Just another dimension?

Monday, April 25, 2005
Dripping Tap Saves Utility Bills?

I know some people who think that if you turn on your tap by a small amount so that the water comes out drop by drop, the meter measuring your water usage will not run. That seemed pretty reasonable to me when I was younger because I figured that the meter must be using the force of moving water to turn some kind of wheel or gear in order to work, therefore if the water moves very slowly, then the meter would not notice any water moving.

However, it happens that there are devices that can measure water flow by the drop and these need not necessarily be complicated or expensive. For example, let me describe one that I designed mentally. Consider a container with a pipe at the top leading from the meter and a pipe at the bottom leading to the tap. We place a sensor (electronic or simply a floating object like the one in the tank of your toilet bowl) in the container so that everytime the water level falls below a critical level, water is automatically released into the container until it is full. Clearly, the dripping water method will not work because the meter will measure water flow tank-by-tank rather than drop-by-drop.

Of course, I believe Singapore does not use this design because I can see the meter run everytime I turn on the tap. Whether or not PUB can measure water usage by the drop is unknown to me. But it would be naive to think that if such a simplistic method can save utility bills by a significant amount, PUB would do nothing about it.

-- permalink --
Yiheng made 2:20 PM

2 Comments:

dun think my parents think tat way... no matter how hard i try to avoid bathing more than once a day to save water... they always nag until i bath the second time on some days *roll eyes*
By feathers, at 10:07 PM

my parents do let the water drip when they are filling the pail when cleaning the house. i think they just dun wanna let it fill up too fast.
By Anonymous, at 11:49 AM




Categories MyLife Opinions OnTheNet Shows Miscellaneous RandomKnowledge Links My Sister S & M Jiangzheng Yiheng's Photos Shuquan's Photos Pei Yee's Photos Yun Qin's Photos #!/usr/bin/girl Archive February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 November 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009	Monday, April 25, 2005 Dripping Tap Saves Utility Bills? I know some people who think that if you turn on your tap by a small amount so that the water comes out drop by drop, the meter measuring your water usage will not run. That seemed pretty reasonable to me when I was younger because I figured that the meter must be using the force of moving water to turn some kind of wheel or gear in order to work, therefore if the water moves very slowly, then the meter would not notice any water moving. However, it happens that there are devices that can measure water flow by the drop and these need not necessarily be complicated or expensive. For example, let me describe one that I designed mentally. Consider a container with a pipe at the top leading from the meter and a pipe at the bottom leading to the tap. We place a sensor (electronic or simply a floating object like the one in the tank of your toilet bowl) in the container so that everytime the water level falls below a critical level, water is automatically released into the container until it is full. Clearly, the dripping water method will not work because the meter will measure water flow tank-by-tank rather than drop-by-drop. Of course, I believe Singapore does not use this design because I can see the meter run everytime I turn on the tap. Whether or not PUB can measure water usage by the drop is unknown to me. But it would be naive to think that if such a simplistic method can save utility bills by a significant amount, PUB would do nothing about it. -- permalink -- Yiheng made 2:20 PM 2 Comments: dun think my parents think tat way... no matter how hard i try to avoid bathing more than once a day to save water... they always nag until i bath the second time on some days roll eyes By feathers, at 10:07 PM my parents do let the water drip when they are filling the pail when cleaning the house. i think they just dun wanna let it fill up too fast. By Anonymous, at 11:49 AM Post a Comment	Previous Posts Exciting New Plans On PSC's management of scholars Argh! Doll me up! Recent Books part 1 Funny T-Shirts Malaria Pill Man Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie website I miss her so... Indian Brands Current Read 七侠五义 Last Three Books 道德經 The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology Arthur Cotterell, Rachel Storm Momo Michael Ende Those Before 孫子兵法 Paycheck: And Other Classic Stories By Philip K. Dick Mirror Mirror: A Novel Gregory Maguire American Gods Neil Gaiman Maya 5 Fundamentals Garry Lewis, Jim Lammers Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J. K. Rowling