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The Ri-Industries Water Dictionary

by Ri Industries

Ri-Industries strives for excellence and environmental efficiency with all of its products, from our rainwater tanks to the Ri-Treat Waste Water Treatment System.

We often use so many terms related to water conservation that it can be difficult to sort everything out. What is the difference between ‘hard water’ and ‘soft water?’ Is ‘grey water’ really grey after all? It’s about time someone answered all of these water questions, so Ri-Industries is here to clarify.

Grey Water: While it is not always ‘grey’ in colour, grey water is the leftover water from baths, showers, hand basins, kitchen sinks and washing machines around your home. Not comfortable recycling water right out of the sink? The Ri-Treat Aerobic Wastewater System processes the grey water from your main drainage pipe into clean, odourless water to use for irrigation. Reusing grey water from laundry and bathrooms can save about 100,000 litres a year. With the average Australian family using 800 litres of water each day, conserving grey water can be crucial to helping our environment.

Hard Water: Hard water contains high levels of dissolved minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, and is measured as the equivalent concentration of calcium carbonate (milligrams per liter). For this reason, it is considered ‘hard,’ like a rock. ‘Hard water’ tends to lessen the lathering of soap, shampoo and detergents. You can typically find hard water in wells and boreholes.

Soft Water: Hardness levels of water in Adelaide are classified as less than 200 mg/L, and are considered by the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines as good quality. However, people may want to ‘soften’ the water in their home in order to avoid mineral build-up from excessively hard water that can potentially clog the pipes or stain crockery. While soft water does not occur naturally as often as hard water, it reduces the need for detergent because it doesn’t contain minerals that interact with cleaning products.

So there you have it: three entries in the Ri-Industries Water Dictionary. Above all, it is important to remember that the best kind of water is reused and recycled efficiently. Are you interested in ways to make your home more environmentally friendly? Ri-Industries can help! Contact us with any questions.

 

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Top 3 Ways To Conserve Water In Your Bathroom

by Ri Industries

Are you looking for easy ways to conserve water? Your bathroom is a good place to start. Between showers and flushing toilets, wasting water is a frequent occurrence in the bathroom.

Here are three top ways to conserve water in your bathroom:

Tip #1: Shorten your showers

The average person spends eight minutes in the shower, which uses approximately 62 litres of hot water. If you cut your shower down to five minutes, you can save about 22 litres of water with each shower. Need help shortening your shower? Select a five-minute song, and when the music stops, your shower is over.

For extra water conservation, consider changing out your showerhead to a high-efficiency rain showerhead. A high-efficiency rain showerhead helps save costs in two ways: less water and lower heating costs.

Tip #2: Turn off the bathroom tap when you’re not using it

This seems like such a simple tip, really, but it is surprising how many people keep their bathroom tap on while they are brushing their teeth, washing their face and hands, or cleaning the sink. When you turn the water off during these tasks, you are reducing water waste – by about 30 litres a day!

Tip #3: Use rainwater for flushing

Did you know you can install a rainwater tank and have it connected to your toilet plumbing? Have a concrete rainwater tank put in your backyard to collect rain from your roof and gutters.  Then, every time you flush, you are using rainwater, instead of water from the main. Recycled rainwater is an excellent way to conserve water, plus it will save on your monthly water bills.

When looking for a rainwater tank, look for one made of concrete. A concrete rainwater tank keeps the water cooler, prevents the development of algae and is more durable than other rainwater tanks. Also, make sure your rainwater tank has a secure lid to protect your water from insects and dirt.

While your bathroom may be one of the busiest rooms in your house, it doesn’t need to be the center of wasteful water usage. By implementing these three water conservation tips, you’ll appreciate lower water and heating bills, plus help in conserving water in your community. If you need help finding solutions for water conservation in your home, please contact us with any questions.

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How To Teach Kids About Water Conservation

by Ri Industries

At Ri-Industries, we are committed to teaching water conservation to all people – and that includes kids. Believe it or not, children are not too young to learn ways to conserve and recycle water in the home.

Here is a list of 13 water conservation tips just for kids:

  1. Turn off the bathroom tap when you don’t need water, especially when you’re washing your hands or brushing your teeth.
  2. Showers use less water than baths do, so try to take a shower when you can.
  3. Only flush human waste. Don’t throw tissues, sweet wrappers or paper in your toilet. It makes your toilet use more water to dispose of these items.
  4. If you are doing dishes, turn off the tap as you scrape food into the bin. Only use water when you are rinsing dishes.
  5. Let a parent know if you notice a leaky tap.
  6. Find out if you have a leak in your toilet with this fun test. Place a drop of food colouring in the toilet tank. If colour shows up in the bowl and you haven’t flushed, your toilet has a leak.
  7. Observe when your sprinkler system is running and let a parent know if it is running during the hottest part of the day. The sun absorbs the water too quickly then.
  8. If your job is to water plants, remember that you only need to sprinkle them with water. A little bit of water goes a long way when it comes to gardening.
  9. Collect the water from a pot of cooked pasta or other food (make sure it’s cooled off first!) and put into a watering can for your indoor plants.
  10. When you want to wash your bicycle, fill up a bucket with water instead of using a hose. Hoses let out much more water than you need.
  11. Does that shirt really need to be washed? Only put dirty clothes into your laundry hamper. This will save water when you use the washing machine.
  12. Did you know buying recycled paper products helps with water conservation too? It takes about 22 litres of water to produce a dollar’s worth of paper. Ask your parent to look for recycled paper to save water and the environment.
  13. Get your parents to check out concrete rainwater tanks. They collect rainwater that can be used for irrigation or hot water systems.

And for more great water tips, check out this video from Watersong.com.au:

If you need help finding solutions for water conservation in your home, please contact us with any questions. 

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5 Ways Ri-Industries Can Help You Recycle Water for Your Home

by Ri Industries

About one-third of the world’s population is affected by water scarcity. Thankfully, your septic tank is just one of the many environmentally-friendly ways to recycle water around the home. Recycling water using a septic tank and other methods can be a way to revitalize your local environment while conserving precious resources for the community at large. Here are some quick and easy ways Ri-Industries can help you recycle water and take advantage of the water table surrounding your home.

Water Recycling Tip #1: Use the Ri-Treat System to Reuse Water to Your Best Advantage

The Ri-Treat waste water treatment system discharges household waste into a controlled area and aerobically decomposes waste. This system is a way for homeowners living in a non-sewered area to reclaim their waste water and reuse it around the home.

Water Recycling Tip #2: Use a Ri-Treat Waste Water Treatment System on Your Garden

The on-site Ri-Treat waste water system allows you to reuse and recycle your water resources and make great savings, all at the same time. Ri-Industries supplies a surface garden irrigation kit with every Ri-Treat system, meaning you can recycle household waste water to keep your yard looking fresh and healthy.

Water Recycling Tip #3: Let Ri-Industries Collect Your Rainwater

Reclaiming and reusing your water isn’t limited to waste water; take advantage of every step of the water cycle by using concrete rainwater tanks to collect and filter the rainfall in your backyard. Rainwater tanks have the advantage of being a natural alternative to treatment plants that use chemicals to filter water, and can be used for a number of different domestic and rural purposes.

Water Recycling Tip #4: Reuse Your Bathwater

Consider upgrading an existing septic in your home by asking your plumber to install a separate Ri-Industries septic tank to catch the water you wash down your bathroom sink, shower or bath. While this water isn’t fit for drinking, it can be used for irrigation, watering the houseplants, or simply flushing the toilet.

Water Recycling Tip #5: Use Your Water Wisely

With the Ri-Treat waste water system, along with Concrete Rainwater Tanks and Septic Tanks, Ri-Industries makes it easy for you to conserve and reuse water to your best advantage in and around your home. But the next step is up to you—when you wash fruit in your sink, save the rinsed water to use on your lawn afterward; instead of tossing out the water that you used to boil your vegetables, use it to make soup instead. Every little effort can make a big difference.

By taking advantage of these five tips, as well as the other services Ri-Industries has to offer, you can use the water in your home to the best of its potential. Not only that: recycling water around the home is a natural and environmentally friendly way to give back to your local eco-system. For more information on how to reuse and recycle the water supply in your non-sewered area, please check out our website or call 08 8444 8100.