Rainwater Harvesting

Storing rainwater in tanks from rooftops and sending the water to the
needed areas on the property is a form of rainwater harvesting and paying attention to the

Water reservoir. A large plastic barrel that collects rainwater.

Rain flowing down from the roof house in rainy season

way water flows on a property. In current designs, water is pushed away from the land instead of filtering into the land. Surfaces like tar and 
cement stop water from filtering naturally and add to pollution from runoff. Most places have seasonal rains and the rainwater is allowed to
rush to rivers and oceans instead of retaining water for later use during the dry seasons.
 

Composting Toilets

Composting toilets would be well suited for individual homes in smaller eco villages or where a village would have a centralized facility. Their are different types of composting toilets, some are dry and use the natural processes of decomposition and evaporation to recycle human waste. Waste entering the toilets is over 90% water, which is evaporated and carried back to the atmosphere through the vent system. The small amount of remaining solid material is converted to useful fertilizing soil by natural decomposition. 
 

Their are also hybrid systems that use normal flushing toilets followed by solids separation by centrifuge. The solids are then composted in a separate digester, while the liquids are disinfected and discharged with the grey water system.

 

Wetland Ecological Treatment

For larger development we would need to put treatment plants into the design of the eco village. This would vary depending on the codes and restrictions. Their are different types of treatments that could be employed. Constructed wetlands are built as a surface flow or a sub-surface flow. The former uses plants growing in soil over an impermeable liner. Both systems use plants to filter the water.

Pond with green banks, overgrown with reeds for water catchment.

 

Biogas digestors

This is similar to a septic tank except that the main chamber is domed to capture and siphon off the methane gas.

 

Tank Based Systems

This takes waste into a single or series of tasks. This process is more highly engineered, are of smaller size and use larger amounts of energy.