Water Conservation for New Homes


As more and more homes and businesses are built in the Central Texas area, the supply of water is a huge concern of mine. The lakes and aquifers can only sustain us so long without extensive conservation. As water becomes more scarce, it will become more expensive. So what can we do? Or should the question be - what water can be re-used or recycled in a household?

Utility and environmental regulators have agreed on a few principles to follow. First, "black water" is that water from a household that is so dirty it should not be considered for re-use. This is water from the toilets, of course, but it's also water used to wash dishes, rinse food, and all the other stuff we do in the kitchen. Why is this black water? Because this water contains a lot of organic matter, bacteria, concentrated detergent residues, and oil and grease - stuff that does not break down quickly, get diluted, or otherwise behave well in a "water re-use" operation.

"Gray water" is all the other water we use in the household that goes down a drain. Bath and shower water is gray water; yes, it has some soap, some shampoo, maybe a little bit of organic stuff. But this water can be filtered in a fairly simple process and be quite clean, in that re-use sense. The same is true for water used in bathroom sinks, for hand-washing, for tooth-brushing. It's true for water from the washing machine - but bear in mind that some regulators object to that water if you're washing baby diapers.

A typical family uses around 200 to 300 gallons of water a day in the house. That does not include watering the lawn or gardens, washing the vehicle with the hose, or letting the kids run through the sprinklers in the summer. It's for all those daily operations we do: cooking; bathing and hygiene; using the restrooms, doing the laundry. Of this total water usage, the black water really makes up only a quarter at most. If a person decides to plumb a new home to drain gray water to a separate container and treatment system, that's a lot of water volume that can be recaptured, and then put to other uses. Some systems are built to use this treated gray water (again, simple filtering may be all the treatment it gets) to irrigate the lawn and garden. Some even use this water for flushing the toilets, cutting down on the amount of "drinking water" that is needed in the household. So gray-water capture and recycling can offer some big advantages.

If you do build a system to capture and re-use gray water, make sure your plumber follows codes. For instance, gray-water piping is specified to be a different color than the drinking water piping. Sometimes the two pipes are specified as different diameters, too. You don't want any cross-connections, obviously. You also don't want any possibility of "back-flow" of the gray water into a drinking water line. These are simple problems to avoid, if you have a good design installed by a good contractor.

Water recycling makes sense for a lot of properties. And water is getting more expensive all the time. Check out gray-water re-use.

Stock House Plans - 4 Great Reasons To Buy Them


Finally, after months of thoughtful consideration, you have made one great decision. You are going to build your dream house! But with the ever-increasing cost of building a house, you need to be equipped with the necessary knowledge to avoid wasting your hard earned dollars.

In building a house, one of the first and most important steps you need to do is to find the perfect design for your future home. Do you need to have your house plan custom drawn or will you go for a stock house plan? “So, what's the difference between the two?” you might ask. Well, there is a world of difference between these two and cost is just one of them.

A custom drawn house plan is a plan specifically designed by a professional architect or designer to meet the needs of an individual homeowner. Among the factors taken into consideration in drawing a custom house plan are the size of the lot on which the house will be built, the location, the existing national and local building codes and the special needs of the home owner. A custom house plan requires considerable time to be completed and can cost up to a few thousand dollars!

Stock house plans, on the other hand, are plans that were previously drawn by a professional architect or designer either for a specific purpose or for general use.

So, why choose a stock house plan over custom drawn plans? Here are a few reasons why:

. Stock house plans are much more affordable than custom drawn plans. Can you believe that you can save up to 95% when you choose to buy stock house plans rather than commission a professional to have a custom plans drawn? While the cost of a custom house plan can be overwhelming, that of a stock house plan only averages at $700. That is just a small fraction of the cost of a custom house plan!

. You can save on construction costs when you use stock house plans. Most stock house plans have already been used at least once so you can be rest assured that any construction issues regarding the plan have already been resolved. You can also avoid unnecessary building costs and have more accurate budget estimates. Also, since yours will not be the first time the plan will be constructed, the building process will be faster and more efficient. That alone accounts for significant savings on the labor cost!

. Stock house plans can be modified to fit your needs. Don't think for a moment that you are forced to accept every single detail in your stock house plan. All stock house plans can be modified! You can request for some alterations to be done to suit your family's needs, to add a touch of character or to conform to local building codes. Modifications can be undertaken either by the original designer or through a number of design modification services. Even with the additional modification costs, stock house plans can still give you more value for your money.

. You can safely choose from a wide variety of designs available. You can find house plan designs in printed catalogs, in specially prepared CDs and in online sources. With the multitude of design options available, you can surely find one that will meet your budget and lifestyle requirements!