Money down the drain and back up again...

Keeping with this week's theme of getting clean, we're still in the bathroom (kind of). RenewABILITY Energy, Inc has an unfortunately named product that I desperately need to see in action.

I'm stoked if the Power-Pipe™ works as it claims, because the technology could be easily tweaked and retweaked over the next decade (I think it's still in version 1.0), pulling a ton of heat loss back into buildings and homes. However, I can't imagine that all the heat-conducive copper comes at a cheap price.

Here's the gist...basically, the warmer waste water in the drain pipe warms up the incoming cold water before it reaches your hot water heater...kind of like putting hot water in a tea kettle before you boil it. Might not work as efficiently down south, but it's obvious to see why it would help those in the frozen north.

From their Website:

Drain-water clings to the inside pipe wall and falls quickly creating a thin “falling-film” which quickly imparts its heat to the pipe wall. Copper is used for both the inner pipe and outer tube, and its conductivity has a heat transfer rate that is 4-6x greater than other classes of heat exchanger on a surface area basis...

The heat from this film is transferred easily and efficiently to the cold water circulating in the Power-Pipe™ around the outside of the drainpipe.

The incoming cold water is preheated before going into the water heater and plumbing fixtures, saving money and energy while increasing shower-capacity. A sixty inch Power-Pipe™ unit can bring the cold water temperature up from 10 degrees C to as much as 24 degrees C, under equal flow conditions. If it is connected to only the water heater or only the cold water fixtures, the savings is less but the temperature rises up to about 28 degrees C.

Power-Pipe™ raises the temperature of incoming cold water by recycling free heat from waste-water going down the drain. About 90% of all hot water energy goes down the drain, allowing the Power-Pipe™ to recycle as much as 60% of the wasted heat. The more hot water you use, the more energy you save.

#2 of a kind....

Travel anywhere in the Pacific and you'd be surprised at the European influence --not just in a royal Monarchial sense-- but in the bathrooms.

What?

You heard me right...yes, the bathrooms.

Why low-flush/dual flush toilets have never caught on stateside, I'll never know. Travel anywhere east of Lisbon or west of Papeete and you're bound to find a two-flusher underneath your bum (in addition to, ahem, less scrupulous versions of what some might consider to be a toilet). For those of you that have never experienced them before, the two flusher provides two different levels of flushing power: Level #1 using half the water at code yellow, and level #2 opening up the locks on the dam. Pretty logical, eh?

But for some reason or another, Americans require a 30 gallon SHWOOSHing sound to insure that our poo is whisked away on a 50 mph hour log ride to the water washing plant far, far away from the sterile bubble of home. Think Homer Simpson shouting "USA, USA" in the episode Bart vs. Australia.

Actually, if you're an American you might even consider this conversation a bit too gauche for your virgin ears? My apologies, but as you'll see from a quick googling toilets and restrooms are the talk of the world (I want this one). You haven't lived till you've tried your first Asian squatter.



Back to the conversation at hand...

The crude, frail design of dual-flush toilets has advanced quite a bit over the last decade, so maybe there's a chance we'll see them soon. Up until recently, they've never been able to meet the needs of American sturdiness. Solid construction and sleeker designs will hopefully provide some form of a competitive edge in the US market. Until that time, I guess I'll just keep posting about other crazy designs (some of which might just work!) in loo [sic] of a dual flush post.

One crazy design that caught my attention was the Royal Flush Water Saver.

Whether you're looking to save the environment or your just a fan of the TV show Oz, you'll no doubt appreciate this grey water recycling system. We've posted about grey systems before, but the system takes it to a whole new (see: prison-like) level.

While I think the design is oddly genuine, I still have my reservations about American idiosyncrasies and the toilet/cleanliness combo (see: aforementioned 500 mph log ride). It's obvious between this system and the Aqus system that there is a viable way to recirculate used water back into reservoir tank, but I think the Aqus system might be in the lead, design-wise. I'm just not sure many Americans, obvious as it may be that the hand-washing water isn't coming FROM the toilet, might still think/feel that that the toilet H2O is the source.

Additionally, there are many misconceptions as to the flight patterns of airborne particulate swirling through the bathroom post-flush (FYI: according to Jaime and Adam, that myth was busted). As a result, many might assume that the sink would be infested with germs and bacteria after the first flush, much less the many flushes thereafter.


Still, I can't help but find myself a teensy bit excited at the thought of competitive development in this field (yes, I need to get out more often). It's simple: competitive market interest produces perfected design.