Recycling Water - Business Opportunity

Of course it can be done. It is whether it is economic to do it on a domestic scale.

Where it is economic, enterprising people will be doing it already.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VJM-4C3K5X8-Y&_user=10&_coverDate=04%2F30%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=8dc6cec9f7d34d67fc580a31636f2024

A much simpler way would be to use all water used for washing etc. to be used for flushing toilets.

And fresh clean water for drinking and once used it goes to toilet.

In the so-called developed world we do recycle the water. It would appear from what you write that the less developed areas don't.

It's up to you to get your government to do something.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6308715.stm

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how-does_5305229_recycled-water-process.html

Search for recycled water.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=where+in+uk+is+recycled+water+used&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=&redir_esc=&ei=GJjVS-iiIJP8_Ab8wf3CDw

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=recycled+wtaer&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&ie=&oe=&redir_esc=&ei=TZbVS-awCs-B_QampozEDw

I would be curious... why do you no longer use Shikekai as your washing / bathing?

There are a number of plant with beneficial cleaning properties. From Wikipedia here "One of the main advantages of soap plants is their biological degradability; this eliminates the need of filtering afterwards and any lather may thus be discarded straight unto the soil."

At the single family level, I believe this might be a more realistic goal, rather than some sort of a treatment facility at every home, as PWSlack points out in #1.

I think you will find your country is one of the the few in the world to have the stated problem.

Oh, peter... I am not too sure about that.

"Lack of clean water is responsible for more deaths in the world than war. About 1 out of every 6 people living today do not have adequate access to water, and more than double that number lack basic sanitation, for which water is needed. In some countries, half the population does not have access to safe drinking water, and hence is afflicted with poor health. By some estimates, each day nearly 5,000 children worldwide die from diarrhea-related diseases, a toll that would drop dramatically if sufficient water for sanitation was available."

This quote from here. There are many, many, many places that provide a lot of supporting information regarding water shortage around the world. If places with a water shortage can reduce household consumption by the stated 80-90%, that would go a long way towards making things a little bit better. Is sounds as if M S DIVEKAR is just trying to make a big problem a little bit smaller. I commend his effort.

Some nice data! (GA given). However, in USA we have plenty of water in most locations, yet many individuals still don't wash hands appropriately, so education and hygiene practices are also needed. With a simple evaporation/condensation (distillation)process, almost any family should be able to prepare enough clean drinking water. Learned that on "Survivorman" (I think that was the TV show).

I stand corrected. Sorry for my uneducated comment

Based on how the original post was stated, I would not consider your other comment incorrect. Yes! there are huge water problems around the world, but India is unique in that it is rapidly becoming an industrial country that suffers from overpopulation as well as poor geographical water resources, conservation techniques, and economic ability. China is in a similar situation, but has slowed their population growth and has a better financial ability to support appropriate conservation of water.

In the USA, people use 1/2 gallon/person for physiological consumption and 150 gallons/person for cleaning etc. each day. Industry uses 450 gallons/person per day!

Thus, India has a very serious water problem that may quickly get worse, but it could be solved if the appropriate steps and sacrifices are made in time.

It is sad that almost everywhere on this planet, wars, weapons, corruption, stupidity, and selfishness takes precedense over human suffering and common sense. But, never underestimate man's ability to solve problems when we have the right attitude. We need to get leaders who are engineers and medical doctors etc. instead of lawyers and career politicians.

Good points...I like this comment! Very informative and good data

"It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always." -- Oprah Winfrey

The comment at thread - Why don't you use Shikekai now?

Well- it is not me alone !! Further I have also stated earlier- that soaps and detergents are far more effective & need less effort in cleaning and so people switched over. So TODAY- we cannot do without soaps and detergents.

The comment at 5 by same person giving lot of statistics about need to conserve water is right.

WE MUST FIND A SOLUTION. I had read a news item that XEROX corporation was working on some washing machine which will use just one cup of water !!!!

In Bangalore around 1960 to 70 - we used to get piped water for free from City Corporation !! We never could believe that one day water will be bottled and sold at high price in India!! I understand that in Middle east or even in some drought area / desert regions - buying clean water is common thing.

I wish I could attach a ppt file I have made by our famous Ex-President of India, a Missile Scientist- showing what water scarcity will mean to the world by 2050 or so. I will not be alive by then- but the world (not just water) will evaporate

Let me give my personal observation.

1. Say I need a cup of Tea.
2. Water used about 1 cup of water of which say 10 % gets evaporated during boiling.
3. We use steel vessel for making tea. Water required to clean vessel after making tea = about 3 cups of water.
4. Then we use ceramic cup or whatever vessel. To clean the vessel after drinking cup = about 2 cups of water.
5. We wipe cup with cloth and to clean the cloth another 0.5 to 1 cup of water.
6. Final tally is - I drank 1 cup of tea which needed totally 6.5 to 7 cups of water.
7. If I ever mention this anywhere - I will get thrown out. but this is reality.

Somebody said - why don't we use water from washbasin / bathing for toilets . Fine - what about plumbing, how to make this into a practical working system?

Not every house has its own garden. So recycling water to garden - may be fine for individual houses. But large builders of flats, gated communities etc, architects need to be told to compulsorily come up with working solutions- supported by Chemical engineers etc - who will treat water on-line.

It is also true perenial rivers (due to molten snow from himalyas) are only in the North and in the South of India- they are just rainfed rivers which dry up most of the time and get flooded during rainy season.

No politician wants to openly talk of population control as otheriwse they loose votes !!!

There is tonnes of info on google on " water conservation ppt"