Raison D'etre for this site

A compilation of hints and tips on how to handle living in a severe drought scenario. These hints and tips are willingly shared by the people of Cape Town, and are aimed at whoever is in need - now - or in future, in order to ease their stress when faced with water shedding / shortages due to a drought

HOW TO SEARCH

To find entries about specific subject please either use the search box or click on the appropriate label under the "Labels" section.

Wednesday 28 February 2018

Suzelle on 50 ltrs / day

Waterless hygiene





Remove the pong from grey water # 2


Nola Parsons added 4 new photos.
1 hr
So maybe this will help others who want to use their washing machine grey water for flushing the loo. The water collected is generally very dirty (mine is mostly black!) And smells if it stands for a day or two. I use a flocculant to separate out the particles and collect the clear water, which doesn't smell, and use this for flushing. Tips in photo descriptions. PS this is a low tech method that involves carrying buckets!!









Comment on this post:

I have been using the same method, have a 200 liter drum outside the laundry, water gets pumped in there (we only wash when there is a full load) add alum powder, sediment settles at the bottom (below the tap in the drum) draw from there for the loo. Also ad shower water to that so soap etc also settles no clogging in cistern and no smells. I dump about 1-2 liters of gunky sediment at the end, no mess no fuss

Remove the pong in grey water

Simple to set up, easy to use and effective on the pong 😏

Image may contain: text

Saturday 24 February 2018

Water from condesation

Apart from providing a simple air conditioner, this could also be used to create drinking water.

Merely place a bottle of frozen grey water into a container.  Allow the water inside to melt.  Water will be formed from the condensation on the outside of the bottle.



Source: https://www.facebook.com/twomatoes/

DIY Water from air Turtle edition.

Power consumption: 1 pc fan, plus already running freezer to freeze salt water inside Coke bottles. The fan must force air into the container. 

Sidekick Condensation deliver 500 ml in 11 hours.

Added advantages:

1. Can be solar
2. No costly maintenance
3. No filters or membranes to be replaced.


 








Simple rainwater harvesting


Every drop counts

To watch it in action please click the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/ricardo.theys/videos/10156254927439444/


Friday 23 February 2018

Transporting 50ltrs of water

Catch and move your cold shower water, rain water, washing machine water... and save your back 😁


This baby has saved my back from a whole bunch of aching. Got it at Makro. It can take 50 lites of water and cost R299 . Just thought I would share and hopefully save some members a trip to the physio.




Brigette Kuypers It's called the Keter easy go breeze. Apparently keter are not making them anymore but makro still has stock.

Using marbles to clean water containers


Tip: When the water containers start to go green...get glass marbles and Milton sterilizer to clean from the inside. We collect spring water weekly so its fresh and store water in dark area out of sunlight to prevent growth.


(The marbles will act like an abrasive 😏)

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Converting a cistern for grey water


Fixed wooden cistern lid with funnel for recycled water 💧
No more lifting, dropping or falling over heavy porcelain lid 😂
No more open cistern 👍


Image may contain: indoor

Tuesday 20 February 2018

50 lt dustbin solution





All you need is 2 x 50 liter dustbins.

Recycle plastic bottles # 3


TK added 2 new photos.
This made my day! This is what I found when dropping off my eco bricks at Montebello today. A whole mountain of eco bricks! Love that so many people are now making them. Saving tons of plastic from the landfill. Yippeeeeeeeee


Image may contain: outdoor

No automatic alt text available.

Recycle plasic bottles # 2

Image may contain: bird and text

Here is an updated list of all the drop-off spots for this project. You can still become a drop-off spot by leaving your address in the comment section below.

A few reminders:
We collect ALL plastic bottles and plastic containers (and caps too).
The Plastic is granulated and then melted and molded to manufacture conservation products like Owl Houses, Bat Houses & Bee Hives.
Only 2% of all plastic in SA is currently recycled - help us to change this.

Johannesburg
• Bibi Rouge, 256 Bryanston Drive Johannesburg
• Holistic Education Centre, 63A Mount Pellan Drive, Glenvista Johannesburg
• In the Forest Venue, 2 Aloe Ridge Drive, Walkerville Johannesburg
• Martins Academy, 2 Matilda Street, Brackenhurst, Alberton Johannesburg
• Northcliff Office National, 189 Smit Street, Fairlands Johannesburg
• Owl Rescue Centre Storage Container, 32 Elsacar Street, Northgate Self Storage Park, Block E, Unit D Johannesburg
• Print Factory, 7 Lenchen Park Johannesburg
• Rainbow Books, 126 Golf Avenue, Clubview, Centurion Johannesburg
• Seeff Properties, 13 Linksfield Road, Edenvale Johannesburg
• Tactical Guarding, 2 Karen Lane, Kyalami Johannesburg
• Helping Hands Nursery School Kempton Park
• Blendwell Chemicals, 35 Richards Drive, Midrand (Judy Nankervis)
• Professional Child Care College, 27 2nd Avenue, Melville (Bev Wilson)
• Avalon School, 81 Pierre Road, West Rand, Ruimsig (Jennifer Anne Fourie)
• Vtec Trailers, 19a Michelin Street, Vanderbijlpark (Tobie Venter)
• Handy Hardware on 14th in Fairand, Shop 3, Fairland Centre, Cnr 14th Ave & Johannes (Robert Janbroers)
• 14 Hendrik Potgieter Street, Dalview, Dalvet Animal Clinic (Debbie Pledger Yannakakis)
• 159 Republic Road, Gozone Water, Fontainebleau, Randburg (Garth Young – 0711379314)
• Kiddilicious, 25 Nicol Road, Bedfordview (Lisa Lowth – 0763586003)
• Lido Supermarket, 38 Anstruther Street, Discovery, Roodepoort (Chane Wolmarans – 0116741400)

North West Province
• Hannie van Zyl , 7 Roma Street, Flamwood, Klerksdorp North West
• Owl Rescue Centre Farm 448 Bokfontein Hartbeespoort North West
• Maple Tree Private School, (Eco School), Farm 882, Chris Hani Road, Klerksdorp (Louise Olivato)

Bloemfontein
• Plants At Preller Garden Centre, Graff Reinet Street Bloemfontein

Cape Town
• Capricorn Business Centre, Ukama Unit 6 The Village, 87 Capricorn Drive, Cape Town
• De Poort Heritage Village, Turk Street, Paarl Cape Town
• Highland Riding Academy, Tygerburg Valley Road, Durbanville Hills, Cape Town
• N&R Office Supplies, 68 Sunbird Crescent, Durbenville, Cape Town (Nicole Retief)
• 14 Tijgerhof Street, Milnerton, Cape Town (Debbie Gray Boyes)
• Timefreight Building, Unit 12, Cubenco Park, 13 Industria Street, Vredenburg (Su-Marie Human)
• 59 Main Road, Sedgefield (Ronnie Maingard)

KwaZulu Natal
• Beanstruck Coffee Roastery, Ballito Durban
• Charity Hop Shop, 121 Helenjoseph Road, Glenwood Durban
• Leap Frog Properties ,18 Sutton Cresent, Morning side, Durban
• Meditrax EMS, 40 Biyela Street, Empangeni Durban
• Ngweny Coffee Shop, 5 Butts Road, Pinetown Durban
• Plants a Plenty, 33 Maryvale Road, Westville Durban
• Unit 59 Ivy Park, 3 Ivy Road, Gate 1, Pinetown Durban
• 34 Laburnam Road, Glenwood Durban
• Sylvia Paul, 136 Mark Street Vryheid KwaZulu Natal
• Port Shepstone Girl Guide Hall, Mitchell Street, Port Shepstone, (only on Thursdays from 17:00-18:30) (Jolene Evans)
• One Stop Auto Centre, Unit 5&6, 1 Platina Drive, Kuleka, Empangeni Rail (Tania Heuer Holgate)
• Scarecrow Gifts and Antiques, Rosetta Hotel, Old Main Road Rosetta, Mooi River (Nadine Moody)
• Wakefield, 38 Hilton Avenue, Hilton (Michelle Main)

Eastern Cape
• Bushwillow Primary School, Kenton on Sea, Eastern Cape
• Pebble Spring Farm, Kraggakamma Road, Port Elizabeth Eastern Cape
• Lyn Beriman, 77 Bourke Street, Graff Reinet, Eastern Cape
• Ikhala Veterinary Clinic, 3 Strowan Road, Grahamstown (Emily Baxter)
Northern Cape


Pretoria
• 84 Pretorius Avenue, Lyttleton, Centurion (Daphne Megannon)
• Pure Joy Lodge, Kameeldrift East, Pretoria (Lu-Anne Dodgen)
• 973 Olympus Drive, Faerie Glen, Pretoria (Chantal Steenkamp)
• Seeff Properties, 7 Amatola Street, Doringkloof, Centurion (Rochelle Steyn)
• 230 Petunia Street, Doornpoort, Eco Pilots (Jolandi Gouws Swart)
• Highveld After Care, 53 Turnhouse Street, Highveld Centurion (Sharon de Beer)
Mpumalanga
• Osizweni Combined School, Old Braken Mine Bldg, Brendan, Evander (Isaac Thanjekwayo)
• Scarlet A Café, 70 Beyers Naude Street, Middelburg (Sue-anne le Roux)




Recycle plastic bottles #1


HOW TO SAFELY REUSE AND RECYCLE YOUR PET PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES DURING THE DROUGHT.

With the increasing severity of the drought in the Western Cape, the storage and consumption of bottled water is expected to increase, and PET plastic bottles are a safe and convenient way to do this. Here are PETCO’s tips for the reuse and recycling of your PET water bottles during the drought.
Press release – February 2018
Cheri Scholtz, CEO of PETCO, the PET Plastic Recycling Company, says that PET bottles are 100% recyclable and can be used over and over again. “PET bottles are not “single-use” bottles and are not trash. When they are recycled, they are made into new bottles for water or beverages or recycled into many new and useful products such as polyester fibre for duvets and pillows, jeans and t-shirts, and re-usable shopping bags.”
PETCO’s tips to Capetonians include:
  • If collecting from a water point, it will be helpful to re-use your PET bottles, especially the 5 litre bottles.
    When re-using PET bottles for water storage, please ensure that they are clean. PET bottles are safe for use and reuse so long as they are washed properly with detergent and a little water to remove bacteria, as you would any other container.
  • When dropping PET bottles off for recycling, there is no need to wash them.
  • Please do not throw the bottles away when you are finally finished using them – bottles should never be sent to landfill sites or end up as litter in the environment. PET bottles are fully recyclable when basic design principles are followed. Take your bottles to one of the City of Cape Town drop off facilities where they will be sent to PETCO Member Companies for recycling.
  • Please leave the caps on, as these are also recyclable, and we don’t want them ending up as litter in our beautiful city.
PET bottles are safe to use. “There has been a lot of confusion about what is in our plastic containers since concerns were raised about the safety of polycarbonate products containing Bisphenol-A (bPA). There is no connection between PET plastic and Bis-phenol A. Bis-phenol A is not used in the production of PET material, nor is it used as a chemical building block for any of the materials used in the manufacture of PET,” says Cheri.
Scholtz also appealed to manufacturers generously assisting with bringing bottles of water to Cape Town to help with drought to please use PETCO Guidelines for Recycling to ensure that the PET bottles they are bringing do not negatively impact the recycling stream – no metal caps, no dark colours of PET (clear is the first choice and light blue second choice) and no printing directly onto bottles.
Did you know:
  1. We have two state-of-the art PET bottle-2-bottle recycling plants in South Africa? Here bottles are recycled so that they can be made into new bottles. As they are blended with virgin material in various proportions, they can be recycled again and again. Watch the video here: youtube.com/The PETCO Bottle-to-bottle Film
  2. We have three state-of-the-art fibre producing plants where PET bottles are recycled into polyester staple fibre? This fibre fills our pillows and duvets, goes into our reusable shopping bags, goes into jeans. We don’t need to import polyester staple fibre into SA anymore – we are self-sufficient.
  3. We have an industry leader that manufactures industrial geotextiles in South Africa from recycled PET bottles? This geotextile is used in lining of landfill sites, tunnel construction, and power station construction.
For more information:
  • See here for Frequently Asked Questions about PET.
  • See here for Frequently Asked Questions about Packaging.
  • See here for a list of water brands approved by the South African National Bottled Water Association (SANBWA), and therefore getting their water from sustainable groundwater sources: www.sanbwa.org.za/membershiplist.asp
  • See here for PETCO’s Guide to Designing Bottles with Recycling in mind.

Sunday 18 February 2018

CoCT Guide to wm and WMD

Image may contain: text

Solar heated water

If you want to permanently turn off your geyser, here is an idea to provide you sith hot water for showering...



Brilliant idea from my Neighbour... spray paint old 5L bottles & leave in the sun for the day... or wrap bottles in a ‘space blanket’ or silver car windscreen shade.... then you have deliciously hot water to put in our high pressure ‘shower’ to spray the kids down in the evenings...

No automatic alt text available.


Image may contain: drink

Image may contain: drink

Saturday 17 February 2018

Grey water treatment solution



2 hrsPaarl
Thank you for all the feedback on the DAB pressure pump... for those of you interested pls see Pics of the system.... hope it works lol 😀. Renovations start next month.... Will post progress pics
Image may contain: text

No automatic alt text available.

Image may contain: people sitting

Grey water from showers and washing machine goes into underground tank through a mesh filter to remove hair fluff etc... 

From underground tank it's pumped by a submersible to sand and charcoal filters.

Then flows into the reed/bio tank and then pumped by trickle feed via a small pond pump into the main clean tank..... that then gets used to supply two toilets and also pool and garden if required...

Question posed:  Are you using two pumps ?

Answer: 
Yes.....3 infact..... submersible DAB with built in float switch In grey water collection tank... small pond pump with fountain in Reed tank to airate & circulate and then pressure pump from filtered storage tank into toilet feeds

Friday 16 February 2018

DIY Rainwater catchment solution

Never fear - if you can't afford to link your gutter to fancy methods of catching that precious water.  Here are some idea's.  For the aim is, surely, to catch, and use, whatever rain water you possibly can 😏

Thought I would share my home made pool sock I made all by myself 🤗😊




Image may contain: people sitting and outdoor

And from comments on this post:

Image may contain: sky

Image may contain: outdoor

Tank downpipe leaf catching sieve


‘Leaf catchers’ expensive and difficult to source. Sneak into the swimming pool depot 🤫 Gx

No automatic alt text available.

Garth Bedford Dieter Sieber indeed! Panicked when today’s thunderstorm arrived! #NewTank