Preliminary Abstract Outline

Alright everybody,

Here is my abstract outline so far. Please keep in mind it will be updated much more in the coming week! Feel free to comment on the content and layout of the outline!

A Grey Technology for a Blue Future

Introduction:  

Water is only a sustainable resource until overexploitation disrupts the natural cycle. Upon realizing this, many efforts have been made to preserve this resource, but they are not always affordable.  Greywater treatment is a method of greatly reducing household water usage. This report will aim to answer the question, “Can retrofitting a house to incorporate a Greywater Treatment System be an economical method of water conservation in the Okanagan?”

Research Application:

To obtain the results for this report, the water flow from various fixtures of a house in Penticton, B.C. was monitored to determine how much water is available for treatment. It is estimated that indoor fresh water consumption can be cut by at least 30%. During the summer, irrigation of lawns consumes between 50% and 70% of municipally treated water. Using treated greywater would not only save money on irrigational purposes, but would alleviate strain on municipal treatment centers as well.   

Conclusions and Recommendations:

            It is expected that while saving large amounts of water, it will not be economically beneficial for the person who retrofitted the house. This will be largely due to the overall cost of the treatment system and the cost of dismantling walls and floors in order to install the necessary piping. However, the payback time for houses that are attached to a septic tank is shorter because of the reduction in flow to the tank. It is recommended that a greywater system be implemented upon the construction of a house to reduce installation costs because once the system is in place, the water bill savings are high.

References:

See References posted at the bottom of the blog.