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Publication Review

Title: Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 2: Water Use
Author: (Third Addition) Commonwealth of Australia, 2005
File: Free Technical Manual, PDF
2.0: Introduction: 76 KB, 2 pages
2.1: Reducing Water Demand: 170 KB, 3 pages
2.2: Rainwater: 318 KB, 4 pages
2.3: Wastewater Reuse: 310 KB, 4 page
2.4: Stormwater: 532 KB, 3 page
2.5: Outdoor Water Use: 251 KB, 3 page
2.6: Water Case Study: 206 KB, 4 page
2.7: Waterless Toilets: 275 KB, 3 page

Audience: Written for architects, builders and homeowners interested in sustainable home design and construction.

Review
A technical guide developed by the Government of Australia "developed to show you how to design and build a more comfortable home that has less impact on the environment. The home will also be more economical to run and healthier to live in." Covers a wide variety of sustainable issues. Remember some Australian specific information may be backwards regarding North & South. Some climate information may also be specific to Australia. But much information is relevant to building anywhere.

Issues covered in Introduction include:

• 2.0: Introduction
  • outlines the information in the following sections about water use.

• 2.1: Reducing Water Demand
  • 5 ways to minimize water use, showers, toilets, taps, washing machines, dishwashing
  • other water uses, outdoor water use
  • Australia's AAAAAA rating system

• 2.2: Rainwater
  • advantages and disadvantages of using rainwater
  • health and safety issues
  • system maintenance
  • buying your rainwater tank
  • choosing the right system, potable water, gardening watering, total household water supply
  • rainwater system configurations, gravity fed, dry system, wet system, gutter storage systems

• 2.3: Wastewater Reuse
  • advantages and disadvantages of wastewater reuse
  • types of wastewater
  • calculating wastewater volume
  • re-use water quality
  • wastewater re-use in urban areas
  • wastewater re-use in rural areas
  • reusing wastewater indoors
  • treatment systems for indoor re-use
  • disinfecting
  • reusing wastewater outdoors
  • precautions
  • treatment systems for outdoor re-use
  • wet weather storage

• 2.4: Stormwater
  • the traditional approach
  • water sensitive urban design
  • things to consider, site
  • other design suggestions
  • measures to promote water conservation
  • environmental benefits
  • case studies

• 2.5: Outdoor Water Use
  • garden design
  • examples of plants for water-use zones
  • soil improvement
  • soil types and water availability
  • soil testing
  • reduce lawn area
  • ways to reduce water use on lawns
  • plant selection
  • mulching
  • watering
  • water saving equipment and products
  • beyond the garden

• 2.6: Water Case Study
  • case studies showing principles discussed in action

• 2.7: Waterless Toilets
  • continuous composting toilets
  • batch composting toilets

Graphics typically include:

• general photos explaining concepts
• graphs and charts explaining concepts
• diagrams, sections and other drawings as needed to explain technical issues

Related Texts
Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 0: Introduction
Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 1: Passive Design
Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 2: Water Use
Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 3: Material Use
Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 4: Energy Use
Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 5: Site Impacts
Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 6: Other Impacts
Sustainable Home Technical Manual - 7: Case Studies

Related Links
www.Greenhouse.gov.au