The Environment Thread :-)
58 watchers
Feb 2022
4:38pm, 21 Feb 2022
16,700 posts
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rf_fozzy
You can see the wholesale prices over time on the Drax Energy Insights page: electricinsights.co.uk
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Feb 2022
4:51pm, 21 Feb 2022
7,383 posts
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paul the builder
I suppose if you were doing *everything* you could for environment, then collecting and using your own water would minimize your impact. Every house using 349 (ave) litres water a day costs energy for collection, pumping, water treatment etc.? But G it has to come from *somewhere*? Beyond rainwater being free. If you have a borehole and your own water treatment, that costs money and has its own CO2 footprint. It's not obvious to me that it would be better for the environment to have my own borehole and treatment plant to install and maintain. Plus the risks of getting it wrong... |
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Feb 2022
4:59pm, 21 Feb 2022
16,701 posts
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rf_fozzy
^^ I agree with PTB on this. Potable water probably better for the environment from the mains except in certain niche situations. |
Feb 2022
5:00pm, 21 Feb 2022
41,538 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Ooh, pretty graphs. So much gas. 
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Feb 2022
5:01pm, 21 Feb 2022
3,164 posts
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Fellrunning
Depends on your definition of expensive. We draw our water from a stream fed well which was sunk when the house was built. (We don't have access to mains water). We have a moderate sized purification plant that, in today's terms, cost less than some people spend on a flat screen TV. Yes it has to be serviced and that's an annual cost of probably £250 (it's hard to tell exactly how much because the same firm service the foul water side as well at the same time). We're off grid by necessity for water. I don't really give it much thought tbh. |
Feb 2022
5:04pm, 21 Feb 2022
17,520 posts
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3M (aka MarkyMarkMark)
Potable water really does feel like one of the things it's got to be more economical to keep in public ownership to me.... I appreciate it has to be paid for - but from each according to their ability to each according to their need. In this country we never ought to have a shortage of supply, if there was a political will to invest in the collection, storage and supply infrastructure properly. I can see why a local authority might be worried about additional boreholes - the risk of polluting a "common" aquifer from a private source must be noticeable? |
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Feb 2022
5:05pm, 21 Feb 2022
41,539 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
No probs. Like I say guys, not something I was going to pursue. However, I could imagine that someone who had already got all their heat and power from their own renewable sources, looking to take their water source off grid too could do it without too much trouble. In my last but two house, we had spring water, with a particle filter and UV bacteria filter. Was yummy water! I didn't install it, but it could be 100% renewable. I had a google for the figures, but the 350 litres mains water used per house has to have some energy footprint to collect, treat and pump. Versus zero if you do it locally, that would make sense. Agree that if you don't have an obvious, local source and you then have to bore, pump or otherwise collect water, then you've got an impact. Like I say, haven't looked into it. Just my first thoughts. I'm sure Hann has looked into it way more. G
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Feb 2022
5:09pm, 21 Feb 2022
16,702 posts
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rf_fozzy
FR - your situation is probably quite unusual though! Happy. Gas went up to get rid of Coal, but is now slowly declining again (see chart 2 here: mygridgb.co.uk ) Note also the total electricity useage on the LHS declining too. |
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Feb 2022
5:10pm, 21 Feb 2022
17,521 posts
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3M (aka MarkyMarkMark)
Re my post above - and Fellrunning's - I'm obviously thinking about in a reasonably densely populated area!
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Feb 2022
6:13pm, 21 Feb 2022
2,917 posts
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JRitchie
In the house we are gimping to build it’s in a derelict site where water currently goes into sewer but that is not now permitted for new development. So we are planning for rainwater to be used for some home use - basically loos. The rest is going into a deep but narrow soak away.
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