Many of you know about my obsession about water conservation. I fully believe that without water there is no life - the full WATER=LIFE mantra. There are MANY people in the world that do not have potable (drinkable) water at their fingertips. Those of us that have grown up in industrialized countries often have no idea that we are the minority, we are a dot in the impressionistic oil painting of the earth. That most people in the world do not have indoor plumbing, cars or electricity. Do you realize that we use drinkable, treated water (it costs a lot of money to treat water) to flush our toilets? I know that it is strange that as a person living in a very wet location of the earth in a city that has to GIVE away water efficient toilets to apartment building owners and commercial property owners because water is SO cheap in the Northwest, that I am determined to make a difference in water usage and conservation. If no where else, at least at my own home. Thus began my 'water' project, aka 'Christine walks the talk.'

THE PROJECT:

I am using locally obtained rainwater and directing it to a 'designed' perforations in my gutter and reusing the rainwater to create a waterfall outside my window. The rainwater will drop into a tank disguised as a shallow pond and will filter through several layers of of rock, sand and various materials that will clean the water. The water is then stored in underground tanks that are located underneath my deck. The filtered recycled rainwater will be pumped to my toilets to be used for flushing. If I run out of stored rainwater, the system will revert to obtaining water from the city. In the end, I hope to save up to 7,457 gallons a year in water bills by re-using the rainwater that falls on my roof. And, I will be able to look in the mirror again.