...
"Our Unique Greenhouse Design" http://www.geodesic-greenhouse-kits.com/features.php
"International Greenhouse Company" http://www.igcusa.com/greenhouses-commercial.html
"Selecting the Greenhouse Structure your Crop Needs" http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/hydroponics/greenhouse/
"Solar Greenhouses" http://ncat.org/attra-pub/solar-gh.html
Wetlands "Wetland Plants" http://www.lafargeecosystems.com/main/content.php?id=28
"Ecological Waste Treatment: Hope in Nature" http://www.perc.ca/PEN/1995-03/s-chen.html
"Greywater Gardens" http://msucares.com/lawn/landscape/types/greywater.html
Kadlec, Robert H., and Robert L. Knight. "Section 2 - Wetland Structure and Function Chapter 7 - Wetland Microbial and Plant Communities." Treatment Wetlands. Ed. Patti Garcia, Tara Boonstra, and Dianne Cothran. Boca Raton/New York: Lewis Publishers, CRC Press LLC, 1996. 119-155.---.
"Section1 - Introduction and Scope Chapter 1 - Introduction to Wetlands for Treatment." Treatment Wetlands. Ed. Patti Garcia, Tara Boonstra, and Dianne Cothran. Boca Raton/New York: Lewis Publishers, CRC Press LLC, 1996. 3-18.
Solvay Advanced Polymers. "technical bulletin: Effects of Chlorinated Water on Plastic-Based Water Delivery Systems." 2006. <http://solvayadvancedpolymers.com/static/wma/pdf/2/4/7/ECWPBWDS.pdf>.
the Safe Drinking Water Foundation. "Residual Free Chlorine Analysis (Elementary) Revised October 6, 2006." 2007. <http://www.safewater.org/Client_Content/Uploads/OWD_Res_Free_Chlor_Analysis_E.pdf>.
Todd, John, and Beth Josephson. "The Design of Living Technologies for Waste Treatment." Ecological Engineering 6 (1996): 109-36.
Todd, Nancy Jack. From Eco-Cities to Living Machines : Principles of Ecological Design. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 1984.
Wikipedia. "Living machines." 2007. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_machines>.
Worrell Water Technologies. "Tidal Flow Wetland Living Machine (R) System." 2007. <http://www.worrellwater.com/products_tidal_wetland.html>.
