Friday, July 14, 2006

Brisbane weather and Biocycles


I have been thinking the last few days about how perfect the weather is at the moment. The days are averaging about 24 degrees(75F) and the nights are about 6 degrees (42F). Perfect weather for my jeans and joggers and cold enough at night for for flannelette sheets and my new winter wool doona. I am trying to enjoy every moment because in approx 10 weeks it will be STINKIN HOT and stay that way for 8 months. I bit of rain would be nice, we are in the midst of a serious drought.
You can tell how bad it is when the adult native gum trees start to die off.
This is the view from my computer, the trees are usually covered in masses of leaves. I still love sitting here, looking over the monitor to all this, but am often surprised about how much I can see through the empty branches. We are on level 3 restrictions at the moment, absolutely no hosing anything at any time. No kiddies wading pools and you can only wash your car with a bucket. We are also limited to when we can refill the pool to counteract evaporation. There is no limit for household use as yet, but the cost of water has just gone up. Living on acreage means that we have no access to the sewerage system so we have a Biocycle, a home sewerage treatment station( it is not a septic system). The system uses bacteria and air bubbles to recycle the water back to sprinklers for the garden. You can not drink the water or use it on a veggie patch, but it looks and smells like fresh water. This is what is keeping our garden alive at the moment.
The biocycle is a very environmentally friendly option and is a wonderful unit, except for a few little inconsiderate requirements
  • The system uses bacteria to convert waste, therefore any thing that kills bacteria cannot go down any toilet or drain....I have not been able to use Bleach, Napisan, Exit mould, disinfectant, Toilet duck, Jiff, antibacterial cleaners etc for the last 12 years. This is a major drawer back, I love cleaning products, the more the better, the more bleach, ammonia, strong chemicals the happier I am. I have to use "Shower Power"( a citrus based surfactant) to clean, admittedly is does work really well but I dream of one day of having a hospital clean toilet. GJ is going to think that this is absurd, but I am sure that other clean freaks will understand.
  • Nappy bucket: I can not empty the contents of the nappy bucket down the laundry sink. I have to carry the heavy bucket outside and tip it on the lawn, squeeze the excess out of the clothes and nappies and bring them back inside to wash. I know that it is a little thing, trivial to some, but to me it is tragic......LOL
  • Spacing out your water usage: I have to space out my loads of washing so I don't fill the holding tank. I leave a gap of 3+ hours between loads, and no dishwasher and washing machines at the same time.

To all my readers, please use a strong cleaning product

for me and let me know how good it is.......

LOL !

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