This type of home gardening was developed by C-SAFE to help African residences conserve rainwater runoff resources while gardening. This new style of gardening started in Mapoteng, Lenkoane, Malumeng, Taung, Kota, Makanametsung, and Sekameng.

Make a Keyhole Garden like the children of Lesotho:

These places are in a dry climate. If you live in a dry climate this maybe ideal for you.

This new style focuses on land reclamation, water retention, homestead gardening, conservation farming, and in some cases small dam construction.

This style keeps in mind that many members of these homesteads are disabled and abled alike. This is not unlike the rest of the planet.

To create one you will need ash, weeds, aloe, and manure to start off.

Find or level off an area of ground six and a half feet in diameter. Be sure its near some home water run off source.

Mark the perimeter of the center water catch basket with four sticks. The diameter of the center basket will be sixteen inches wide and about five feet tall. That measurement can change based on your situation.

Tie the four sticks together with string, or tall grass. Line the basket with a permeable lining. The lining doesnt need to be secured to anything but the top of the four sticks. The sides will raise as refuse compost and dirt is piled against it in the next few steps.

At the outer perimeter there will eventually be a wall of flat stones around six by three by two iches (thats the X, Y, & Z of the stones themselves). These stones will gradually be built up to be four and half feet high.

Dont forget to leave space for the keyhole inlet to one side of the inner basket. This keyhole will one point five feet wide.

The entrance to the basket, via the keyhole, has to be six point five feet wide. That measurement is flexible. The general standard is six point five in most gardens.

The keyhole entrance funnels to the one point five foot bottleneck abruptly, or gradually. That depends on your personal taste.

For the actual garden section, between the inner water run off basket and the outer:

• The floor of the garden, has kitchen scraps
• The first flat stones described above are piled randomly around the scraps to aerate the recycled meat and other organic material.
• Then first layer of compost described at the beginning of this article are poured about
• Sticks, twigs and dry leaves can be used for the next level.
• Less volatile compostable organic material can be added, or another level of the ash, aloe, and manure. Which ever is fine.
• More flat stones randomly placed.
• And now the stones on the outside perimeter can start to be secured tightly, leaning a bit inward as the garden inside it gets higher.
• The layers of the rock wall can reach into the variant levels of the garden being interspersed with the organic material. Some of the organic material can show mildly for effect. Level with the outer rock wall.

At the end of the building process; the outer rock wall should stand a little over four feet high.

If the garden is going to stay in line with the established form it can be divided mentally into four sections. You should feel free to step outside the conventional at this pointif you like. In a lot of cases stepping out of this convention is more practical.

The four sections are leafy crops, root crops, vine crops, bulb crops. It should be noted that corn, artichokes and quite a few other crops fit outside these regional choices. However they would grow great in a keyhole garden.

Trial and error has proven that in dry areas the section of onion crop works a good insect repellant.

With the four-crop system rotation is key after each crop. Adding mulch is also a good recommendation.

This type of garden is ideal for those who want to continue to garden, (for leisure or necessity), and cannot bend over to do so. The garden is raised up a bit above waste level. That makes bending over unnecessary.

House hold run off water, (in some cases wastewater), can be run through the center of the garden basket. This is great infiltration for the garden. In essence the whole key garden is a new style approach to an above ground easy access vegetable rain garden.

Contributors:

David Allison lives and works in Portland Oregon were he teaches and plays Capoeira Angola. He enjoys companion planting and has romantic science fiction projects that he works on from time to time. David is a single father who likes to spend time getting into mischief with his children. Some of his other hobbies include: dancing, flipping houses, volunteerism and meeting people.

The authors have been around for a while, dealing specifically in the engineering, design and development of water reclamation systems for years, and they know what works, what scares people and what could be done to potentially better what is already done, developing an integrated approach to managing our planets precious water resources.

This book is on the cutting edge of applications, current issues, developments in environmental protection criteria, public health, risk management, advanced treatment technologies, practices, new developments, multiple barrier approach concepts with special emphasis on process reliability and considerations on public participation, planning, satellite and decentralized water reuse facilities that make the most of our potential resources.

This scientific text takes the reader through a general introduction to health and environmental concerns in water reuse, to technologies and different systems involved in reclamation, applications of reuse and the actual implementation of water reuse strategies.

This 1570-page hardcover, has over 500 detailed illustrations and photographs, covers the latest issues and trends of water reuse, technology and applications; written by a crew of experts in the field.

Contributing authors include Takashi Asano, Fanklin L. Burton, Harold, L. Leverenz, Ryujiro Tsuchihashi, George Tchobanoglous and Metcalf & Eddy Inc., published by McGraw-Hill Professional in January of 2007, measuring 9.2 x 7.9 x 2.3and shipping at 5.5 pounds.

Teams, Students, engineers, scientists, the technology they use, the issues that confront every major aspect of water reuse from public health protection, water quality, advanced technology, regulations and implementation challenges; this is a hallmark text that sets the road for the next thirty years in how our Cartesian society will use greywater and blackwater.

The biological filter solutions that have always been frowned upon by engineers and the scientifically oriented are now proven and practical, with tables and charts that prove exactly what will work and what wont work, this is an academic book for professionals that have been working in this area long enough to know better than to believe in a bunch of tree-hugging hippies.

However strangely it may seem, after decades of protests and greenpeace action, those same tree-huggers have finally managed to get their argument into this area?!?!

Here is, a book that was written by a group of professionals who have been acting in scientific circles for a good part of some thirty years, looking at waste water effluent from a differentpoint of view and studying it as a more self-reliant and cost-effective approach to purely mechanical and chemical filtration through trial, error and case studies that finally do make the difference financially.

Performance data, projects that work and reliable solutions to waste management and effluent treatment that use a natural systems approach looking at the ecology of the whole system using microbiology, plants and animals to do and even better job than that done by our machines, while repairing the ecosystem instead of sacrificing it.

Sludge treatment and management; planning, site selection, wetlands, land treatment systems, feasibility assessment, aquatic treatment systems, wastewater stabilization ponds and many more reliable alternatives to our blackwater issues.

This 433-page paperback, written by Sherwood C. Reed, Ronald W. Cirtes and E. Joe Middlebrooks, first published by McGraw-Hill Professional in August of 1998, measures 8.9 x 6 x 1 and ships at 1.4 pounds.

The market is beginning to demand ecologically correct alternatives through Natural Systems for Waste Management and Treatment that a seasoned engineer will not only understand clearly, but finally agree with for a more economically accessible future through self-reliance and sustainability that keeps bioremediation in first priority and at a less expensive cost that is academically speaking the very best technology currently available.

As the traditional focus for wastewater management systems has been on bigger networks, it has been difficult, if not near impossible to find professional engineers that actually know about natural effluent management systems on the smaller decentralized scale.

The more younger students come looking for answers to these tree-hugger questions, the more books and courses like this one are going to appear.

Undergraduates are in for the long haul, they are the future and will determine what kinds of projects our county willor will not be building in the next decade, thus it is essential that they have access to what is proven to work and will also satisfy the current market demands.

Businesses, home owners, and government officials across the country would be smart to put the word sustainable into our mainstream, and its a fact we need to face while we still have time to figure it out, so that when the time comes to really put our knowledge into practice, we have the tools to do the job required!

Does a bigger wastewater and effluent management system really fit the future need? This book shows us that energy efficiency could mean more local solutions to what has more commonly been accepted as a question of urbanization.

On site treatment of wastewater is only part of the picture,more than that is taking into account the cross-disciplines that sustainable practices lead into, such as hydrogeology or biodiversity and make sure that what we build will be ecologically friendly, giving back equally what we take away through colonization and occupation that is ecologically correct.

This 1104-page hardcover, written by Ronald W. Crites and George Tchobanoglous, was published by McGraw-Hill in April of 1998, measuring 9.4 x 6.6 x 1.8 and ships at 3.5 pounds.

For a comprehensive approach to design, covering traditional disposal and treatment of waste effluent as well as the more trendy innovations in the eco-friendly, Small and Decentralized Wastewater Management Systems is a must read for undergraduate student engineers and the eco-interested for more self-reliant ways of taking care of our waste effluent that is environmentally beneficial as well as globally sustainable.

Related Offsite Media:
EPA Onsite Demonstration Project Showcase

When we think of going off the grid, one of the most important issues is rainwater harvesting, and earthships have this concept ingrained into them, as most of them find themselves in an area where rainfall is an almost sacred thing.

What about once the water has actually fallen to earth? Then what? How can we make sure that the water will stay clean, what about when we use the water, doesnt it have to go out into the sewage system and contaminate our natural rivers?

What about reusing that water through separating not so dirty rinse-water from the deadly sewage of our human waste? Couldnt that rinse water be used in flushing?

What should we do with flushed water? What do we do with excess rinse water? What is a greywater system, how can one be setup, and how does this retake the desert regions around the homes in New Mexico?

If we take questions like these seriously, we find that it is more than possible to turn water from the sky, into a useful tool for our continued survival in desert regions, and that waste-watercan be used to not only irrigate the surrounding property, but retake the desert, with our own tropical oasis, that builds a better quality of life for the future.

This 204-page paperback, written by the well known character/architect behind earthship construction, Michael Reynolds, was published by Solar Survival Press in June of 2005, measuring 10.9 x 8.3 x 0.6 and shipping at 1.2 pounds.

New Mexico is one of the places where water shortages can create serious challenges for the residents, and in the United States, there are already a lot of issues about the sacred water from the sky; this book covers treating water, reusing, using, storing, catching water, from a self-reliant standpoint in one of the driest regions of the world, helping others find solutions to their own situations, today.

Buy Water From The Sky on Amazon.com!

Involving all the members of a community in the different decisions that need to be taken around water provision, hygiene and education from the very start, Oxfam water fieldworkers who have been there and done this in the most rural communities on earth and have experience; they pass their knowledge on to you, for a more sustainable world community that cares about how we use water, right now.

What puts this book apart from a lot of other project books out there is that it was written by people who actually lived and went through it, holding dear to the UN principles of water conservation,in a world that has all but given up on the impoverished communities of our world.

Do you believe that every last man, woman and child has the right to development? Are you committed to fighting for a future where all people can meet their basic needs for food, shelter, health, skills, live without the fear of violence, be heard and live free of discrimination?

Oxfam is dedicated to this, all over the world, and this book is a direct result of fighting that battle, for a better tomorrow, one that we cannotjust hope for, but count on, because people like your are taking matters into their own hands, through knowledge, wisdom and most importantly, action!

An action that can be as simple as how our community is dealing with its water supplies or as deep as world concern!

This 184-page paperback, written by Jan Davis, Gerry Garvey and Michael Wood, was first published by Oxfam in December of 1993, measuring 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 and ships at 7.2 ounces.

If you are interested in Developing and Managing the Community Water Supplies where you live or somewhere dear to you, this book will show you how it has been done in the past, the potential problems you can face and more importantly, excellent strategies for overcoming those obstacles, reaching for success, starting now.

Learn about Oxfam:
Oxfam’s Programs & campaigns

Buy on Amazon:
Developing and Managing Community Water Supplies

Off-Grid water systems, disaster preparedness and fire protection using the principles of ecological design, make sustainable groundwater management, building a cistern, pond or water tank a little more than just tools to fulfill an immediate need, it brings us a perspective on life unlike any other.

A perspective, where, doing-it-ourselves, for ourselves, independently, we end up doing something so important for the collective community and the many creatures that live on this planet, that not only makes a difference; it builds a better tomorrow!

This is not just another engineers guide to plans and building materials, this is a book that was written for you, the real person, the one that makes the difference in the modern world of sustainability.

It doesnt matter if you are looking after your own utopic community or are just a single homesteader in the middle of the big city, what you want (what the whole world wants right now), is to just do something good for the world, while providing for the needs of our right now.

Water Storage is a book with all the answers about why our society and people in the green trends look to storing water, where those peak demands throughout the day are, how supply can vary throughout the year and what measures we can take to secure all the water we need in the most efficient and sustainable solution for your situation, looking to all possible resources available on-site where we live.

This is a 125-page paperback with 128 photos and 43 figures, written by Art Ludwig and published by Oasis Design in May of 2005, measuring 11 x 8.5, ships at 9.6 ounces.

From ferrocement jars to rain barrels, wellsprings or aquifer recharging, Water Storage addresses the best designs for your situation in the most ecologically correct way, to make sure that what you build in your water system will not only last for generations, it will make a difference in the present!

Water Storage will take advantage of what you have on site or locally available, reducing material miles and ecological footprints to achieve something both sustainable and self-reliant in a productive language that even the most average of home owners will easily understand or even zen with their first read.

The end result was a water product that is safe to replenish aquifers, surface water reservoirs and in some cases even go directly into the drinking water systems such as the system used in Denver, Colorado USA.

A planned Indirect Potable Reuse or Planned IPRwas the objective of this study and NEWater (recycled water from sewage treatment facilities) has historically been showing positive results in the US for more than 20 years, since as early as 1976.

The NEWater results from the Bedok Water Reclamation Plant where the study was performed, were satisfactory and above, receiving around 95% of its water from domestic wastewater sources and yet, still able to comply, and in some cases overachieve rigorous standards.

No specific pH standard was set but met at pH 5.9, TOC Removal was set at 97% while an actual 99% was achieved, Ammonia Removal was set at 90% while a 94% was actually achieved.

TDS Removal was set and achieved at 97% as was MF Filtrate Turbidity set and achieved at 0.1 NTU, meeting those two standards precisely.

What characterizes NEWater from other treatment systems is the use of advanced dual-membrane (microfiltration and reverse osmosis) and ultraviolet technologies that spend less energy to remove pollutants and chemicals with a cleaner, more efficient water product that is almost drinkable.

Drinking water parameters from the most current WHO and USEPA were used to analyze a total of 190 physical, chemical and microbial samples; measuring and relating their water quality.

By studying the effects of NEWater on one of the most sensitive species of mice as well as one of the most sensitive species of fish, over the long-term, no apparent dangers were reported, with tissue and health conditions remaining normal in both testspecies when compared to those exposed instead to raw reservoir water over the same period.

The study concluded that NEWater is considered safe for potable use based on two years of analysis, in compliance to USEPA and WHO standards and the Singapore Government should consider NEWater for Indirect Potable Reuse.

The Singapore Water Reclamation Study suggests that not only is the process safe, but blending NEWater with the Singapore reservoir water supply would help recover trace minerals eliminated in the reverse osmosis process thereby providing a better taste as well as improve public acceptance.

Media:
Oakley City Water Reclamation Facility - Interesting video on filtration membranes.

Watersaver Rain Barrel looks a lot like a wine keg from medieval times with a cool look that gives your garden that almost buccaneer look to it.

The screen fits inside the barrel perfectly and the lid wont come off without you knowing how, making it ruggrat and critter safe.

There is an overflow on the back of this rain barrel that comes with a six foot hose (easily replaceable for more reach) for redirecting your overflow automatically to planters or extra barrels as you see fit.

Two spigot outlets allow you to control the pressure of your water somewhat and the Watersaver Rain Barrel comes with one threaded brass spigot that fits the common garden hose for easy use.

Save money on your water bill, do good for the environment by recycling the most precious source of life on our planet; water.

Watersaver Rain Barrel will not only cut down on your carbon footprint indirectly, it will also look good, fitting snuggly into the corner of your lawn, garden or against the wall, wherever the downspout is.

Watersaver Rain Barrel has a five-year guarantee, but if kept well, should be able to hold up throughout your lifetime, never giving in to the elements of nature, holding 54 gallons of water that will only leave the barrel when you decide.

Deluxe English Barrel comes with a four-foot hose, a drain valve for multiple rain barrel link ups, a debris screen and a tight childproof lid.

This durable green plastic will hold up to the elements, decade after decade, and keep on maintaining your lawn sustainable while water bills skyrocket, year after year; yours will be sustainable and partially off-the-grid.

By using a larger capacity rain barrel, you can keep a larger supply of water for a longer period, while still keeping your lawn green and lovely all year round, even in a drought.

The Deluxe English Barrel is a 77 gallon rain barrel that comes with everything you will need to redirect your downspout into a more sustainable lifestyle in lawn keeping and gardening.

This water barrel is child-safe and comes with a snug filter and lid, as well as overflow tube and linking kit for additional barrels in your rainwater catchment system.

Measuring 24 x 24 x 32 and weighing only 36 lbs, the Rain Catcher has a built in outlet hose with shut-off valve.

These dark green 54 gallon rain barrels will withstand generations of use, year after year, will save precious water for your lawn or garden, making your home a more sustainable environment.

The Rain Catcher Water Barrel fits compactly in the corner of your patio, deck or garden, adding just that aesthetic feel with a hint of water conservation that will make the difference tomorrow.

Buy Now on Amazon.com!

Rigid plastic like this can take anywhere from 200 to 500 years to find the way back to Mother Nature in the landfill, but when in use as a rain barrel, with a threaded spigot for easy hose attachment, screw-on-cover, drain plug, overflow fittings and complete instructions, it becomes a lifetime commitment to sustainable practices.

Great American Rain Barrels can even be put on blocks and connected to a second barrel with nothing but a three fourths of an inch hose, making it one of the most practical devices of our generation.

On the whole, this 60 gallon heavy-duty 100% recycled plastic food grade barrel will allow you to save on your water bill, while at the same time helping our environment; this truly is The Great American Rain Barrel! Semper fidelis!

Even some of the most advanced dew harvesters used in Chile and Peru using harvesting nets, have not been able to collect as much water from the wind and fog as the prototypes Andrew Parker created based on the Stenocara with an efficiency several times superior.

By using biomimicry, technology advances millions of years in just a few years with studies of creatures that have done what we aspire to do, and the Stenocara is a perfect example of how we can learn from biomimicry for more sustainable tomorrow.

So what is so special about this beetle that harvests its own water in the most arid desert region on the face of the Earth? Bumps, wax and gutters.

That is really all there is to it. The Stenocaras shell is armor-like and covered with bumps that have smooth peaks much like glass that easily allows water to condense into droplets that then slide down the slops into troughs (both covered in a Teflon-like wax) and the water goes straight to the beetles neck and down, around to the mouth for consumption.

Theoretically, what we do know about condensation is that the surface where water intends to condense needs to remain cool enough for the stored heat energy in water vapor to become liquid, and thinner surfaces are best for this, which is why the beetle has glass like bumps that readily distribute the heat into the rest of the beetles body, keeping it a little warmer and well hydrated.

In an example like this, it only takes a little bit of thought on the part of the do-it-yourselfer to create strategies similar to those used by the Namibian Stenocara.

Some people have already jumped the initiative on this, with dented metal roofs built on cardboard with pipes that run cold geothermal water underneath the surface mimicking the beetles shell and blood stream to do almost the same job, but on a far larger scale how about producing enough water to take a bath or supply ample drinking water for 5 people per day, even in the aridest of deserts?

Water harvesting through biomimicry is about being sustainable in a tomorrow that could be as bleak as Mad Max or as beautiful as Thomas Moores Utopia; it all depends on how we deal with the knowledge we already have, right now to build the self-sufficient America our forefathers envisioned.

Biomimicry Institute
Beetle’s Shell Offers Clues to Harvesting Water in the Desert - Bijal P. Trivedi
for National Geographic Today November 1, 2001
Stenocara Beetle Images - Google Image Search

Dew harvesting has been practiced by humanity as far back as ancient times, in areas where rainfall and groundwater resources are scarce. Technically, the process of dew harvesting can be understood by simply analyzing how the water cycle occurs (any fourth grade drawing will do).

When there is any humidity at all in the air and there is a surface that is cool enough to provoke condensation, dew will condense on that surface until the humidity is gone or the surface has absorbed so much heat from the water molecules that the surface is then no longer cool enough to provide the condensing action.

Surface water will evaporate into the atmosphere as soon as enough sunlight heats the molecules enough for them to take gaseous form and these molecules will eventually collect in the atmosphere to create humidity, which will later condense on cold surfaces as dew and thus returning the lost thermal energy to the planet surface.

The water cycle is how our planet keeps its water clean. Warm and humid air with large amounts of humidity take cloud form, and when they hit a cold front from the proper angle, are forced to condense into rain droplets.

This same principle follows for all forms of dew harvesting, to create a cold enough surface that water particles in gaseous form will condense enough to form dew droplets at an angle for collection.

Vegetation in desert regions have developed modifications that allow them to collect their own humidity from the air for example, and through efforts of reforestation in desert regions this technology has advanced abundantly around the world.

Do-it-yourselfers looking to create zero energy homes are the most trendy examples of dew harvesters to date, with their golf-ball like cardboard and metal roofs that use geothermally cooled water pumped through them at night to bring the roof temperature down enough to harvest dew through their traditional rooftop rainwater harvesting systems.

The biggest advantage to the metal roof technique for dew harvesting is that it simultaneously serves as a passive water heater during sunlight hours as well as a rainwater catchment system and dew harvesting system.

Earlier historical examples include small-scale drinking pools of condensation at the base of plant stems to large-scale natural irrigation practices in areas without rain (like the Namib desert).

Some of the most famous human-made dew harvesting sites include; the stone piles in the Ukraine, dew ponds from southern England and even volcanic stone in the fields of Lanzarote. Collecting dew in a passive manner is an old practice.

Rediscovery of human influence over natural condensation occurred throughout history, from ancient times to medieval to the 20^thcentury since which time it has been studied with some interest until recently with renewed interest in sustainability.

Metal roofs, tile roofs with geothermal water-cooling for example can collect enough water to take a bath in most cases. Solar-powered air-moisture harvesting and wind-powered air-moisture harvesting can complement dew harvesting and are currently being tested in Australia.

The International Organization for Dew Utilization uses foil-based condensers for regions where rain or fog cannot are not efficient enough. The secret to dew harvesting in general seems to be the thickness of materials, the thinner materials are, the harder it is for them to retain heat, so thatas soon as the dew has passed down to the collector, most of the leftover heat is dispersed allowing for more dew to condense more rapidly.

The method that will work best might just be a plastic tarp suspended over a barrel with a clothes line for some people, while for others, a fancy first-class metal roof with technological advancements that make all other roofs look old-fashion is the thing.

But dew harvesting is simply the collection of water condensation from cold surfaces either artificially cooled or naturally occurring, and is ideal for conditions where rainfall and groundwater sources are scarce.

This is a practical guide to all those tropical Oasis that once existed along the silk road between Europe and China thousands of years ago before Rome destroyed Carthage.

In this self-contained rainwater harvesting manual, you can learn to cultivate your own plot of unproductive piece of Sonora Desert into something similar to those of the Mediterranean 1001 Arabian Nights. Passive low-tech water harvesting that is historically proven to with Mother Natures own purifying process.

So what exactly are water harvesting earthworks? Well, if you read his first volume on rainwater harvesting for drylands you already know, but for those of you looking to get straight to it; water harvesting earthworks are about using the land in favor of natures water cycles to capture clean rainwater in favor of local indigenous plants as well as sustainable land management practices that are agriculturally more environmentally friendly.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume 2 builds on the basic do-it-yourself landscaping architecture for homesteaders and landowners interested in a more sustainable living with more detailed how-to information and a plethora of varying earthworks, uses of mulch, vegetation, greywater recycling and the overall customization that fits your particular site.

The four factors that put this volume apart from the other two in this series are Earthworks, Mulch, Vegetation and Greywater Recycling.

Of course volume 2 wouldnt be complete if it didnt review the basics that were well developed fully in details in volume one, such as a more holistic planning, guiding principles, and a range of strategies that will help you assess your water harvesting potential, but here, the emphasis is on recovering drylands through more creative earthworks.

Developing desert and drylands into useful, sustainable green areas, is a way for us human beings to steward the earth through our own lands and Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume 2 takes us closer to working smarter, not harder.

This volume two of a three part series helps people take responsibility for their own communitys food production, stimulating locally what should happen globally; true sustainability and stewardship.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume 2 is a 336-page paperback written by Brad Lancaster, published by Chelsea Green and does what the author has been doing for years; it teaches through real life stories, how to take back the desert for a more sustainable tomorrow through water harvesting earthworks that cost nothing yet replenish everything the way the Earth intended, lending each creature their role.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume 2 is not merely a comprehensive do-it-yourself guide to water harvesting earthworks for more sustainable living in uninhabitable desert-like conditions; it is also an integral part of the path to universal stewardship of space-station earth.

Related:
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands - Volume #1 Interview with Brad Lancaster.

Written by Suzy Banks, Richard Heinichen and Illustrated by Tre Arenz, its an easy to grasp filler-in on the basics, straight from chapter one.

With the whole process detailed in easy to grasp language that is captivating while at the same time technical enough to give the reader a sensation that they already know what the authors are talking about without sounding too drab or boring.

This 108-page paperback was first published by Tank Town in March of 2006, the rainwater harvesting company owned and operated by the authors themselves.

Measuring at 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 and shipping at 12 ounces this book will make sure that your first rainwater harvesting projects are all successes, because the authors have made all the mistakes for you and explain why certain things need to be done a certain way in a funny voice that lets the reader laugh with them.

From micron measurement, troubleshooting, pump problems, filtration hanging gutters, valve checks, and even understanding chemicals and pollution, the photographs and drawings make the text of this DIY handbook both funny and smart.

Covering everything you need to know for harvesting your own rainwater from the roof of your own home, Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged is for the homeowner looking to become a little more environmentally conscious, self-reliant and sustainable for a better America, and a better tomorrow.

With studies from around the world, this book has numerous examples for anyone (but especially professionals in the area), looking to construct a low-tech rainwater catchment system, even from scratch if necessary.

Authors Nissen-Peterson and John Gould have put together this 320-page paperback measuring 6 1/4″ x 9 1/4″ and shipping at 1.3 pounds; first published in November of 1999 by Practical Action.

To achieve, either the total or supplementary household water-requirement, this book takes in all aspects of design, construction, techniques, sizing systems, putting up gutters, choice of materials, training, operation and maintenance.

As well as non-technical factors such as social, financial, cultural, institutional, political, general issues, health and water quality are all discussed in detail; especially recommended as a resource manual for aid workers.

With drawings, photographs, step-by-step accounts of different household situations and Nissen-Petersens own two decades of practical experience in Asia and Africa, this book caters to researchers, builders, architects, water engineers, development workers and managers looking for an edge in todays professional high-tech world of rainwater systems.

Rainwater Catchment Systems for Domestic Supply: Design, Construction and Implementation is the professionals guide to low-tech ground and roof rainwater harvesting solutions that have been tried and tested for more than 20 years.

This 240-page paperback was recently published in June of 2007 by New Society Publishers and holds an ecological taste to it, inspired by the latest tend in our country for sustainable practices in the use of water.

Design for water is a way of thinking about how our western society uses and abuses Mother Natures life giving elixir and proposes strategies for the professional of tomorrows America, to take precautions for the now.

Outlines for municipal systems, parks, schools, industries, commerce, residential communities, and multiple sources-landscape for water collection providing also, case studies, references, schematics and even specific details as well as how to assemble and apply equipment.

Rainwater harvesting for wildlife, filtration, analysis, purification, distribution, reuse, storm water reuse, storage, setup, active systems and passive systems are all well detailed.

Some of the more modern catchment techniques already in use are also dealt with in order to make this book more appealing to landowners, developers, municipal decision-makers, landscape architects and engineers.

Design for Water was developed to make research on sustainable water practices more accessible to the professional in the know today with guidelines and important information for preparing the most passive alternative available.

Potters for Peace founded in Nicaragua, in 1986 is a network of volunteers, supporters, educators, technicians and potters that work mainly in Central America and abroad with ceramic water filter projects all over the world.

Traveling the world and teaching the fabrication of low-cost ceramic water filters is what PFP has been doing since 1998, bringing cleaner, potable water to those who need it most.

Low-cost colloidal silver-enhanced ceramic water purifiers have shown in the field that they eliminate 99.88% of most water born disease agents.

Ceramic water filters are a very simple design; a pressed bucket shape 11 W x 10 D, made from a combustible of some kind (such as rice husks or local sawdust) and a local terra-cotta clay.

Milled and screened, the combustible material is burned out in the firing, leaving fine pores, then coated with colloidal silver.

The bacterial properties of the silver and the fine pores create and effective filter.

Between one and three liters of potable water can be effectively filtered per hour with a fine tuned firing process, and the final cost is between 10-15U$ per unit, with replacement filters costing only 4U$ dollars.

Ceramic water filters are manufactured to accommodate over the top of a five-gallon bucket with a spicket for water collection.

While the transportation and production costs will tend to vary from country to country, three or four workers in a basic factory could produce around 50 ceramic water filters a day.

Ceramic water filters are a low-tech solution to cleansing dirty drinking water, a solution that could save the lives of children the world over.

Related:
Potters for Peace Manuals

“The Coca-Cola Company exists to benefit and refresh everyone that it touches.”

That is the Coca-Cola Promise and with festivals like the Jal Tarang 2006, where Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recharge of water were central themes, Coke builds on that promise effectively.

Paper & PET recycling, health, disaster relief and most of all education; Coke in India is making a difference.

Education is the key to making sure that everyone has water in India, and Coke rainwater harvesting projects have totaled more than 270 RWH across the country.

Quote:

The companys business should refresh the markets, protect, preserve and enhance the environment and strengthen the community… Coca-Cola India provides extensive support for community programs across the country, with a focus on education, health and water conservation.

With 50 more rainwater harvesting structures planned for 2007, 10 in Delhi alone, Coke is slowly but steadily making a difference in the way business has traditionally been done.

Coke makes a lot of money off of the labor and water it extracts in India and traditionally, foreign companies take the money they make and put it back into their own economies rather than the foreign market.

Instead of doing either, Coke is going straight to the source, Coke is going straight to the people that make its money and helping them directly with what they need most, education and structures that harvest rainwater in more self-reliant and sustainable ways.

Now that is an ethical use of power that is for the greater good!

Simple things, like how to use a Drip Gauge can really sensitize a person, especially when there is an ongoing concern for awareness in water conservation.

Rainwater harvesting in India is a way of seeking out cultural identity; how many companies can say they help people get back to their roots?

Searching for the needs of today through quality education and infrastructure for better rainwater harvesting techniques and knowledge, that tomorrow, the grandchildren of our grandchildren, may be the wiser.

Coke rainwater harvesting in India builds on the Coke Promise with a steady and sustainable pace.

Related:
Coke Shareholder Meeting
Coke Rainwater Harvesting

Stressing the importance of rooftop harvesting on all the institutional buildings, 72 structures have already been completed with 64 still in progress as of Feb. 1^st.

Computers provided up to subdivision level have allowed a management information setup system to be implemented, making things easier for state wide administration on a centralized fashion that moves at the speed of an electron, a rather new concept in Himachal government.

The website was developed to support this international ecotourist state, providing transparency on a global basis showing what measures the government has taken to ensure sustainable practices to a sensitive culture.

Solans water supply scheme should be completed by October of this year, Shimla for December. Bhuntar, Bhota, Shah Tlai and Nauti Khad Shimla are projected for completion by the end of the year.

Sewerage schemes will also achieve focus in Rampur, Hamirpur, Una, Dharamsala, Jogindernagar, Arki and Kulu to be completed within 2007s current budget!

While the 45,367 habitations in the state are far to numerous to be attended this year, a drinking water facility will reach at least 4,080 by next year of which 3,000 have already been at least partially attended.

Thats showing the world what really conscious minded governments can do, HURRAY for Himachal!

Related:
Snow Water Harvesting

Greywater is simply used wash water from the bath, shower, sink or even rooftop rainwater harvesting; this is slightly polluted, very different from either potable (freshwater) or non-useable sewage water (blackwater).

Clean water is water with nothing but H2O, greywater has been used once for non-toxic cleansing, but blackwater carries pathogens that are too strong and unsafe for either animal or plant consumption.

But why is greywater important to us? The main reason is sustainability. The closer and closer our nation comes to becoming self-reliant and independent of foreign oil, the closer we come to understanding what energy efficiency is all about.

Making use of our nation’s abundant greywater production could potentially solve our water conservation issues, and bring us just that much closer to self-reliance and a more sustainable and healthier future for the children of our children.

What determines the main differences between blackwater and greywater are nitrogen and pathogen content as well as decomposition time.

Basically, once polluted with human fecal material the pathogens find a place to thrive and reproduce in any body of water, therefore, the best solution is simply NOT throw human fecal material in water in the first place, but our society is essentially Roman, with Roman practices.

Plumbing or “lead working” is part of ancient megalithic architecture and the word itself is of Latin origin, coming from plumbum related to the Greek “molybdos” (probably of an extinct Mediterranean language such as Iberian perhaps).

However wonderfully advanced they were to have invented such uses for “lead” as piping freshwater from the mountains into public bath houses and developing the very first spas on earth; such wonders have a price on ecology…

A price that haunts us even now…

In most bathhouses of those times; private “water closets” were also readily available for those bathing, but where did the water go from the water closet? Was the destination the same as the bath water?

The Romans and eventually the English would readily sacrifice a nearby river for ALL the wastewater used in the bathhouses (including that from the water closets).

An ecologically unsound and unsustainable practice that we still have to this very day

With modern methods of plumbing, this is no longer necessary, but our society continues to throw such radically different substances into the same shaft; polluting greywater, both due to force of habit as well as lack of knowledge

But that needs to change, and the solution is separating our greywater from our blackwater, NOW, not tomorrow when it’s too late.

The amount of nitrogen and human fecal materials found in blackwater is absurdly difficult to remove sustainably if not incredibly impossible at the moment.

Nine tenths of the nitrogen found in our nations combined wastewater is contaminated by blackwater, and most of that water was originally greywater before entering the city’s sewer system.

Engineers argue in most scenarios that wastewater, including greywater, if left untreated, will soon become anaerobic and foul, taking on the same characteristics as blackwater, which is why greywater must be treated quickly and in-house if not possible in-community.

The secret to really defeating the pollutants in greywater are oxygen breathing organisms like algae that thrive off of nitrogen and carbon. Problems occur however when the greywater is left to become anaerobic, then, yes, it is as unsafe as blackwater.

An excellent study done in Stockholm with a separated greywater/blackwater plumbing system in a multi-apartment complex (made by Lars Karlgren, Victor Tullander, Torsten Ahl and Eskil Olson) collected data for 12 weeks and discovered the following results.

Their article entitled “Residential Waste Water” reported that this small community could divide its greywater production into 30 gallons a day laundry wastewater, 20 gallons a day kitchen wastewater, 60 gallons a day bath wastewater and 10 gallons per day miscellaneous wastewater, coming to something like 56% of the total combined wastewater consumption of any given household per day.

The other 44% or so of wastewater was all blackwater from either the garbage disposal unit or simple toilet flushing; coming to a grand total of 80 gallons per day of blackwater!

Statistically that means that only 44% of the water being treated at the sewage facility was originally blackwater, the majority then was originally greywater? Why pollute that much greywater? Because our traditional combined wastewater system is too old, too Roman.

According to this study, on the average, if separated we would find that 56% of all our world’s sewage water is originally greywater and greywater uses far less energy to be properly treated than blackwater, meaning we are spending at least 56% more energy to treat our combined sewage than necessary with today’s modern technology!!

So, how can greywater be properly treated at home and harvested for reuse, irrigation or the safe replenishing of the aquifer?

A simple method for greywater harvesting is simple pre-treatment that dumps directly into a soil-box planter, which then produces useful irrigation water.

A more advanced greywater treatment system on the other hand, for those with more space could contain a septic tank, a sand filter, a pump and of course a planter bed, to then revert the treated water into field irrigation or even reused in the house as desired.

Depending on how much mechanical and biological filtration is done will depend on how potable greywater can be in final stages.

Chemical cleansing of greywater is at the very least undesirable, as greywater in most cases is already very close to drinkable before any filtration, but chemical filtration if done would be the final stage, usually in the form of chlorine treatment (not a completely sustainable alternative due to the chemical manufacturing process).

Aside from irrigation, and returning filtered greywater back to the ground reservoir cashes, a more immediate and sustainable use for already filtered greywater is returning it to the household tap from whence it first originated.

In this manner, while some greywater can’t be recovered, an average of 56% of the total household use is saved daily. Just imagine, 56% water savings per day, on laundry, bath and the kitchen sink alone!

Investing in a greywater harvesting system means a little remodeling, extra plumbing and finding garden space enough for the mechanical and biological filters, but once properly treated, greywater can be harvested by refueling one or two water boxes used only for the greywater system; preferably the bathrooms (even the toilets) and laundry room.

Unless you can be sure that the water is drinkable, the kitchen is not recommended as a redirect tap, but the bathroom toilet, bath and sink are all recommended, as well as the laundry room, as even the simplest methods of filtration should be enough for these uses in most households.

As with any controlled system of waste separation, each thing has its place, so if a system such as the above is of particular interest to you, don’t do anything like drink from the bathroom sink (as the water is still recycled greywater) or pour spoiled vegetable soup down the kitchen sink drain unless its in the garbage disposal organic matter mixed with water becomes blackwater immediately.

All in all, greywater harvesting is definitely a suggestion for a more sustainable tomorrow, as the water is treatable at home, and need not be combined with blackwater.

Greywater is reusable and one more of our earth’s precious resources, to be used wisely with economy and ingenuity for the needs of the now, predicting the needs of the future in one single detail, sustainability.

Gutter Brush is a simple yet effective design, technically a polypropylene brush in twisted wire of a cylinder shape, available in two different sizes, 4.25 inches for the standard 5 inch gutters or 5.25 inches for the oversized 6 inch gutters.

The GutterBrush bristles prevent leaves and other types of rooftop debris from clogging the gutters and impeding water flow.

The airflow, sun, rain and wind all make sure that debris either dries out and blows away or self-composts and breaks down into small particles that wash into the downspout.

Cleaning, if ever needed, while maintaining the gutters themselves, is as easy as removing individual sections and brushing out the debris by hand, installing is just as simple as placing them in the gutter.

Gutter Brush works just as well with any material types, be they Asphalt, Cedar Shake, Slate, Tile, Rubber, Metal, Copper, PVC, Aluminum, Galvanized or Stainless Steel alike.

One box of standard sized gutter brush, 120ft per box will weigh some 26 pounds, while the oversized gutter brush box comes half that at 60ft per box and only weighing 16 pounds.

Ice dams are the result of improper insulation, and snow melt leaving a build up of ice in the gutter, of which Gutter Brush has no effect, but the bristles absorb heat, promoting rapid melting as soon as it warms back up.

Gutter Brush can be found in 3 feet and 18 inches, when a gutter is too short, simply bend back the brush upon itself and the desired length is then immediately achieved.

Gutter Brush is an excellent find, and an even more efficient mechanical filter for this fall’s rainwater harvesting, less upkeep and 100% preventive of downspout freezing or damage in winter’s coldest months.

Gutter Brush is one of the best gutter protectors for this winter, simple yet effective all year round.

Easily attached to a common garden hose, gutter wand has an efficient switch for better directing water flow with a blasting spray nozzle that extends more than half a yard.

This enhanced reach makes remote areas far easier to get to and less trips down the ladder.

Gutter wand also does sidewalks, driveways and curbs with ease, making bending and curving a thing of the past.

With a telescoping action, gutter wand extends from as small as 41.5 inches to a full 68.5 inches that easily reach those difficult curves around roof corners.

Gutter Wand will blast away at clogged gutters like magic.

Easily installed, fasteners are provided, products include:

• 40 foot heating cable
• 60 foot heating cable
• 80 foot heating cable
• 100 foot heating cable

Developing products for almost a century and designing upon demand, M-D Building Products has a long history of manufacturing expertise that lead the industry in almost every category.

Oklahoma City, OK and Gainesville, GA host this makers industrial plants; where roof and gutter heating cables are manufactured with the highest quality available today.

Metal, vinyl or plastic gutters and downspouts will be well protected all winter long, using energy efficiently with a new low wattage that is 30 percent more economical than traditional designs.

UL and CSA approved, this roof and gutter heating cable at 100 feet long, weighs no more than only 5.05 pounds, the perfect thing for protection against ice dams and excess water damage this winter.

This Downspout Extension fits snugly on existing elbows, either 2×3 inch or 3×4 inch downspouts, and swivels freely 180 degrees or flips up for better gardening or mowing as required.

The interesting telescoping option available with this model allows the length to adjust from three to six feet long depending on needs.

Made from lightweight PVC vinyl, a downspout extension is paintable as well as available in brown or white original as desired.

A downspout extension will allow for better control of large amounts of storm water runoff, keeping the foundation of your home drier, saving flowers,plants or anything else that might not appreciate the chaotic nature of an ordinary downspout elbow without ground directioning.

Flipped up for better storage in the dry season, downspout extension ships at only 4 pounds and makes for an all winter protection; especially indicated for spring thawing as it does not need to be brought indoors.

Attaching quickly and efficiently to either 2×3 inch or 3×4 inch downspouts, this flexible downspout extension is a bulk, brown color that expands between 22 and 55 inches.

Shipping at 1.3 pounds, this flexible downspout extension can make a difference in how storm water runoff flows around your home.

Flexible downspout extension was made to bend, twist and extend to meet the needs of the home, be they rainwater harvesting or simple rain barrel catchments, as needed.

When It Rains, It Drains.^TM When It Shines, It Rewinds.^TM Rain Drain is a rain removal system that extends from the downspout only when runoff water pressure forces the built in stainless steal coils to unwind up to three feet from the downspout acting like a lawn sprinkler with perforated holes instead of a mouth exit as with the traditional downspout elbow.

Rain Drain also comes with a built in flush system, simply remove the grooved plastic fastener and flush excess debris manually from the UV inhibited vinyl construction that blends aesthetically with its surroundings, available in four different colors; white, dark brown, green and tan.

Rain Drain downspout extension URD46 is a full 46 inches when extended, two by three or three by four inches at the flush valve and opens to four inches round while in use.

An easy to install gasket and clamp are included and Rain Drain should always be brought inside during the winter and freezing months to keep durability and pliable softness for each new rainy season.

Shipping at only 3.20 ounces, this heavy-duty vinyl RAINDRAIN URD46 Downspout Extension rain drain automatically unrolls during showers and rerolls when the rain stops, protecting foundations from dampness and runoff seepage.

Pragya.org is a development organization registered both in India as well as the UK as non-profit, working to develop vulnerable communities and sensitive ecosystems of the world in an appropriate way.

Looking to develop without destruction and provide empowerment for enabling choices, Pragya has made a commitment to projects such as snow water harvesting through holistic, sustainable development with a focus on vulnerable and neglected communities and ecosystems.

One of their finest achievements has been the development of artificial glaciers in the Western Indian Himalayas, a cold desert region that suffers from severe water shortage for both drinking and crop irrigation.

From climatic to geographic to human-induced challenges, the hardships for livelihood and habitation in cold desert regions are one of the most acute on the planet; and part of the solution in harvesting snow water in a sensible way.

Pragya Project began by mapping the harvesting potential of the area, documenting the traditional knowledge and practices of water sharing in the community and then on to making the community itself aware of the best budgeting, accounting and management practices.

Designing and introducing more appropriate technologies for snow water management through artificial glacier construction as well as the use of hydrams, and pioneering a water management model for the whole region.

Cultural identity and heritage play big roles in the Pragya model, roles that help members of the community come together in a way they had almost forgotten, helping them help themselves with self-sustainability that uses cultural identity in a unique way for modern times.

Lahaul, Spiti (Himachal) and Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) are the places where Pragya.org is executing the first model projects, and more specifically in Spiti valley the first snow water harvesting artificial glacier has been built in the village of Poh around 10,500 feet above sea level.

Upstream, some 100 feet from the snow water harvester, Pragya ApTech team diverted the Nallah stream into a reservoir under the shadow of an enormous rockface, which begins freezing around December and thaws when irrigation is most dearly needed.

Around the rockface, the artificial glacier can store more than 625 kilos of snow and is completely free of rock or landslide risks. A concrete wall to one side and boulders against a metal-wire mesh the snow water harvester is a prototype for the region.

Harvesting snow water in cold desert regions is not merely a way to rehabilitate the land for crop growth, as it is also a way to bring cultural identity to a people in between the ancient times and the rapid pace of a global world.

Snow water harvesting can bring life to cold deserts and renew traditional heritage as an example of sustainability that all of us can learn from, globally.

Note: The tanks are for rainwater harvesting for garden plants and fish ponds. If you are planning to drink rainwater you do so at your own risk, please filter the water.

Each Rainwater Tank comes with all you need for easy setup including:

55 Gallon Rainwater Tank (white and paintable) - These tanks are food grade and rugged, can handle all kinds of weather.
Brass Threaded Spigot - Solid Brass tank spigot that is threaded for ordinary garden hose.
Rainwater Diverter & Connection Hose - A smart rainwater diverter that runs until the tank is full then diverts back to the existing drainage pipe.
Winter Plug - For those interested in storing the storage tank during winter and leaving the diverter outside.
Instructions - Easy to follow instructions.

($150 with Free Shipping!)

Testimonials

William Kolosi writes:

I ordered and received my harvester last week, and installed it over the weekend. It’s installed in Stow, Ohio, and we’re expecting rain tomorrow night—can’t wait! Attached are some photos.

After I took the photos I tied some string into a net that fits nicely on the top half of the barrel. I replanted some ivy from elsewhere around the house, and strung it up through the net. My goal is to have the harvester look like a shrub! Nice product, coming together with the downspout diverter.

Interested in traditional rain barrels? (click image below)

The old site of Fairview Hospital in Salem, Oregon, is now being paved with green streets and a large rainwater harvesting neighborhood.

Normally the storm runoff from houses, streets, curbs, sidewalks, driveways, lawns and so on, would find its way out to lovely Pringle Creek, thus poisoned by the city pollution.

The streets are made from porous asphalt that soaks up rain with beautiful planters along the roadside in the place of gutters and galleries, thereby returning 90% of the storm runoff to the aquifer.

The porous asphalt soaks in the rain, where it drains to the soil below a thick layer of rock. Large swaths of land — called bioswales — next to the roads will be planted with grasses, bushes and mosses that absorb water and filter contaminants, such as oil that leaks from cars.

“It’s not only very attractive landscaping, they are also functioning,” Myers said.

The 32-acre property will now hold some 180 homes and become a living example of greener urban living in Oregon, especially for Salem residents who are proud of the endeavor.

Only 10 percent of the normal runoff from the 32-acre urban lot will actually make its way into the creek, creating a far more sustainable environment for everyone.

The total rainwater harvesting catchments system for returning 90 percent of the runoff to the aquifer, clean and potable will include 5,400 feet of green streets and 2,300 feet of green alleys, all of which are private property, as the state does not allow this new and relatively untested technology in public transportation as of yet.

50 projects per year are granted by the state involving porous materials, and 1,000 bioswales projects per year. All of which go to lighter loads such as sidewalks and parking lots.

Pringle Creek is the state-of-the-art example of what residential people can do with water before it leaves their yards and goes into the streets, creeks and ocean,” said Sally Miller, who plans to live in Pringle Creek Community. “All of the things that Pringle Creek is doing costs society a lot less money because there are no pollutants in the creek, so the fish are safer to eat. … If we all did that as a society, we would all be more healthy.

Related:
Pringle Creek Community - Pringle Creek Community Website.

You could purchase a barrel from one of the major big boxes or one of the specialty stores on the Internet. But dont we have another option? Why dont we build our own?

Ferrocement jars have literally been around for centuries; there are examples that are hundreds of year old. So what is a Ferrocement jar? Basically it is a water collection and storage container made of cement.

A Ferro cement jar consists of a base, a barrel section and a top. There are many different sizes but they all start out with a base of some size usually about twenty to thirty percent bigger than the barrel. This allows the barrel section to be built on the base. You can use boards or bricks to create a form for the cement base. It is best to let the cement cure for about a week before starting the barrel. You could use quick Crete or mix your own cement.

The barrel section is built around a frame that forms the shape of a barrel. Once you have your frame you can wrap the frame with sacking. It is a good idea to wire the sacking to the frame. Now you are basically going to paint a thin cement mixture onto the sacking. The mixture is one part cement and two parts sand. You will continue this process painting, letting it dry and painting again three times.

Now we can add our additional support. Wrap chicken wire around the now hardened barrel section. It is advisable to secure the chicken wire and make sure you secure from the inside out. This way you will be able to disconnect and take out your frame and sacking.

Now get some cement and fill in all the holes in the chicken wire. Visualize frosting a cake. You want the entire barrel covered and smooth. Let your first work dry and apply two more layers of icing to be sure of a strong barrel. You want the sidewalls to be at least 25 cm thick.

Once your barrel section has dried remove the framing and sacking and repeat the icing process two times on the inside.

Now we have our base and barrel sections we need to connect it to the base. Wrapping wire around the bottom of the tank and laying a section of the wire on the base will accomplish this. You them connect the two with cement. You will need two applications on the outside and two on the inside to assure a watertight seal.

The aboves are the basics of making a ferro cement jar if you can visualize, visit the links below for good examples.

Related:
Building a ferrocement rainwater jar

Ferro-cement Jar - Instructions for manufacture

Image Credit:
Peter Morgan

A circus-like gathering of protesters vied to get the attention of, or steal the spotlight away from Coke CEO E. Neville Isdell: Harvard students beating on plastic barrels with drumsticks, union reps unloading into bullhorns and a blind taste-test daring passers-by to tell the difference between Delaware tap water and the much more expensive variety that Coca-Cola sells under the toney name Dasani.

Coke CEO E. Neville Isdell: Inside, Isdell, suckling at a plastic bottle of Coke, proclaimed the painfully obvious: “Not everyone in this room is going to agree with everyone’s views,” he said. “In the end, we truly want The Coca-Cola Company to be regarded as a great business and recognized as a great corporate citizen.”

One shareholder who labeled such complaints “an attack on capitalism” that diminishes Coca-Cola’s brand won enthusiastic applause from profit-minded shareholders, or what it calls its “share earners.”

Protesters complaints:

• One, sponsored by the New York City Employees Retirement System, sought the establishment of an independent committee to examine whether Coca-Cola colluded with Colombian paramilitary forces in anti-union violence against bottlers in the South American country;

• Another, sponsored by the As You Sow Foundation, pushed for a report that would come up with a strategy to recover and recycle more used bottles and cans;

• A third, sponsored by Harrington Investments and the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati, sought a report “on the potential environmental and public health damage of each of its plants, affiliates and proposed ventures extracting water from areas of water scarcity in India.”

The realistic concern appears to be water depletion in India, coke is taking steps using rainwater harvesting as reported here but is this enough or is it just a case of drying up natural resources and the human tendency to look for someone to blame?

One thing is for sure, Coke has a great opportunity to become a positive corporate example just as the trend for renewables kicks off. Coke can be to “water” as Israel might be to solar energy plants.

How about a green coke can with a fresh watery look that promotes Cokes new plan to make good on it’s promises?

How about d