I Am A Water Waster

[bconnery]

Now this just makes me cross.

top ten vic. water users

That makes it pretty obvious where the state should be focussing water reducing efforts for the biggest returns ..
shopping centres, jails and hospitals!

Oh no, brau frau, you've got it all wrong. It is never business at fault. Just us pesky home users!! :angry:
Certainly that's they way they are trying to make us feel here in Brisbane...
I've heard claims of 70% of water usage being by homes which I really struggle to believe.
As I've said though, no guilty conscience from me due to the small size of the bar on our rates water usage graph...

I have said many times I have an easy solution to Brisbane's water issues.
Stop brewing XXXX!!!

 

[Airgead]

That makes it pretty obvious where the state should be focussing water reducing efforts for the biggest returns ..
shopping centres, jails and hospitals!

Shopping centers I agree with but when it comes to hospitals, concerned as I am over water usage, I'd still rather the place was nice and clean in case I ever end up in one. Those doctors can wash their hands as often as they like.

On the bewing side, I am somewhat smug about the fact that not one drop of town water has gone into my brewing since I had my tank installed 2 years ago. Its amazing how frugal you get with water when its your water. I re-circulate my chiller water back to the tank so that takes nothing. Fermenters and kegs are washed out with a couple of L and a spoonfull of napisan then another 1-2 L of iodophor solution swilled around to sanitise. Even the clean up water goes on the vege garden. I let the iodophor go off in a bucket then tip that on the garden as well. The only thing that goes in the drain is the napisan. I'm not sure what that would do to my veges.

Cheers
Dave

 

[tangent]

Those doctors can wash their hands as often as they like.

Rant on!

There's signs everywhere in hospitals instructing people to wash their hands before and after visiting anyone. I've NEVER seen ANYONE wash their hands visiting a hospital other than myself. I'm not a clean freak (Domonsura's seen my beer fridge!) but the rules are the rules and it makes good sense. Unfortunately nowadays people decide which rules to follow and which to ignore. (Just look at idiot SA drivers. They've even decided the white lines dividing lanes are optional.) Then they whinge when a loved one get's a bloody infection and has to spend another freakin 5 weeks in hospital fighting it off! Just after they've patted the dog, cleaned up the kids spew, pottered around in the garden, then gone in to visit someone and touched every door handle, fitting and fixture!
Eeedyots!

Rant off!

 

[braufrau]

Do you know what would make me dash out and buy a tank right this very minute?
If there were credits (like I mentioned before) for the water you don't use for whatever reason,
that you can trade.
In winter I could be self sufficient in water with only a 2000l tank but its lot of money to install
and plumb so what's the point if I still can't water my garden in summer?

Stupid government!

 

[antains]

I was lamenting all the water I wasted to get back into brewing.

While I'm becoming superstitious about the effectiveness of sodium metabisulphate, does anyone know what this would do to the garden?

I'm leaning towards household bleach for the next clean, but this surely is a plant killer...

Ant.

 

[drsmurto]

Interesting read.

I recently moved to a place with a rainwater tank. I use that for brewing, cleaning etc and what gets used then goes on the lawn, except the one shot residue which kills lawn so goes on any pesky weeds i find.

As for water usage charges, we arent being charged whats it worth and yes, any laws to change this will only hurt those in the lower socio-economic groups. I have another tank on the way with the aim of being able to turn off the mains asap. Not everyone has the room nor money to do this. But i will bet large that the cost of water and the restrictions placed on its use will get worse, not better.

What i can say after reading all of your comments is that i have a warm fuzzy feeling hearing how much effort you are all going to limit your water usage in brewing. You should all be proud of yourselves. ^_^

Cheers and environmentally sustainable beers
DrSmurto

 

[bindi]

Used my chiller today B) it's been 40+ brews since I used it, once I got rid of the wildlife living it now [spiders etc].
Used a pre chiller siting in an ice bath before the main chiller [9M the other 18M] recovered enough water to do a double load of washing, fill 3x 25L and 1x15L cubes for the next brews 1x 15L cube used for camping and enough water to wash all the gear, seems a lot of water [and time] <_< I will go back to NC but just wanted to see how much I wasted in the past.

BUT, the yeast is pitched on the same day.

 

[Airgead]

I was lamenting all the water I wasted to get back into brewing.

While I'm becoming superstitious about the effectiveness of sodium metabisulphate, does anyone know what this would do to the garden?

I'm leaning towards household bleach for the next clean, but this surely is a plant killer...

Ant.

Sodium met is pretty volatile from memory so if you let it sit in a bucket overnight it should degrade and be safe for your plants in the morning. I stopped using it ages ago as its really not much good as a sanitiser (its also really bad for the lungs). Its more an antioxidant with some slight antimicrobial activity. Bleach is more effective but needs rinsing (and is not much good for the plants). I've found iodiophor pretty good and seems plant safe if you leave it overnight to go off. I must confess that most of the time the iodophor goes on the flowers rater then the vegies... aussie soils are pretty iodine poor but I don't think the family needs quite that much iodine in the diet.

Cheers
Dave

 

[antains]

Sodium met is pretty volatile from memory...(its also really bad for the lungs). Bleach is more effective but needs rinsing (and is not much good for the plants). I've found iodiophor pretty good and seems plant safe ...
Cheers
Dave

Thanks, Dave.
That confirms my suspicion/superstition about sodium met - only used it once, before this week, and that was my only corrupted brew (out of 6 or 7). And this week, I've had some strange activity.

So, I'm heading back to bleach for the next batch.

I'll give iodophor a crack.
Self-sustainability, here we come

Cheers,
Ant.

 

[Darren]

Hey,

Finally got my water bill (I really did not want it)

My usage for the second half of 2007 was.....................103 kilolitres (average 572 litres/day). I don't know if this is good or bad? Seems like alot!

I have a 65,000 litre pool and 900 square metre property (largely dead garden), two kids (girls) that spend 5/14 nights with me and I am a counterflow-chiller.

What is everyone elses?

cheers

Darren

 

[ozpowell]

Hey,

Finally got my water bill (I really did not want it)

My usage for the second half of 2007 was.....................103 kilolitres (average 572 litres/day). I don't know if this is good or bad? Seems like alot!

I have a 65,000 litre pool and 900 square metre property (largely dead garden), two kids (girls) that spend 5/14 nights with me and I am a counterflow-chiller.

What is everyone elses?

cheers

Darren

Up until recently, people on the Gold Coast were limited to 140L per person per day of domestic consumption. This limit was strictly enforced by the SEQ Water Commission. Based on the above, you are using more than double the allowable Gold Coast limit per day.

With recent rain, we have earned a temporary reprieve from water restrictions, however that won't last long....

FWIW, I also have a 60,000L pool, 2 kids, a dog and a wife. We use between 300L and 400L per day. I use an immersion chiller connected to a spear-pump supply.

Cheers,
Michael.

 

[therook]

Hey,

Finally got my water bill (I really did not want it)

My usage for the second half of 2007 was.....................103 kilolitres (average 572 litres/day). I don't know if this is good or bad? Seems like alot!

I have a 65,000 litre pool and 900 square metre property (largely dead garden), two kids (girls) that spend 5/14 nights with me and I am a counterflow-chiller.

What is everyone elses?

cheers

Darren

Darren,

That seems like a hell of a lot of water to use a day.

I'm on Tank water so i have no idea what my consumption is, all i know is i never have to buy water but i do have 16,000 gallons of water to play with

Rook

 

[Hutch]

Small garden, wife and 1 child, and we typically use 200Ltrs a day.
I'm confounded how anyone can use 500Ltrs a day, whether or not they're a homebrewer.

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I'm confounded how anyone can use 500Ltrs a day, whether or not they're a homebrewer.

Really, really thirsty?

 

[user 384]

My usage for the second half of 2007 was.....................103 kilolitres (average 572 litres/day). I don't know if this is good or bad? Seems like alot!

That is a lot.

For the last 12 month period, our average daily use was 180 litres, or 90 litres per person. We don't have a pool or a garden but the extra 143,000 litres per year that you're using can't be soley attributed to these factors.

Although your 65,000 is equivalent to my total household water use for 12 months .

Cheers
MAH

 

[drsmurto]

Hey,

Finally got my water bill (I really did not want it)

My usage for the second half of 2007 was.....................103 kilolitres (average 572 litres/day). I don't know if this is good or bad? Seems like alot!

I have a 65,000 litre pool and 900 square metre property (largely dead garden), two kids (girls) that spend 5/14 nights with me and I am a counterflow-chiller.

What is everyone elses?

cheers

Darren

Might be time to call a plumber in Darren - i suspect you may have a leak somewhere. Toilets tend to be the guilty party in that regard. 572L/day is pretty huge considering you cant use mains water to fill pools (unless its passed thru the chiller and then its called recycling ).

 

[chovain]

I have a 65,000 litre pool and 900 square metre property (largely dead garden), two kids (girls) that spend 5/14 nights with me and I am a counterflow-chiller.

Have you considered no-chilling?

But seriously, as Smurto says, I'd be getting someone in to check for leaks. Are you generally careful with your water usage?

 

[Duff]

Have you considered no-chilling?

Gold Mark

 

[Darren]

I am wondering how much of my water usage is do to the solar hot water system. On really hot days there is always a constant dribble from the overflow. On days that are 40C + the whole system empties itself (250 litres) I am told because it has gotten too hot (above the temperature legally allowed for hot water).

Does anyone know about solar hot water systems and whether this is normal?

cheers

Darren

 

[bonj]

I'm not sure about your setup, but my solar hot water on circulates the tank water through the solar array when it needs heating, so it's not constantly recirculating the water. Mine is a hybrid setup with a solar array on the roof, and similar to a standard electric hot water tank on the side of the house.