At 10:09 AM -0800 2/18/02, developtrust wrote:
>I can see the value of an R/O plant that cycles the water back into the sea
>or a life raft unit that spills the water back into the ocean, but a home
>unit that just flushes valuable water down the drain is just plain
>irresponsible.
>
>In the future wars will be fought over water and home R/O units will be
>illegal.

Sure, we need to use water responsibly, but the severity of the
problem varies depending where you live.  If you live on the rainy,
rainy BC coast and get your water from your own surface well, it's
really not a problem.

The marina in Bella Coola, BC has hoses for refilling the water tanks
on recreational and commercial boats.  After filling the tanks on an
archaeological research vessel I was working on, I went to turn off
the tap -- but there was no tap!  In fact, there is no option for a
water shut-off on any of the lines, so you just lay the hose aside
and leave the fresh water blasting into the ocean.  They run clear,
beautiful water from the mountains overhead straight into the sea
24/7/365.  Don't think that this is irresponsible: the hoses are
barely a trickle compared to the multitude of rushing waterfalls
cascading down the mountainsides.

The flow rate is so high out of those hoses the water would fly back
at me if I tried to fill my westy's tank with one of them.  Heck, in
Bella Coola I could just catch the rain water run off from a small
tarp and the tank would be full in minutes.

Hey: anybody used a tarp-to-cistern water catchment set up to get
drinking water while camping?  Should be pretty simple to do...

T.
--
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Tobin Copley        Bowen Island, BC, Canada      49deg 23'N-123deg 19'W

'82 Westfalia 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky")
'97 son Russell                                   =============
'99 daughter Margaret                            /_| |_L| |__|:| clatter
                             SPEED KILLS!        {.            .| clatter!
                         Drive a Vanagon diesel   ~-()-==----()-~