The idea of sustainability is sometimes
obscured by all of the rhetoric one encounters on a journey to stop
hurting the earth and start helping it. That's what we all want to do
after all right? We want to learn how to not do any harm and start
fixing what we messed up. Well charity begins at home as the saying
goes.
If you grew up in the city, your water
has been arriving in a pipe, and leaving in a pipe after you have
used it. One pipe for 'grey' water and one for 'black' water. Grey
water refers to the water a household produces that has been mixed
with soap and soiled by dishes, clothing and human washing. Black
water refers to the water used in the toilet to carry away effluent.
Both types account for a massive water wastage. That water does not
need to be transported away, and if it isn't, it can be used to water
food gardens. Obviously this is more than simply a matter of
unplugging the drains and letting them start flowing into the soil
around your home. That will make a mess to say the least. Doing the
necessary preparation of the soil and the shape and lay of the land
as well as the life present, both microbial and macro biological life like plants is
essential. If you do your homework, it quickly becomes clear that
cleaning water with natural systems is not only desirable, but
perfectly possible as well.
There is an excellent illustration of
the principles involved in cleaning water with biological resources
in use at the Johannesburg Zoo, where soiled water from the streets
of Johannesburg enters the system on one side of the zoo, is run
through a system of natural filtration including but not limited to
the reed beds which add oxygen and start cleaning the water at the
cellular level.Our own effort is pictured below.
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