Come In!
Welcome to the house – well underneath and on top of it really . ‘Bellis’ harvests rainwater, recycles sewage and creates it’s own power.
In A Nutshell
NAME: Bellis
CONSTRUCTED: 1914
CONSTRUCTION: Timber. Vertical joist (VJ) internal walls. High-set on wooden and metal stumps. Galvanised corrugated steel roof.
MODIFICATIONS:
Rainwater harvesting system: 150m2 Catchment, 21,000 litre storage.
Aerated wastewater recycler with UV steriliser – no chlorine.
900w solar pv system
Appropriate Technology
These are the systems that make it happen and the uproar that attends their installation.
Don’t talk to us about plumbers…
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- Delivery of the Sewage System. Dec ‘03
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- Big tanks!
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- Are you sure it’ll fit?
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- The tanks are ⅓ buried
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- System in place and working
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- Digging for rainwater tank. Dec ‘03
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- Where will I put all this subsoil?
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- The tank was poured onsite
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- Forms and reinforcement in place
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- Pouring the tank
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- Finishing the lid
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- “Now, remember to put some water in there. If you don’t and you get rain the tank will float and be damaged.”
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- Later that afternoon…
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- Solar panels
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- Fitting the panels
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- Very discreet
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- Dual supply switches for a grid-connected system. If the power fails our solar shuts down to protect electricity workers…
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- Warren & Graham rewired the house after we discovered that the previous ‘rewiring’ was cosmetic. You’re not sustainable if you’ve burnt down…
08/11/2012 at 5:57 am
Wow! I can’t believe how different Bellis looks today. A magnificent change from stark, hot and bare. Well done!
08/11/2012 at 7:03 am
Thanks