Water Solution available

[Justloadit]

I see a South African company has successfully produced and shipping machines that create water from air so the solution has been created.

[Thato89]

Considering we are facing the "worst drought in recorded history" it's not a question of WHETHER we need water. Rather, it's a question of how to obtain it - and quick. Did you hear about our national student genius? The 16-year old Kiara Nirghin who has potentially solved the drought crisis? She used a polymer that she created herself from the combination of an orange peel and avocado skin. In doing so, she created a material that is capable of storing hundreds of times its weight in water. That means farmers can maintain their crops even in times of drought. Google has picked up on this little genius and if her science fair project is approved it could solve a world-wide problem!

[Justloadit]

16-year-old South African invents wonder material to fight drought

[Blurock]

Amanzi Meters http://www.amanzimeters.co.za/ has the iMvubu valve which can be programmed (remotely) to dispense a pre-determined volume of water to indigent communities. A great number of South Africans rely on subsidised water and in rural areas there are in most cases no water meters. By using the iMvubu valve with a water meter, utilities can now control how much free water is given on a daily basis.

The iMvubu valve is also effective in drought conditions whereby a municipality can restrict all residents to a daily allocation of water. Once the allocation is used, the valve closes and will only open again with the next day's allocation of water. The meter can be read remotely (via RF & GSM) from the office and exception reports can be generated to detect leaks or unauthorised usage.

[wynn]

'Earthship Biotechture' as developed by Michael Reynolds in Taos New Mexico has a very interesting take on water recycling (4 times) without waste.
Rainwater, dew and melted snow is harvested from the roof into buried cisterns, this is enough (remembering that the average rainfall in Taos is only 8 inches PA) to support anyone living in the 'Earthship' which is sized to suit the number of people and room required, drinking water is passed through a filtration system before consumption.
Grey and Black water is recycled, grey (shower and WHB) to a long filtration bed in the greenhouse section in front of the 'Earthship' which is used to grow crops, at the end of the filtration the now filtered grey water is used to flush the toilet which along with water from the sink forms the black water component which is sent to a septic tank for bio digestion after which it is soaked into an external growing cell that supports further vegetation
The units are constructed using a lot of waste materials, earth filled tyres, cans and bottles.
Because the units are partially buried by banking earth against the sides and back they use thermal mass to warm and cool them and mostly PV cells for power but are completely 'Off Grid'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2so9hyNWxc

[Thato89]

Yes! That's the girl!

[Thato89]

Hey Wynn, the New Mexico idea is genius. Do you think if this was attempted here in South Africa it would be a success?

[wynn]

I think getting permissions from any of the Municipalities will be impossible, you may stand a better chance in the rural areas though.