17 years ago, as I became aware of the impact our lifestyles were having on our environment and coupled with a growing sceptism of big corporates, from municipalities to private sector conglomerates, I looked around for more opportunities to go off the grid.  We already had a solar hot water heating system installed in 1987 which is still going strong today! We were busy planning new bathrooms and looking at options for rainwater harvesting and grey water recycling. The search was difficult with most information originating out of California and it seemed that we would have to put together our own system working with very cynical local plumbers when we came across Jeremy Westgarth-Taylor at Water Rhapsody. Jeremy was an inspirational breath of fresh air, a non-materialistic idealist with a strong practical streak – seemingly out of step with our peers’ conspicuous consumption lifestyles but light years ahead of them in terms of what we needed to do to ensure there would still be a planet for our grandchildren. Jeremy had devised a series of water saving devices using strong robust catalogue components that could be clipped onto standard plumbing systems. As I am interested in simple and elegant design of buildings and architecture, hate the need for regular home maintenance, and being a great disciple of the “set and forget” philisophy, I scrutinised Jeremy’s systems very carefully. My wife was also an important test in that she thought that all of these ideas were a bit cranky and didn’t want to have anything to do with inventions that would cause smells, regular maintenance or lifestyle adaptations. The pool was bad enough! There didn’t seem to be any clever tricks designed to hook one into ongoing maintenance contracts and supply of overpriced essential bespoke maintenance items or patented parts only available from Jeremy – as I had found to great cost with a swimming pool filter system we had installed from another contractor. We made sure that the plumbers fitted the necessary dual plumbing systems in the new bathrooms and retrofitted them in the existing amd installed the grey water recycling system. We are happy to report that we have never used municipal water on the bottom lawn again. As you will gather we are not very good on regular maintenance but the system, whose filters do need cleaning from time to time, – usually takes 5 minutes at the end of winter – has operated successfully ever since. As you can imagine with our erratic approach to home maintenance the filters do eventually block up with lint etc. At this point the overflow to the sewer kicks in and we never suffer any problems other noticing the garden sprinkler doesn’t come on. We then clean the filters and off it goes. The cleaning is also simple and the parts robust enough to enable unskilled staff to do it. We still get a great sense of satisfaction after showering or letting the bath water out to go and watch the sprinkler working. Our staff think the system is magic. We have enthusiastically endorsed the product to friends and family over the past 15 years and have not heard a single complaint. There are now the very attractive Water Rhapsody signs in every street in our neighbourhood. My wife’s sister has had a double system installed in the front and back of her house. Her husband is a perfectionist engineer with the council who watches the pennies very carefully but they, too, have been very happy with their system.

Simon Nicks
Environmenal Planner and Urban Designer
Fynbos Conservation Award winner 2009
Johnny Walker Celebrating Strides nominee 2010

Timeline

—5 Billion Years Ago: Planet Earth forms 

—10,000 years ago: Last Ice Age ends

—1500-1850: Little Ice Age occurs, temperatures in Northern Hemisphere drop by approximately 1 degree Celsius, triggering disease and famine.

—Mid-1700s: Industrial Revolution begins and manual labor-based economy is replaced by industry and coal-burning machinery.

—1824: French mathematician and physicist Joseph Fourier discovers that atmospheric gases could raise the Earth’s surface temperature. His observations would later be known as the greenhouse effect.

—1896: Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius predicts increased levels of carbon dioxide in the air due to burning of fossil fuels by humans will cause a slow increase in Earth’s temperature.

—1938: British engineer Guy Callendar publishes one of the first studies demonstrating how the burning of fossil fuels is raising the Earth’s surface temperature. His work is largely ignored. Continue Reading

BRENT Papadopoulos should have been a barrister or a doctor or maybe a stockbroker — after all, he went to the exclusive Melbourne private school Wesley College and, in his words “that’s what all my mates have done”. But “uni wasn’t for me”.

Moreover, Papadopoulos was determined to work for himself.

He chose to be a plumber, but no ordinary plumber it turns out.

Ten years since walking off the manicured lawns of Wesley, he is running a thriving “green” business — Sustainable Plumbing Solutions.

“It surprised my friends, but I love plumbing. The moment I set up it changed the way I work.” Vehicles run on diesel, an office incorporates recycled timber, there’s even a worm farm in the kitchen — it seems he practises what he preaches.

In the green plumbing sector, Papadopoulos’s company has won awards three years running.

Revenue has been growing at 100 per cent a year, although it has plateaued this year, he says.

SPS has installed “hundreds” of above-ground tanks, greywater and solar hot water systems in past 12 months and expanded its client range to include residential, business, rural and government projects across Victoria.

Continue Reading

You have probably searched the word “ecopreneur” in Google and arrived here. Welcome, its an exciting place to discover opportunities for ecopreneurs. Take a look at  Water Rhapsody who have started to franchise their successful 15 year formula to select ecopreneurs. For more information on the opportunity see Water Rhapsody green business opportunity.

With more than 3000 water conservation systems installed, Water Rhapsody are expanding and looking for ecopreneurs who follow the 3P’s philosophy of  People, the Planet and Profit.  For more information on the products see Water Rhapsody

Water Rhapsody have started to franchise their successful 15 year formula to select ecopreneurs. For more information on the opportunity see Water Rhapsody green business opportunity. They are looking for Ecopreneurs.

With more than 3000 water conservation systems installed, Water Rhapsody are expanding and looking for ecopreneurs who follow the 3P’s philosophy. People, the Planet and Profit.  For more information on the products see Water Rhapsody

See the  Water Rhapsody green business opportunity in rainwater harvesting and water conservation systems. As the South African job market gets tighter and jobs get  harder to find, consider becoming an ecopreneur and running your own green business.  Developed in South Africa,  Water Rhapsody has 15 years of experience to provide a sustainable green business opportunity in water conservation.

Become an ecopreneur by creating your own green sustainable business.  Water Rhapsody in South Africa,  are interested in creating ecopreneurs.  These are entrepreneurs who not only want to manage their own business, but are passionate about the environment and want to make a difference to the sustainability of the planet. Water Rhapsody is a  growing business and is expanding by offering an affordable and profitable opportunity to would be ecopreneurs. Everyone would like to claim their opportunity is profitable, but Water Rhapsody have had 15 years of experience in the rainwater harvesting and water consevation business, as proof thereof.  Water is fast becoming the “oil” of the past decade. Water Rhapsody have developed a world class solution to rainwater harvesting, water conservation, grey water systems and water purification in the form of a dynamic business. They are making this green green business opportunity available to the right ecopreneur so browse opportunity in the menu page and if you think this is for you, Water Rhapsody would like to hear from you. See Contact