Sinkpositive: Save Water, Wash Your Hands
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 03.13.07
TreeHugger has seen a few different water-saving sink/toilet combinations in the past, but there's always room for one more smart implementation of graywater recycling on these pages. Take a gander at Sinkpositive from Environmental Designworks, a handy device that cycles clean water through the faucet, for hand-washing and such, and reuses it the next time the toilet gets flushed. As we have noted time and time again (not to mention How to Green Your Water), every drop of water saved is beneficial, and Sinkpositive is also a good way to visualize how much water gets used each time you flush. Upgrading to Sinkpositive's "deluxe model" adds an aerator to the faucet, which makes for a more consistent flow; either model is available with free shipping until April 21 (that's Earth Day), and Environmental Designworks donates a portion of each sale to the National Resources Defense Council to help protect the nation's precious water resources. The standard model goes for $99, the deluxe for $119, directly from Sinkpositive's website. ::Sinkpositive via ::Apartment Therapy: San Francisco
It's NATURAL Resources Defense Council, not National.
Okay, call me stupid, but why is Earth Day April 21? Shouldn't we be celebrating it on March 21, as the founder of Earth Day envisioned it?
These are all over japan. Great idea, but annoying to have to lean over the toilet to wash your hands.
I saw an install that had a more standard looking sink just next to the toilet. The sink supplied the flush water just as this would without the having to lean over the bowl.
I wonder if in the future our houses will have 2 drain systems, 1 for grey water and one for black. My idea would have grey water from bathroom sinks and tubs go to a tank and a small pump would supply the toilets of the house. Excess grey water could go to water plants or other uses.
Good idea, and a positive for small bathrooms as well. If you can eliminate the sink maybe there's room for a shower or tub!
But this begs the question--why use water at all? Why not an air-flush?
In Chicago... the cold water coming out of my pipes will make your hands go numb during the colder months.
Any ideas to get around that problem without adding an in-line heater (defeating the purpose of saving resources in my mind)?
I don't understand how this actually saves water. From the description in this blog entry, it sounds like the wastewater from the sink drains into the toilet tank, where it is used the next time you flush. However, from a close inspection of the product diagram on the sinkpositive website, it appears that the drain from the sink leads directly into the toilet bowl, bypassing the tank.
Since the amount of water used washing your hands is not enough to flush out the bowl, I would imagine a standard flush would still be needed, unless all you're trying to do is dilute urine in the toilet bowl. (If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down!)
If I'm missing something here, please fill me in.
Ok, I just figured it out, and I missed a key step. All the water that normally refills the tank is routed through the hand-washing spout, and is then drains into the tank. Which makes a lot more sense. :)
So this way, you've got a 30 second (or however long your tank normally takes to fill) window to use the water before it's stored in the tank; just enough time to wash your hands! Pretty sweet.
There's a tube that goes from the top of the tank to the toilet bowl. There is normally a supply line that flows with fresh water into the toilet bowl by flowing water down this tube.... you'll notice when you flush that some water runs down the inside of the bowl to help fill the bowl after the flush drains it.
That supply line is also connected to the part that fills the tank. When the tank fills, the flow of water to this tube shuts off too.
What this additional system does is simply allow you to wash your hands with that little flow of water before putting it right into the toilet bowl, like it normally would.
A good way of saving water is my broken toilet.
I need to hold the flushbutton down to flush and whenever I release the button the water stops :) one short klick to make the yellow less and hold down to make the brown go away :)