OCT 28

I've been to a fair share of parties where some folks don't make it from the back yard to the bathroom, but that certainly isn't the ideal method of lawn care. In general, we humans ship our wastewater off to treatment plants, a land and energy intensive process. And to make it all worse, a great deal of America's vital drinking water gets poured onto its lawns...about 15,000 gallons PER HOME!

But what if we could close the loop. What if our wastewater could be processed on-site and then pumped back out to make our gardens grow? Whether it sounds disgusting or exciting to you is, I suppose, a matter of perspective. But it looks like it's right on the horizon.

Biokube, a Danish company, is bringing the BioKube Venus to America. The Venus is a septic tank advanced enough that it can make your waste water clean enough for use in agriculture (i.e. watering your lanw.) The device would produce more than the 15,000 gallons used by most households. The excess would just be released into groundwater like current septic systems. But, I suppose you'd want to limit the amount of frolicking in the sprinklers your kids were doing.

So-called gray water has been used for irrigation for a long time. Simply pumping processed waste-water to nearby land for irrigation is a great way to prevent drinking water being dumped on lawns across the world. But those systems require laying twice as much pipe for water delivery...one for clean water, and one for gray water.

The Venus works by passing the wastewater through membranes tightly packed with cleansing bacteria. The device is about six feet tall and four feet wide and can clean about 7.5 liters of water every 15 minutes.

The Venus will make it's debut in California, where the government is cracking down on dirty old septic systems AND wasted drinking water. It's a perfect storm for the Venus, which could solve both of those problems at the same time.

Comments (13)

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Well, it certainly will keep the kids of
written by Matt Simmons, October 28, 2008

Seriously though, how does it eliminate solid waste in an ecologically sound way?

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written by Jon Miller, October 28, 2008

I read more about this at http://www.greentechmedia.com/...-5073.html

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written by Paul Barthle, October 28, 2008

This could be useful in developments built in fire zones. As long as people occupy the home, the lawns and nearby brush would not dry out to the extent that they have been during drought, adding some resistance to wildfire that might protect them against all but the worst wind whipped conflagrations. If widespread enough, the extra humidity added to the atmosphere through transpiration might even increase local rainfall.

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is this more effecient then centralized
written by Olin Lagon, October 28, 2008

Is this more efficient than centralizing wastewater treatment services? Regardless I think water catchment systems are way cheaper to install and can serve the same purpose to water lawns (and not have to worry about kids running through the sprays).

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Think simple
written by Al, October 28, 2008

An old fashioned reedbed system (that has been used for centuries in Europe) is much simpler and robust, though it does take up a bit more space. Here in Australia they are normally accepted by councils, and ours has been running for 3 years now with no problems. It is an enclosed pond 11m x 2m filled with gravel and planted with swamp reeds. The water level is 200 mm under the gravel and the bacteria in the root systems do the job. No smells even on 40 degree days (Centigrade)

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better system for converting grey and bl
written by benjamin, October 29, 2008

The Biolytix is the benchmark for converting household wastewater into something valuable. Check iyt out at www.biolytix.com for details

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Smart move
written by IGB, January 20, 2009

this is great, 3rd world countries should be considered in stuff like this.

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Non-electric BIOROCK sewage treatment pl
written by septic tank, May 04, 2009

Take a look at the BIOROCK sewage treatment plant. It does the same thing as the BioKUbe but without using any electricity.
http://www.biorock-uk.com

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Beware of the law
written by sewage treatment, May 10, 2009

In the UK it is illegal to use the effleunt from a BioCube in garden sprinklers as it is far too dangerous.

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Viruses and bacteria
written by sewage treatment plants, May 10, 2009

There are still many bacteria and viruses in BioCube effluent, pathogens that require vaccinations to keep you safe.

By using it in sprinkler systems, you not only spread them all over your lawn, but the aerosol effect means that you breathe them in as well.
NOT a good idea.

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wormery
written by rosie, June 24, 2009

another really good idea in this concept is a wormery, for those of you who would rather not use your own p**p how about use a worms. All you do is buy a box with slits in the bottom and another box with no slits in the bottom and some worms. Then you put all the organic waste from your kitchen in with the worms and they will eat the left over carrots, lettuce, eggs...etc. and after a while you have lots of lovely compost for your garden and quite alot of very happy worms

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Interesting concept
written by bailers, August 12, 2009

Very interesting concept. I think my kids an I water the lawn enough without a sprinkler

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written by ed hardy clothes, September 24, 2009

who would rather not use your own p**p how about use a worms. All you do is buy a box with slits in the bottom and another box with no slits in the bottom and some worms. Then you put all the organic waste from your kitchen in with the worms and they will eat the left over carrots, lettuce, eggs...etc. and after a while you have lots of lovely compost for your garden and quite alot of very happy worms

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