"we use everything here"

Yesterday I got a tour of the bio-gas system from J, the British expat we are staying with. Essentially this system takes the waste from us humans, takes the methane from that and uses it for water heaters. That's the short story.

The longer version. There aren't septic beds here like there are at home. Here the toilet waste goes into a large tank buried underground. There the weight of the waste compacts it so more can fit (at some point that compacted waste gets added to the back garden). Gas rises to the surface. At the container, J turned on the garden hose, flicked his lighter and flame burned.

Next we walked about 50 feet to two large plastic containers sitting in water. They fill with the gas from the container and J puts weights on the containers so that they sink lower in the water, compressing the gas.

Beside that is his home-made hydrogen generator. This is a couple of electrodes in a pail. The hydrogen is infused into the methane from the bin. An added benefit of adding the hydrogen (besides the obvious that it really pimps out the methane for a better, hotter burn) is that it gives the hydrogen a smell. Pure hydrogen is a colourless, odourless gas that ignites. Adding methane helps you recognize that you have a leak. You know this because, as J says, "it smells like farts".

Lately J has been having trouble getting enough gas to power the hot water heater of babu's apartment so he is using it for the outdoor kitchen. It's not as convenient as it sounds because you can't switch back and forth between systems (ie. methane and natural gas). You have to have a dedicated methane stove.

Also, there is a bore-hole that is used to pull water in to the house. I'm not sure of the difference between that and a well. The grey water from the showers and laundry is stored and used to water the gardens.

That is all. I just wanted to tell that story so I could relay the "it smells like farts" quote.