Septic Tank That Waters Your Lawn Coming to California

October 28th, 2008 by Ariel Schwartz

I’m a huge proponent of using recycled wastewater, so I’m happy to hear that Biokube is bringing its lawn-watering septic system to California. And since the average American home uses a mind-boggling 15,000 gallons of water a year on lawns, the system is sorely needed.

Normal septic systems allow solids to settle down with gravity. The water enters a tank with bacteria to clean it and it is then released into a leaching field for bacteria to clean it even further.

The Venus method is both more thorough and less complex. The system cleans waste water by having it pass through numerous bioblocks (membranes housing bacteria). Afterward, no further filtering is necessary.

According to Patrick O’Regan, the head of Biokube’s US Business Development Center, the six foot tall Venus tank can handle 7.5 liters of water every 15 minutes.

While a lawn-watering septic tank may not be the sexiest green innovation, it highlights an important point: we can drastically reduce our water consumption once we come to the realization that our lawns, toilets, and gardens don’t need to use the same fresh water that we drink.

Photo Credit: Greentech Media









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About the Author Ariel Schwartz was formerly the editor of CleanTechnica and is a senior editor at Co.Exist. She has contributed to SF Weekly, Popular Science, Inhabitat, Greenbiz, NBC Bay Area, GOOD Magazine, and more. A graduate of Vassar College, she has previously worked in publishing, organic farming, documentary film, and newspaper journalism. Her interests include permaculture, hiking, skiing, music, relocalization, and cob (the building material). She currently resides in San Francisco, CA.