i love the image on the "closed loop house" showing on site (we call it decentralized) recovery of water. Some similar ideas:
One example of things we are doing in my lab with regenerative systems (which would be feasible for the MoistTruck). Right now we are using Terra Preta (i.e., biochar) as a soil amendment for our green roofs in the back of my lab.
Biochar provides nutrients to the plants, and also traps heavy metals and bacteria. Right now we are making biochar from bamboo. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth, can be used as food, and also filters metals and other water contaminants.
You can imagine a MoistTruck that is packed with young bamboo on arrival. The shoots get made into yummy salad, while the roots get planted on any exposed soil in the disaster zone. During the initial period of relief, the growing bamboo will filter the groundwater where it is planted and improve local water quality conditions. By the time the bandaid is removed (i.e., the Red Cross and UN go home), the bamboo gardens would be flourishing. Young bamboo is a food source, while inedible bamboo is turned into biochar and added to green roofs as a soil amendment.
And so the cycle continues...
More ideas later on fertilizer from urine, shower water recycling, energy from poop, and mushrooms for wastewater treatment
Eric Mc
Hey Eric! This is Ashley, one of David's students. Welcome to the blog! I'm enjoying your posts. They're helpful in illustrating your team's approach to disaster relief. I am interested, yet grossed out how you can convert energy from human waste.
ReplyDeleteAlso I'm curious about using bamboo in our truck. I know that bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, but do you know how much water it needs? Thinking of Angela's post about plants with little irrigation needs I'm just conscious about using components in our Water Truck ecosystem that are manageable in the long term.
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteResource from waste is a gross idea on first read. But, here are a few fun (and icky) facts to sleep on:)
-There is no new water on Earth. All water was once "yellow waste" from an animal at some point in time
-Your body is made up of about 1,000 times more bacteria cells than human cells. So...we are really a giant collection of bacteria! See these TED talks for more concepts on this idea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkeBjP_9ZR4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVfmUfr8VPA
For the bamboo, this conceptual idea depends on what type of disaster you are targeting. I think MoistTruck #1 is targeting a tropical region (like FL). In this case, there is plenty of ground water around for bamboo. In the event of a more arid project (DirtTruck?), you can use cactus, giant reed or others for a similar purpose.
There are critics that worry about the invasive nature of these plants (it is harder to kill them off than keep them alive). However, in our research we are harvesting all plant material and making biochar from it. Biochar is an ancient agriculture/water treatment technique from the Amazon indians (actually called Terra Preta Indio). There is a high temperature process called "pyrolization" where you can convert the plant waste to "activated carbon". This is the same activated carbon in Brita filters, LifeStraws, etc. Activated carbon filters water and removes bacteria, metals, and organic contaminants.
You are thinking in the right direction! Every process has both negative and positive impacts. Store-bought Chemical filters provide high quality water (positive impact), but require resources such as iodine and ion exchange resin (negative impact).
If we adopt the "cradle to cradle" principle, we can start to see some unique solutions beginning to take shape.
More later!!
Best,
Eric