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A key to the house's astonishing water efficiency and waste disposal is a
smart low-maintenance recycling system that lives under the back deck.
 All
the dirty water from the house (toilet, shower, bath, dishwasher, washing
machine, sinks and tubs) drains into a single sewer pipe that empties into
an underground concrete tank. Food scraps and other biodegradable waste are
added through a hatch in the deck.
Inside the tank are three filter beds - layers of sand and peat packed with
worms and bugs of all sizes and tastes. As the sewage works its way through
this organic industrial disposal unit, it gets chewed up, spat out and
generally cleaned by the organisms, in much the same way that rainwater is
naturally filtered by soil before entering river systems.
The water exiting the other end of the tank is clean enough to be reused in
the house as grey water to flush toilets, wash clothes and water the garden
and any excess overflows into a dry reed bed. Any residual nasty bacteria or
viruses are killed off as the water leaves the tank with a UV radiation
zapper (powered by a small solar panel). The water looks clear, has
absolutely no foul smell, and is clean enough to drink (although not
recommended)... and shirts from the washing machine look just as white and
fresh as those from the best suburban Laundromats.
The system did suffer three smelly breakdowns during its first year, the
result of the unusually long, narrow tank specifically designed for the
small yard, but it now functions perfectly, requiring no maintenance and
producing no offensive smells.
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