You can eat your own poo-poo

August 20, 2004 3:14 PM

The Toronto Healthy Houses is "off the water grid." Potable water via rainwater collection; all other water use via black- and grey-water recycling. The home-builder will be living in one of the homes and will sell the other. These houses also provide their own electrical energy. Times, they are a-changin': the Healthy Homes are being developed using research funding from the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation, which is becoming very active in finding better ways to build affordable, efficient, liveable housing.
posted by five fresh fish (9 comments total)

Now this idea i like! ; >

You can do it everywhere there's enough rain/snow. And it's not more expensive than regular water/septic systems. Governments really should start mandating this kind of thing for new construction (i bet they will eventually).
posted by amberglow at 3:20 PM on August 20, 2004

Recycling black water into shower water freaks me out a little, even though I grew up on a property with a garden over its septic trenches.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:24 PM on August 20, 2004

Woah, this is awesome. We have a grey water setup, but this puts us to shame.

I don't really see the recycling being a problem, it sounds like they just re-create what water treatment plants do before tossing the toilet water back into the clean supply.
posted by cmonkey at 3:31 PM on August 20, 2004

I would have been happier if they'd been using a complete "living machine" system rather than relying so heavily on filters that need replacing, UV that needs power, etc., but nevertheless, well done!

...it would be nice to see a narrative/timeline of the project, since every community seems to handle these things differently (I'm trying to get a graywater system installed in a vacation cabin, and it's proving to be a giant pain in the ass, permit-wise. I was going to try for a blackwater system too, but that was simply not going to be allowed. I've ended up having to spec a propane-powered incinerator toilet instead).
posted by aramaic at 4:04 PM on August 20, 2004

Freeland is a new commune in Denmark, where you "must build a mortgage-free house using recycled or natural materials such as bricks, straw, clay and mussel shells", handle your own waste water etc., aiming at, naturellement, a "move towards a more environmentally friendly and cleaner future".

All closely followed by the national Danish Broadcast Corporation (provider of the web site, and in foreign, even). When will Fox News follow suit?
posted by AwkwardPause at 6:24 AM on August 21, 2004

You know, where I live you aren't allowed to collect rain water because of the water laws here. I am also pretty sure that grey water systems are against the rules too. Otherwise I'd be all over this for at least the landscape and garden watering.
posted by Eekacat at 8:31 AM on August 21, 2004

i like this house a lot. my wife and i are looking to get a house (well, as soon as i finally graduate and get a job, that is) and i have long liked the idea of not having to worry about excessive utility bills simply through poor design. when my family lived out west, we had a house with 18" of insulation in the ceiling and 10" in the walls. my dad put it all in. we were never too cold, or too hot in the summer. now that i'm in grad school and renting, i look at houses (including my current rental) and see the massive heat lost through the roof, feel the drafts coming in through the cheap aluminum-frame single pane windows... it makes me pretty angry that my heating / cooling bills could be so much lower if not for these problems. i'm not sure why people in warmer parts of the US don't feel the need to insulate properly. sure, it doesn't get down to -50 F very often where i live now, but i still shouldn't see icicles forming on my roof due to heat loss, which i do. my basement is big enough that (with proper insulation) this place should be cool enough with just recirculating cold air from the basement rather than running the air conditioner. unfortunately, it doesn't work most days, because of excessive heat transfer from the outside.

i never even thought about water though. this website is giving me some ideas.
posted by caution live frogs at 8:38 AM on August 21, 2004

Geez Eekacat where do you live? Are you prohibited from collecting the condsate from A/Cs and dehumidifiers too?
posted by Mitheral at 12:59 PM on August 23, 2004

This is all great and inspiring in a Rube Goldberg kind of way, but it's worth pointing out, there's a much simpler and more effective way to conserve water.
posted by soyjoy at 1:49 PM on August 23, 2004