Your Questions About Recycling
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Filed under Recycling Q & A
Joseph asks…
how can u waste water?
my mom always tell me to stop wasting water, but how can u waste water? i learned in school that water recycles it self when it goes through the water cycle.and when we run water through the faucet that it goes down the drain and back into the ground to go through the cycle again.can someone please help me
The Expert answers:
Just because water is recycled in the water cycle doesn’t mean it happens right away. It can take days or weeks for the cycle to go.
Here in NC there was a state wide restriction on water use during the summer of ’08 due to the drought we had.
Below are some ways to waste water.
Leaving water running for unnecessary amounts of time
Dripping faucets
washing cars continuously
watering lawns constantly
Ruth asks…
Does anyone know if I can use the waste from my salt water protein skimmer to fertilize our vegetable garden?
We use our fresh water animal waste (turtles and fish) from their filter as an added fertilizer, but we weren’t sure if it was okay to use the same waste coming out of a salt water tank. Any advice would be appreciated! We like to recycle whatever we can!
The Expert answers:
I wouldn’t use this, as I am guessing there is salt residue in this waste. Salt will kill your plants in high enough concentrations.
Michael asks…
In our society we intend to start with WATER CONSERVATION & Recycling. Pl advise how to go about?
Ours’ is a society with over 200 apartments. We intend to use the Water conservation and treat the waste by using BIO-GAS mode and generate Electricity. Pl advise.
The Expert answers:
I also like to do this but it was not easy why dont we use grey water potable system for evry home it saves around 400 litres water/day all u have to do is just connect all ur ro,washing machine and sink veg bowl and and than pump it to roof separate tank from there connect it to all toilets flushes and taps used for cleaning ur house poarches ,ramps or society pathways and even bathwater could slightly filtered and used to water plants i made estimate in india all cost near 200$ to make one system in west that cost slight high but it will work and save water after all u save near 400 litres per day for watering plant and flush out and cleaning poarches
for biogas it cost slight high investment and maintainance also not easy that could be better done on city scale for performance
Chris asks…
Where does all our waste go when the water gets recycled?
The Expert answers:
At the water treatment plant, solids are settled out. They are left to compost with good bacteria. Liquids are aereated and chlorined to kill germs and released into a water system. Other things that are dissolved can be precipitated or evaporated out.
Betty asks…
is it safe to use dish washing water on my plants & lawn?
im trying to find ways of saving water and recycling it ? if my sink water was redirected to my garden or a barrel could i use it to water my plants and lawn ? im talking about water used for washing dishes using washing up liquid, and also 1 more question i am thinking of using our shower waste water also !
The Expert answers:
Waste water is fine as long as it doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals. I use neat washing up liquid on my plants as an alternative to aphid treatment so dishwashing water is fine.
James asks…
what is the most possible way to recycle water discharged from a fish pond?
I want to recycle, store and reuse and the discharged water from a fishpond to refill the same pond, I also want to utilize some of the waste, produced from the recycled water as additive to composted organic wastes, for my veggie garden. is there a better way to utilize the same?
The Expert answers:
It would be cheaper to replace the water with fresh. You can use the old water directly onto your garden or other vegetation areas.
Otherwise, you would have to build some kind of expensive filtration system to recover the waste and reuse the reclaimed water, which I and maybe most others have no idea how to do. Maybe a nearby settling pond to allow the waste to settle to the bottom as you skim off the top layer of water?
William asks…
1.Would you drink water that is recycled from human waste?
and 2. Where are you now?
All comments thankfully accepted.
The Expert answers:
I would be happy to use recycled waste water for many purposes, such as in my garden, for washing and cleaning in the house, but not for drinking.
I live in Australia.
Robert asks…
Why not waste water? Does it not just get recycled?
I understand that it shouldn’t be wasted in the summer, or periods of low rainfall because of drought etc. But what about times when rainfall is high and there is no lack of water, is it not just recycled if drained, or naturally in the water cycle?
To clarify – I dont waste water anyway but mainly because thats what ive always been told.
Also – please dont give me anything about people in areas of sustained drought, the water I use cannot be given to them.
Thanks for the responses about the energy uses of the plants and the tax costs. I guess when the amount of water used is taken into consideration this would have a large impact.
It just makes me wonder about people telling me to save water because of the environment etc, obviously the energy use isnt good the environment, but something tells me that thats not what they’re getting at…
Oh and I live in the UK so do have wastewater treatment and (usually) have decent rainfall, especially this year… 🙁
The Expert answers:
Usually not within the municipal waste water treatment system (assuming you have one). In most cases, it’s only treated to a permissible standard for discharge.
Of course, unless the astronauts take it with them, all water remains within the water cycle. However, the overwhelming majority of that water isn’t readily accessible for use as fresh water.
Laslty, regardless of where the water goes, all water supplies have a fixed capacity and they require energy to pump the water to you. If you’re wasting water, you’re also wasting energy and capital.
Paul asks…
told not to waste water, reycycle if we use lots water cleaning dirty tins and bottles which to choose?
save water do not waste water but I find that when recycling some of my tins and bottles really need some cleaning and I am using extra water then I keep thinking this is not saving water so which one do I choose which is more important and as I am on a metre it costs me money to run the tap don’t tell me to use bath water as I don’t bath only shower. the rain water is for the garden and the car other water is to dirty.
The Expert answers:
Why clean recyclbles there’s no need the company will take care of that for you. If it’s cans or bottles well why worry? The cans they will be smashed flat so who will care how it looks. Bottles well they will be cleaned out by fastory machines so why bother cleaning. Yes save clean water, when the waer is dirty the port of your town will clean it it is very expensive to do those actions. Companies who use a lot of water and if it real dirty by cleaning up equipment or say for instances throwing garbage into there gutters it is better to use a shovel and broom to clean up the mess. Using all that water to push the garbage in the gutter will cost you money and time. The more garbage you put into the gutter the higher your water bill will be.(example $100,000 a month). Not your home bill but that example is for big companies who do production
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