Thursday, March 06, 2008
Power Flush
Cool-kind of:
this contraption would reportedly generate power from the downward movement of water through pipes in a municipal system. In other words, there's potential to conjure up energy from simply flushing one's toilet.
10 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Mar 06, 10:46:00 PM:
I can't imagine this working very well. Waste pipes aren't under pressure, so it doesn't take much to block them up. And producing electricity from a generator at very low RPMs is very difficult and inefficient. How many years of use would it take just to earn back to infrastructure costs of producing, installing, and maintaining this thing? Not to mention the fact that you'd have to store the energy...
The solution to energy dependence will be found at a much, much higher level. The benefits of little stuff like this are very quickly overcome by production costs. It's not an area where you see a robust Long Tail effect.
By 
jj mollo, at
Thu Mar 06, 11:54:00 PM:
I'm sure it'll work fine if they just install the bathroom on the roof. You know, to get a greater drop.
By , at
Fri Mar 07, 12:11:00 AM:
And whinny eco-wackos who dont like toilet paper can use pine needles or tree bark on their tender little backsides
By , at
Fri Mar 07, 01:22:00 AM:
It is a total waste of time and energy. The energy gained from the falling water is counterbalanced by the energy needed to pump it up. Energy is pumped into the system to keep the water flowing. Taking energy out through those devices will only mean that more energy will have to be pumped into the system to keep it going. Total boondoggle.
By , at
Fri Mar 07, 06:23:00 AM:
Boludo is right. Any gains in generation are probably going to be offset by pumping costs elsewhere.
By , at
Fri Mar 07, 08:07:00 AM:
I think the idea is that we already do the pumping to get the water up to the toilets anyway. We're just recapturing some of the energy on the way back down (or so the theory goes). But as I wrote above, there doesn't seem to be any way this could actually capture enough energy to matter.
By , at
Fri Mar 07, 09:15:00 AM:
Anonymous, you need to look at it from a system-wide perspective, not just one building. Once the water leaves the building, it needs to get pumped to the treatment plant. The kinetic energy the water gains from going from the top to the bottom of the building will then be used up to get the water back to the treatment plant.
By , at
Fri Mar 07, 12:17:00 PM:
Oh FFS! Why doesn't anyone go & look at some topological maps of cities?
Most cities, you have to pump sewerage out of the city to the treatment works. That's 'cause our inconsiderate ancestors tended to site cities close to available water. Rivers. Why? So they wouldn't have to pump the water so far up hill to use it.
By , at
Fri Mar 07, 02:42:00 PM:
Here is one Architect's pespective:
I looked up some info on Leviathan Energy and they might have something here. The energy to pump water uphill is wasted when it flows downhill. A system like this could help reclaim some of that energy similar to the way a hybrid car reclaims braking energy. The power would not have to be stored, just sent back into the grid. Another possible advantage is that this device would produce peak efficiency when people are the most active and need more electricity. Solar panels, on the other hand, loose efficiency as they heat up, so their output falls off during the hottest part of the day, when air conditioning demand is the greatest. I will reserve final judgment on this new device until I get a chance to read the specifications, which will probably be a few years.
By , at
Sat Mar 08, 03:35:00 PM:
If all you eco-wackos including SHERYLE CROW dont like logging then use pine needles or tree bark on your tender little backsides
