Going Green in the Plumbing Industry? Any Suggestions?

How about using graywater from the bathroom sink or bathtub to flush the toilets?Wastewater from the kitchen sink, dishwater and washing machine can be used for watering the garden.

instead of using PVC use copper pipes

Thanks for your response. This is a topic that I have not really researched as of yet with respect to our Green Initiative. But I certainly will at this point. I just had a conversation with my superior and he is a 25+ veteran plumber and contractor. There has been, over the years, a back and forth debate over PVC and Copper and lead welding. PVC is in many respects easier to work with and the welding used on copper is now like a 95% to 5% ratio lead to silver. So I definately need to conduct some additional research into this. Thank you.

That is a great idea. I have started to look into those systems for our company to offer to our clients. I have listed greywater systems as a future item we should look at in the very near future. Those systems are getting a lot of publicity and I even saw I segment on them on the Weather Channel this weekend. One thing I have to do is research which cities will allow us to put them in and which will not. My first goal is to get our technicians simply "thinking" green and "mentioning" that we are green to all of our clients. Thank you for your suggestion and I am ready for us to begin greywater systems, Australia is ready and already there, now I just need to get the buy-in from the rest of our company.

Eric

Eric: Consider GreenPlumbersUSA.com We specialize in getting techs to think green

Good luck with that ...I've been trying to do this properly for 2 years and presently have a large hole in living room and several joists cut by the plumber (yes he still has a license and yes it passed inspection- plumbing! but not able to use bathroom)

I always have wondered why hot water copper plumbing is fixed with chopper and steel support to the (brick) wall.

Why dont they use clamps from a material that insulates. Cant they produce insulated piping that for example can be bend with a special tool.

Coldwater inlet from a stove can be preheated with an heat exchanger from stove exhaust.

Solar panel can be used for all hot watter supply, Just a clear day produces enough hot water (at least at the home of my parents, regreatfully my roof is not possitioned correct)

Great suggestions. Solar Hot Water Heating Systems is something I have researched quite a bit. We are beginning our first training programs on solar hot water heating next month. That is great that your parents have invested into this technology as well. We service and are fortunate to be in a geographic area that truly promotes green plumbing practices including solar and tankless. LA city and the mayor has an initiative drawn up that would truly give these initiatives a huge push. Insulation, especially for the water heater and piping is important and one of the best solutions to energy efficiency. I will be looking into newer products and methods for greener insulation practices and solutions. Thank you for your comment.

Eric

A few thoughts on this:

1. Consider the use of on demand, point of use or tankless water heaters. Like many ideas they can make a lot of sense if it is at the point of use. It would eliminate the hot water tank always being hot and the energy wasted waiting for the hot water to arrive. The downside is a bigger gas line or electrical circut than may be available. One house may need one at each piint of use. (the best would be solar or waste heat recovery hot water.)

2. Get up to speed on proposed regualtions for heavy metal contamination from cheep (Chinese) pipe fittings. I met with a fittings manufacturer who was complaining that he the level of metal contamination in many / most imported fittings were presenting competitive pricing problems and causing California to consider more regulations for potable water hardware.

3. I agree with the other comment on seperating brown water and resuing it in the garden, toilets and other clever places.

4. Neat LED lights that are powered by turbines in the fawcet and light up when water is flowing.

5. Encourage dual sinks that are sized correctly. Food preperation needs a much smaller sink than one for cleaning dishes. Some have two size bowls in the same sink now.

6. Built in containers to encourage saving vegetable waste for composting without smells or unsightly buckets.

I to, have a small business interest in kitchen and bath design. (mostly cabinetry) The response to thinking green has been amazing.

Good luck, we all need to be thinking like this!

Paddler

These are all great suggestions. I am putting all of our service branches from Reno, NV to West Los Angeles on a more thorough tankless training program with Rinnai, Takagi, Bosche, and Noritz. There are too many instances where we get dispatched calls on these units and the technicians are not 100% comfortable with the units, especially after the installation. We use American pipe fittings and one of the concerns with Chinese pipe fittings was with their cast iron work. The greywater systems are something that we are looking into right now. I don't think I will include these systems right off the starting line, but they are an excellent way for your home to be eco-friendly. I also need to find out which areas in California allow them. Compost and built-in containers are a terrific idea and this is something I have not looked at yet. I have researched rain barrels and they are also a terrific way to reuse water on your plants and yard. Food Production is also an area we are going to research in the near future as well. We are hopefully going to get into commercial audits fairly soon as well. Thank you for the suggestions.

Eric

E.C.

Anouther great event comming soon in the NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association) show called KBIZ. This year it is in Atlanta. They have many items on display. You can see tradional, the latest, the future with many "prototype" from the big boys and a lot of small inventor types showing their ideas. There are aslo many seminars and presentions to go to. If you are not in the NKBA, it may be worth your effort to investigate.

Paddler

Thank you sir for this information. I will look into the NKBA today.

Eric

Why not look in to the possibility of adding pipe rehabilitation products to your tool box? There are a few companies who have recently been granted "Green" status through various governing bodies in the industry. Anytime a pipe can be restored in place be it buried horizontally in the earth or buried vertically in a pipe chase or structure would be considered green. No digging, no mess and no restoration as it is all performed in place. The profit margins on these technologies can be quite rewarding so going "green" can make you "green" If you wish I could direct you to a company that offers both drain lining and potable water coating technologies.

Cheers and good luck with going green!

Your company think the best idea,I agreed also the gray water of one of our guest,maybe it is a solution to the highest billing of water,but then the water conservation will be the best.

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There is unlikely to be one answer to the global water challenge because it manifests in different regions for different reasons. The bottom line is to demand less water and make as much as possible safe for re-use.

Some of the most practical solutions include wastewater recycling, rainwater harvesting, leakage control, precision irrigation, industrial water recycling, and, where the local environment permits, desalination. Technologies such as UF, NF and RO units are capable of treating wastewater or brackish water for some specific reuse applications.

But the technology alone will not provide the answer. Energy use, concentrate disposal, infrastructure, groundwater management and the local climate can all render a scheme unsustainable. Many times the most sustainable solution is to treat and re-use water near the point of use than to keep developing new sources of fresh water.

I was recently in Sydney and experience a group of plumbers, Pipe Perfection, who put an emphasis on being sustainable and it was a true joy to see. The company not only made it a priority but the individual plumber did as well. It was a refreshing experience to work with them, as they fixed my emergency in a environmentally friendly manner.

There are two approaches to improving the sustainability of plumbing. Firstly, simply replace standard products with those advertised as "green" and secondly, reduce water, energy, and waste production over the system's life cycle. The first approach is relatively straightforward, but not as effective, and some indications that it is beginning to make inroads include: - Installation of low flow aerators, dual flush toilets and other water-efficient fixtures; - To limit water losses, finding and fixing leaks early; - Non-potable applications can use rainwater harvesting; - Combined greywater systems can reuse greywater from bathroom basins, baths and showers for toilet flushing and irrigation (subject to the local regulations, collection, holding, treatment and distribution requirements); - Hot water pipe insulation and minimising run length can save considerable energy; - Pump optimisation with correctly sized, appropriate and variable flow control can be effective; - Recycling and reusing plumber's waste, plastics and other material which can be repairable rather than need full replacement, and - For the water use of larger buildings, these can be measured by sub-metering and leak detection.

The key is to think of the entire life cycle.

A product that saves water during use, may require an energy intensive manufacture process, or have a short service life and requires regular replacement, might not yield the amount of environmental benefit anticipated. A water audit is more useful than changing appliances in isolation.

I’m not in the plumbing business myself, but I’ve worked around enough maintenance and industrial operations to know that getting your own people involved early makes a big difference. I’d have the plumbers help put together the audit checklist and focus on things they actually see in the field leaks, inefficient fixtures, wasted hot water, that sort of thing. If you can show the customer that the green option also saves them money, it’s a much easier sell. And once the employees see that it’s practical rather than just another company initiative, you’ll probably get a lot more buy-in.