Thank you... Water bill not paid for 20 years in Bangalore!!!

Thank you... 

Water bill not paid for 22 years in Bangalore!!!

"Sourabha" the ecofriendly home turning 22 today the 5th November (Grihapravesha 5th Nov 1995).

Sourabha Ecofriendly HOME

Thank you all:

Clouds - provided rainwater for all the water needs (24X7 - 365 days a year) including drinking water, no city water connection and we have not received monthly water bill till date.

Rainwater Harvesting System

Zero bacteria water by treating with SILVER sheet

White roof to reflect the suns heat

Sun - gave us light, heat, warmth and energy to hundreds of plants in and around Sourabha.

Sky lights to light-up the house

Trees and Plants - Air-conditioned our house without using electricity, gave us fresh and cool air by filtering dust and pollutants throughout the year. Neem tree and several medicinal plants avoided visiting "Doctors" for years. Sheltered many birds, butterflies, insects and many more.

Coconut husk to support plants

Birds visiting Sourabha

Birds visiting Sourabha

Birds visiting Sourabha

Neem tree - Danvantri at Sourabha

Earthworms - Tirelessly converted all our tons and tons of garbage in to manure which is now stored as fixed deposit in the form of several trees and hundreds of lovely plants.

Earthworms to treat garbage

Fish, tortoise, snails, tadpoles... - Kept our water bodies filled with rainwater fresh and clean throughout the year and also protected the lotus to give us each day one flower.

Water plants and flowers

My house inside Sourabha garden

Fish in the water bodies around Sourabha

Architects, Sudha and Jayashree - They translated our dream in to reality.

Anu Solar - Mr Joseph - He took a bold step in to manufacturing and marketing of my design of Solar Water Heater and in Sourabha the MS collector is still kicking providing hot water each day.

Mild Steel solar collector for water heating

And all those in the neighbourhood who tolerated us for such a long time - Experimenting with MOTHER NATURE. 

Save energy - be ecofriendly

Rattrap walls to cool the house

Used water from washing machine water for toilet flushing

Kitchen water for lush green garden plants

RAIN RAIN, no more FLOODING in Bangalore!

"Rain Dance on the Roof Top"

Please step out to soak your body, soul and heart and indulge in joy and happiness and let go off your worries and tension in the purest form of water "CLOUD JUICE"

http://rainmanspeaks.blogspot.in/2014/07/rain-dance-on-rooftop.html 

Join the campaign to spread the message:  

"Conserve Water - Harvest Rainwater"

Do you remember the last time you soaked in RAIN and enjoyed it?

Do this today! Enjoy natures gift. It is wonderful to look up and feel the falling PEARLS from the cloud above you. You deserve it.

ttp://rainmanspeaks.blogspot.in/2014/09/from-trickle-to-flood.html

Wake up Bangalore, Wake up!

Walk up to your roof and feel the natures showers blessing you.

Harvest Rainwater and avoid FLOODING in Bangalore

If all the properties (around 18 lakh) in Bangalore harvest at least 5000 lt from their roof, 50% of the rainwater flowing in the drains and on the roods can be permanently avoided. This means no flooding in Bangalore forever.

We can do it, it is doable!

"Rain Dance on the Roof Top"

Join the campaign to spread the message to

"Conserve Water - Harvest Rainwater"

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/shivakumar-man-behind-rainwater-harvesting-projects-in-bangalore/1/190798.html

From Trickle to flood

From trickle to flood

It’s been raining cats and dogs in the City. Why don’t you harvest rainwater?

Over the last few weeks, we've been talking about the need to conserve precious resources such as water. And rainwater harvesting has emerged as a viable alternative to traditional and perennial sources of water in hilly areas, in places where the level of fluoride and arsenic is above permissible limits and in cities that battle water shortage in summer and flooding during the monsoon.

Good, bad & ugly
Bangalore has over 300 major lakes. Situated 920 metres above sea level, the naturally undulating terrain of the city, with its hills and valleys, forms a unique radial drainage pattern, which is ideal for capturing and storing rainwater.
Each valley at the ridge-top gives birth to small streams that cascade to form major stream systems in the three valleys of Hebbal, Koramangala-Challaghatta, and Vrishabhavati.
Over the years, an increase in population has led to a spurt in the number of residential buildings that have replaced traditional bungalows and their large open spaces. With the demand for land use in developed areas spiralling, vertical growth has become inevitable. This has also resulted in an increase in rooftop areas, pavements and roads.

  With massive concreting and asphalting of ground areas, the soil exposed for rainwater infiltration has decreased, leading to a drastic fall in the groundwater table and disappearance of open wells.
Over the last 30 years, Bangalore has experienced five years of severe drought and three years of moderate drought. The quest for water has resulted in over exploitation of groundwater. On an average, the groundwater level has progressively declined. Consequently, the quantity of run-off water in the storm drains has increased tremendously.
Bangalore is primarily dependent on River Cauvery, which is approx 95 km. away and 500 metres below Bangalore. While there is emphasis on centralised piped supply of water to the city, surface water bodies like lakes and tanks, which were traditional sources of supply, are on a steep decline. A conservative estimate puts the number of borewells in Bangalore at around two lakh. Usually, groundwater in shallow wells is polluted. Groundwater levels are falling due to heavy extraction and the absence of rechargeable aquifers. In fact, several deep borewells have run dry. To address the issue of water shortage, rainwater harvesting is a perfect solution.

Get the basics right
Rainwater harvesting is the process of collecting and storing rainwater in a scientific and controlled manner for future use. In cities, it includes:
  * Rooftop rainwater harvesting
  * Rainwater harvesting in paved and unpaved areas (fields, parks, pavements etc)
  * Rainwater harvesting in large areas with open ponds, lakes, tanks etc.
Rainwater harvesting potential in urban areas is huge. On a site measuring 40ft x 60ft (2400 sq ft), with an annual rainfall of about 1000 mm or 39.4 inches (Bangalore receives 1000 mm of rainfall annually), about 2,23,000 lts of rainwater can be harvested.

The amount of rainwater that can be harvested from the available rainwater in the plot depends on potential rainfall, catchment area available, collection methods and its efficiency etc.
Rainwater harvesting is a community-based programme and its success largely depends on the collective participation of everyone – from individuals to government bodies to builders to architects. With some thought and planning, you can store rainwater for direct use in tanks above ground or in underground sumps. Water thus stored can be used directly to flush toilets, water plants etc. Rainwater can be used to recharge groundwater through recharge pits, dug wells, borewells, soak pits, recharge trenches, etc.
Next week, we will see how some buildings in Bangalore have already taken the RWH route to sensible living.

Water facts
• Water supply in cities is woefully inadequate to meet galloping demand
•  Surface water is in short supply, hence the dependence on groundwater
• Due to rapid urbanisation, infiltration of rainwater into the sub-soil has decreased drastically, so recharging of groundwater has diminished
•  Rainwater, which is easily available, is an immediate source to augment the existing water supply


What you can do?
Rainwater harvesting is the smartest and most sensible solution we have to our water woes because:
 * It is environment friendly
 * It is an ideal solution for water requirement in areas having inadequate water resources
 * It increases groundwater level
 * It improves groundwater quality
 * It mitigates the effects of drought
 * It reduces the run-off, which otherwise floods storm-water drains
 * It limits flooding of roads and low-lying areas
 * It reduces soil erosion
 * It is cost-effective and easy to maintain
 * It brings about a huge saving in water and electricity bills

Freedom From Water Woes

"Freedom From Water Woes"

From paucity to plenty, a job well done!

A water story that will inspire you to conserve the precious resource

By A R Shivakumar

My earliest memories date back to a nameless lane of houses with courtyards, washed and cleaned with cow dung. When it came to big streets, there were none. There was only one road in the village of Ammanaghatta in Gubbi taluk, interior Karnataka. That is where I was raised. I vividly recall that my mother would fetch water from a nearby well.

At the crack of dawn, she would turn to her right, mumble a prayer, and reach out for two copper pots. She would paste some tamarind at the neck of the two pots, pull out the coil of rope made of coir that was hung on the wall of the granary, unlock the main door and walk to the well. That was amma and that was her unfailing routine.

There were three wells in the village: the common salt (hard) water well, the ‘Shettara bhavi’ (again, a salt water one) and a soft (drinking) water well outside the village. Much like the other women in the village, she would walk to the drinking water well, throw the rope around the wheel, and lower the smaller pot into the water. Then, she would deftly pull the rope to ensure that half a pot of water came up. After this, the bigger pot would be given a thorough scrubbing with the tamarind, and the water from the smaller pot. The remaining water would now be poured into the bigger one, and the smaller pot would be given a scrubbing.

Then she would sit by the well, awaiting her turn to draw water. She would carry the two pots - one on her waist, and another on her head - home.

After lowering the two pots next to the tiny shelf for the gods (devara goodu), she would worship the water, perform a ‘namaskara’ (bow down in obeisance) to the water and only then start her day.

Once dawn broke, my two sisters and I would wake up, pour the water from the two pots into a mud container and cover it. We would then walk to the salt water well. The stone well was 6-8 ft wide, and the water was at a depth of almost 15 ft. None of us had ever seen the bottom of this well. It was only when a pot slipped and fell into the well and Jayanna, who came to retrieve it, told us that it was 30 ft deep that we knew its depth. There was always enough water in the well for the whole village.

The neck of the well was about 3 ft from the ground. It had four stone slabs placed next to each other, and next to the slabs was a 6-8 ft-high stone pillar. Horizontally placed over the stone pillar was a wooden rafter. A wheel attached to rafter had been oiled several times, to keep it in good condition. My sisters and I took turns to draw water, go home and pour it into a big container. A mud stove was used to heat water. We would draw about five or six pots of water in the morning and after school, another five or six pots, with a ‘rotti’ and pickle to nibble at, of course! This was our ‘water supply team and scheme’.

In the village
There were two salt water wells and one drinking water well outside the village.  The ‘Gowdara bhavi’ (a salt water well) would take care of the water needs of the entire village. The ‘Shettara bhavi’ was a private one, and would cater to the water needs of a few families. The drinking water well was meant for all. Water was drawn from all these wells from dawn till 9 am, and again from 4 pm to 7 pm. I can’t remember any of these wells going dry at any point in my childhood or growing-up years.

But years later, the situation changed. Once I left the village to pursue my Engineering degree, and on my subsequent visits to the village, I realised that the water levels in the wells had dipped. People had started to fetch water from farm wells. Among the village’s more well-off men, Basavalinganna installed a pump-set to the well in his farm and with a single motor, ensured that he could run both a water pump and a flour mill to grind ragi and rice.

But once the water in the irrigation pump set (IP set) also dipped, Basavalinganna dug a new well inside the old one, and after two-three years, the water dipped again. Then came the village’s first bore well (1976). There was plenty of water and people were free to pump as much water as they wanted. No one objected.

I cannot clearly remember the sequence of events, but even as the years passed, and there was a water crisis in the village, people started to move out of their homes in the village, built new houses in the middle of their fields and started to use water from IP sets. Meanwhile, the panchayat installed a bore well and a hand pump on the lane behind the temple.

The pump was constantly used - for washing vessels and clothes, for cattle, for drinking water. There were frequent fights around the pump!

Today, all the hand pumps in the village are defunct. Bore wells are constantly installed and water is channelled into a tank, from where water is supplied to the village, whenever there is power, of course. Once the water supply begins, there are rows and rows of plastic pots lined up. Green, red, blue, yellow...

City lights
In Bangalore, I started working at the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology at the Indian Institute of Science. My sister and brother-in-law had built a house in Basaveshwaranagar. As there was no city water supply in this locality, they had to get a bore well dug. I lived on the first floor of their house with my friends. On the ground floor lived tenants. This three-road extension with a brave house here and there, slowly grew into a bustling, neighbourhood, with a bore well in each house.

Soon, we had trouble. One day, we had a house full of guests, and there was not a drop of water. Mustering great courage, I decided to close the valve on the ground floor so that we could get some water in our bathroom! But my peace of mind was short lived as the ground-floor tenant came thundering up in a rage! The incident left me shaken. Could there be a solution to such water woes?

‘Sourabha’ is born
Around the same time, I decided to buy a plot in Vijayanagar. It was a 40x60ft plot and it was here that the foundation for ‘Sourabha’ was laid. I began to experiment with rain water harvesting on this plot. My house, ‘Sourabha’, depends on harvested rain for all its water needs. Apart from the electricity charges required to pump water, there have been no other recurring expenses associated with rainwater harvesting. We use 80 units of electricity and this includes the power used to pump water. We’ve incorporated a lot of sustainable practices, and this ensures that power is conserved. We’ve also used technology that conserves energy.

Our country won independence long ago, but I wonder how many of us have won freedom from water woes? I can happily say that I have not looked anywhere else but at the rain to fulfil my water needs. Rainwater harvesting has brought my family great benefits. I hope it brings you the same too.

GONE! Every village in India had its ‘drinking water’ well that women trudged to for a pot or two of the precious liquid. Today, Borewells have replaced ‘baolis’ and step – wells.

Smart living, Sourabha-style "Let Nature work overtime for you"

Smart living, Sourabha-style

Let Nature work overtime for you!

It was just another empty plot in Vijayanagar in Bangalore until it was turned into a glorious Nature-fed home. Its sustainable style continues to inspire green warriors

When ‘Sourabha’ is described as an environmentally responsible house, it makes me more than a little proud!
I was working on renewable energy concepts like solar water heaters, solar lighting and wind energy at the Karnataka State Council for Science & Technology when my wife Suma and I began actively planning our dream home.

 
We listed our needs — light, air and water — and we hoped, rather greedily, that Nature would fulfil all of them!
We wanted small ponds inside and outside because the moisture would keep the air cool. We wanted fish, tortoises and aquatic plants in these ponds.
We knew that painting the roof white would keep the house cool. But we spent sleepless nights worrying about how NOT to get the white dirty!
We pored over studies at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on heat sources and learnt that the major heat sources were the roof and the southern and western walls. So, we decided to move the living room away from these walls and plan the bathrooms or store room in this direction. Architects Sudha and Jayashree translated our dream in to action.
Armed with all this research, we launched ‘Project Sourabha’ in 1995 on a 40x60 plot in Vijayanagar.

We were certain that rainwater harvesting was the answer to our water requirements, even for construction. Yes, the house was built using harvested rainwater. We built the storage tank and recharge system first and harvested rainwater on the open site.
We sourced exterior paint — in bright white — that wasn’t harmful to rainwater harvesting but would last for 10 years at least and keep the house cool.

We studied the wind direction and planted a neem tree on the north-eastern side and a copper pod tree on the south-western side of the house to keep dust and pollution at bay. We planted betel leaf creepers and plenty of medicinal plants in our garden. On the terrace, we planted the Plumeria tree as it is a perennial. It has lovely white flowers and bright green leaves. It is commonly called ‘temple tree’ and grows wild in Bangalore. It is hardy and doesn’t require regular watering! We kept huge earthenware on the terrace which quickly became noisy bird baths. 

Magic with rain
Rainwater was channeled to three applications:
* Rooftop rainwater harvesting
* Rooftop rainwater channeled to recharge groundwater
* Percolation in the garden to recharge groundwater.
Eighty-five per cent of the rainwater that falls on the roof was channeled to the northern side of the house and allowed flow into a tank of 4500 ltr capacity, built on the ground floor roof. A PopUp filter and a stabilization tank, specially designed, filtered the roof water before storing it. The overflow of this tank was allowed to run down through rainwater pipes on the wall to an underground sump of 25,000 ltr capacity, built under the portico at the entrance of the house.

The excess rainwater was diverted to percolate into the ground through a system of percolation tanks/ infiltration gallery (4 used plastic drums interconnected and buried underground with their base cut open) to recharge groundwater.

The remaining portion of the roof water (15%) was allowed to rundown through rainwater pipe on the wall and a PopUp filter, installed at the ground level, filtered suspended and floating material.
Relatively cleaner water, after filtration, flowed to an underground sump of 10,000 ltr capacity, built under the car park (garage). Sump 1 and Sump 2, together with total capacity of 35,000 ltr, were interconnected and the stored rainwater was used during the non-rainy days.

Not a single drop of rain was allowed to go waste.
Till date, we have no Corporation or Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) water connection.

Clean and safe water is available round the clock, all through the year. The quality of water is also periodically tested and is found to be good.

Our drinking water comes from a process I developed myself using silver foil, but more on that you can find in the link: http://rainmanspeaks.blogspot.in/2014/04/zero-bacteria-drinking-water.html
Our electricity consumption is 80 kWh (units) a month.

During the day we get fabulous natural light. We have skylights, which allow sunlight to pour into the house. The light-coloured walls reflect the natural light. We do not use expensive curtains. Instead, we have ‘green curtains’ - creepers and palm fronds that block the view but keep the air circulating really well. We have solar lighting and solar electricity.

Forget air-conditioners, we do not use fans in the house!
The best part of living in ‘Sourabha’? Well, my wallet is safe! I don’t have any bills to pay apart from property tax!

So...... You want to be with NATURE and its resources, you can make nature to work overtime in your house (but do not abuse)! And also save money...

Rain story for kids - RAIN, RAIN, DON’T GO AWAY!

RAIN, RAIN, DON’T GO AWAY!

A short story on how to make every drop of water count

By AR Shivakumar

Ani:   Amma... (Panting) Give some water to drink! I am so thirsty. The football game was tiring!

Mother: Go on Ani, drink water from the tap.

Ani: The tap has sooooo.... much water!

Mother: Yes, you can drink as much as you want!

Ani: Where does the tap get water from?

Mother: From the tank on the roof.

Ani:  Where will the tank get water from?

Mother: From the underground sump.

Ani: ?????  Where does the sump get water from?

Mother: From pipes of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB)! Now, why this flood of questions, Ani?

Ani: ?????   Amma, where do the pipes get water from?

Mother:  The BWSSB has huge reservoirs that have been built in many places in and around the City. These reservoirs get water from River Cauvery.

Ani:  Where is River Cauvery?

Mother: It is about 100 km from Bangalore.

Ani:  Why can’t we pump all the water from River Cauvery to Bangalore? Then, we won’t have any water problems.

Mother: Our neighbouring state too depends on River Cauvery for its drinking water needs.

Ani: Where does River Cauvery get water from?

Mother:  The rain feeds the river. Rivers in South India are rain-fed, while those in the Himalayas are fed by glaciers.

Ani: Oh! It rains here too, doesn’t it?

Mother:  Yes, it does.

Ani:  If the rain feeds a river like Cauvery, why can’t the same rain fulfil our water needs? Why should we pump water from the river?

Mother:  We depend on piped water supply because we neither collect rainwater nor do we harvest it.

Ani: Mummy, why aren’t we harvesting rainwater in our house?

Mother: We should. Let’s talk to Papa about it.

  

The next morning

Ani:  Mummy, how can we collect rainwater?

Mother:  Ani, go and brush your teeth!

Papa: And once you’ve finished, come and read the newspaper with me!

Ani:  (taking the newspaper from Papa) ‘Karnataka makes rainwater harvesting compulsory’. Wow! Lots of people seem to be thinking about the rain. How do you harvest rain, Papa?

Papa: Ani, get ready for school now. You are running late! And, ask your Science teacher about harvesting rain!

In the School Bus

Ani:  Yesterday, I got a racing car as a return present at Sourav’s birthday party.

Sachin:  I missed the party.

Ani:  Why weren’t you there?

Sachin: My father was getting the sump at home cleaned. It was so dirty! As Papa was busy the whole day, he could not drop me off to Sourav’s house.

Ani:  How did you know that the sump was dirty?

Sachin: The water that came from the tanker supply was muddy, smelly and yucky!

Ani:  My mother said that we can drink rainwater. It is very clean – cleaner than tap water!

In School 

Ani:  Teacher, my father has asked me to find out about rainwater harvesting.

Teacher: Rainwater harvesting is a method of collecting rainwater and storing it for future use. The water from the roof can be guided to a storage tank through a filter.

Ravi: Can we drink rainwater?

Teacher: Yes, rainwater is the primary source of water for our rivers, lakes, wells and borewells. It is one of the purest forms of water. We can drink it as long as it is not contaminated by dust, bird dropping or litter.

Nikhil:  Can rainwater meet all our daily needs?

Teacher: Rainwater is Nature’s gift to us. There is a family in Vijayanagar that has been using rainwater for all their needs for 22 years now. I will organise a visit to a very special park in Jayanagar 5^th Block, where you will get to see the benefits of rainwater harvesting.

Ani:  Thank you teacher. We will tell our parents to harvest rainwater in our houses too.

http://rainmanspeaks.blogspot.in/2014/04/new-feather-in-cap-of-bangalore.html

Contact: 080 26653666, 080 23341652, 080 23348848

Your HOME a Science lab - “Bring out the Scientist in YOU”

Your HOME a Science lab - “Bring out the Scientist in YOU”

Where a wall is a Thermostat and Stabilizer sets curd

The coolest switch ever!

In my view, most of the refrigerators in this world are built for lefthanders!

I have modified (since 1996) my regular refrigerator to save electricity and enhance operational convenience! ‘Normal’ refrigerators have the doors hinged on the right side, which means you need to open the door by grabbing the handle with your right hand.

As most of us are right-handed, we don’t use our left hand to put in or remove containers/ fruits/ veggies. In the bargain, we tend to open the door wider than necessary and allow our right hand to do the job. In the modified refrigerator, I have merely switched the hinges of the door to the left and the handle to the right! Each time you open the door of a refrigerator, cooling is lost and electricity is wasted. With the modified refrigerator without any additional equipment up to 20 per cent electricity is saved.

Back to basics: Paint the town white to save power

On a clear day, a conventional dark roof can get significantly hotter than the outside air. A clean white roof, by comparison, is only marginally warmer than the ambient air. “A white roof brings down the temperature inside the house by at least two degrees,’’ The direct benefit of a cool roof is the saving in power consumption.

The relative temperature inside the house with white roof is lower.  A cooler roof means that the space beneath the roof needs less electricity for air conditioning, saving money and avoiding emissions of CO2 and other pollutants back at the power plant. Any bright white exterior paint, suitable for external walls, is what you need to paint your roof, may be once in 8 to 10 years.

Rat-trap walls

You’ve learnt about thermal control in Science class, haven’t you? Now here’s how you can put theory to practice and live the ‘cool’ life? Rat-trap walls in your house not only save costs (they save 40 per cent of bricks during construction), they also offer thermal comfort.

 It’s a common-sense design, where bricks are placed on edge instead of laying them flat. So, a 9-inch wall will have a 3-inch gap. The air gap inside the wall which is not visible from outside, works as an insulator; that means during summer, the heat outside will not permeate within and the house will remain cool. And in winter, the heat within stays trapped and keeps the house warm. This design is like a double-walled thermos flask, which keeps coffee hot and ice-cream cold. Rat-trap walls can also be the load-bearing ones, making pillars unnecessary.

Get your voltage stabilizer to set curd and ferment batter

If you have many voltage stabilizers in your house — one for your fridge, one for your music system and so on, here’s how you can make them work hard! Voltage stabilizers have built-in transformers that generate plenty of mild heat round the clock.

This heat can be used to set curd or ferment idli / dosa batter, especially in winter. Place a bowl of milk with the starter, or dosa / idli batter next to the voltage stabilizer, leave it all night and enjoy the surprise benefits. I even leave coconut oil bottles near these stabilizers in winter, and save myself the trouble of wrestling with the bottle for a few drops of oil! You don’t need to heat and disfigure the bottle or waste hot water to melt the oil inside.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Urbanization means that built-up area is increasing and open spaces, like courtyards, in houses are a thing of the past. Most modern apartments or houses have very few gaps for light and air to enter the house. So there are several nooks and crannies which never ever see natural sunlight! Don’t lose heart. Look for a place inside your house which gets bright sunlight and place a plain or acrylic mirror close to it. This mirror reflects sunlight from the source (a window or a skylight) and focuses it on the dingy corners. Without using artificial light, you can light up the dark recesses of your house.

Not a pipe dream, anymore!

Did you know that PVC or HDPE pipes are better than metal pipes for plumbing? Metal pipes tend to corrode and encourage scaling or salt deposits on the inner walls of the pipe. This blocks water flow over a period of time, leading to more electricity being consumed to pump the same quantity of water. PVC/ HDPE pipes are cheaper, they have a longer life and they come in the form of rolls, so they are convenient to fix.

No entry to cockroaches inside your house!

Normally cockroaches breed inside the sewage pipe line below the road running underground in front of your house.

They get entry to your house as the sewage lines are directly connected to your bath, toilet and other waste water outlets. A smart way to avoid the entry of cockroaches to your house is to cut the main drain pipe going out of your house and create a U water trap. Cockroaches cannot swim through 6 to 8 inches of waste water always standing in the U trap. 

Many more to come…….. allow the scientist inside you to think...