In the mid 1990s there was an atmosphere of change in the water and sewerage sector in Sweden. EU and its water framework, debates on nitrogen removal, Local Agenda 21, urine diverting toilets and national conferences for ”closing the loop” made a huge impression on a freshly baked engineer like me. Twenty years down the … Continue reading “Basement Tech and the Utility Death Spiral”
Slow-down, infiltrate, filter. These are the reassuring mantras at the heart of efforts to emulate the drainage patterns of natural systems and a practical strategy to mitigate the increasingly severe effects of urban flooding. Departing from the traditional hard-surfaced approach of “pave, pipe and pump” this naturalised approach to drainage represents the blue strand in … Continue reading “Green Infrastructure and Tin Roofs”
The water closet was invented at least 3,000 years ago. Well, not in its present form, of course. But simple flush toilets were used in the early Mediterranean cultures of Crete, and then adopted by the Romans. Who handed them down to the modern Europeans much later. Isn’t it puzzling that the flush toilet is … Continue reading “Splash!!!”
