My apartment building gives me free water but I pay for electricity. What if I run the faucet nonstop and rig up a hydro turbine in my bathtub to generate my power from it?
Love this article, but they kinda bury the lede making the Coca-cola joke about bottling and selling water.
Most bottled water you buy in stores is, in fact, tap water. If you think they're getting it from a mountain spring, even if there's a mountain on the label, you would be mistaken. You wouldn't want mountain water (with bear piss) anyway, the water you buy bottled is filtered and treated. It's good tap water, but it's still tap water. So next time your water bottle runs out, just refill it from the tap. Assuming your tap water is potable and doesn't taste like shit.
I grew up drinking mountain spring water. It’s way better than “bear piss”. Filtered and treated doesn’t mean better. Some natural water from springs is perfectly fine.
Why is it necessary for the water to go up and down to turn the turbine? Isn't the pressure already added to the water and you can directly use it to drive a heavier turbine at ground level?
Second, as you can probably guess by looking at the above picture, pumping the water up 40 meters with water pressure and then back down doesn't accomplish anything—you can just hook the faucet up to your device, and let the water pressure drive the generator directly.
To the people their arbitrage would harm because it would result in the landlord ending the free water provision. If you abuse a good thing, even the most good-natured people eventually get fed up and stop providing it, to the detriment of those who used it fairly.
Think of it this way; 70% of the planet is water. Of that water only 2.5% is fresh water, 68% of that is held in glaciers. About 1% of the fresh water on earth is liquid.
That 1% is the absolute maximum quantity of what's used for drinking, and the steps between ground/reservoir water and the tap in your home involve MASSIVE quantities of electricity and effort to make it so it won't kill you.
What you're suggesting doing is turning the tap on and sending that fresh drinkable water right back into the sewer to generate a miniscule amount of power, since the average tap pressure at 1 bar means you'll be making sub 100W of power, hardly enough to power the big light in your kitchen if it's got more than two incandescent bulbs or spotlights, let alone a kettle or a microwave.
Depends. If you're in a metropolitan city modern condo, there's a good chance water is provided for all by the condo corp. The condo corp pays the city and adjusts the yearly budgets accordingly, which are then used to determine condo fees. So indirectly every resident pays for the water.
you can just hook the faucet up to your device, and let the water pressure drive the generator directly. In either case, for a bathtub faucet, this works out to almost 200 watts, or $25 per month
Though what you could do is place small turbines in your piping so that any time you use your water for normal uses, it would generate some electricity at the cost of a loss of pressure once it passes through. Though it would be more efficient to just turn down the pumps generating that pressure to the new pressure setting and using the electricity saved there (if you are the one running the pump, water included in rent would transfer some energy to you but lose some overall).
Think harder next time. They'll be able to figure out that you're not filling an Olympic sized pool every week and water/sewer use that excessive is gonna be a breach of contract aka eviction.
What if I live in a country with renter-friendly laws where landnobility can't just kick out their tenants but have to give them opportunity to correct their behaviour? And also there is a reason that right now eludes me why my landnobleperson or anyone else won't be checking water consumption for the foreseeable future?
Sort of. You could probably get enough out of it for lights and maybe an appliance, but eventually if you're using a lot you'll hit a power consumption ceiling where the water pressure even with the valve wide open is insufficient to turn the generator. In case you don't know, as demand increases the windings of a generator (any generator) get harder to turn.
You could cheat a little and have the water turn a big heavy flywheel that in turn turns the generator, it would be slow to start up but more resilient to demand spikes once it's up to speed.
There's also the noise any of it would make turning and vibrating but that can be future you's problem too.
Most apartments with water included in the rent price (Sorry kids, there's no such thing as "free water") closely monitor their usage on a per building or floor basis. Whenever they detect irregularities they schedule inspections with the tenants to check for things like leaking toilet valves and such.
"free water" just means that they've calculated the cost of installing the meters and additional plumbing and determined that monitoring global usage and including it in the price of rent is cheaper.
Source: I have water included in my rent, I pay about $50 more a month than a similar apartment without.
When I moved to Tennessee a few years back I looked all over trying to figure out where our gas bill was. Water/electric/sewage/internet, I actually got through one company now which is kinda neat, but our heater is natural gas, and I haven't been billed for it yet, which never makes sense to me. I keep wondering if the management company just covers it or something, but I should see a usage bill I would figure somewhere...
Small towns don't manage much though. They came by to do an inspection a couple months ago and I was like oh shit, they had not stopped by since I moved in back in 2021. (Guess a new management company absorbed them). I've got a chicken coop and put chicken wire up around about 1,000+ square foot and I was wondering what they were going to say about it. They never ended up even going out back. Next year's problem I guess.
I bought a house two years ago and had a plumber come out to install a new water heater. He asked me where the water meter was and I had to say "fuck if I know". He said lots of people just let their water account lapse and then remove the meter and tap directly into the water line in the street and get free water. He assumed that the previous owner of my house had done this; I was pondering whether this was a bad thing or not when he found the actual water meter out in the yard under a metal cover. Good news? Probably not -- it turns out my house water is supplied by a very cheap independent local water authority, but they had to go into bankruptcy along with the city and apparently some Saudis are planning to buy it to provide water to grow alfalfa for their racehorses.
Not all places have cold water during summer (did the greedy water company already run a heat exchange there?)
This would work but don't use a conventional central heating radiator system: moisture would condense on the radiators and pipes, potentially causing wet floors and walls, and eventually mold. A radiator that deals with moisture well is an indoor AC unit, plus it has a fan, thermostat and remote control, and presumably they're cheap to get when the more complicated outdoor unit fails. Just pump water through the coolant pipes! The water mains pressure is probably enough. (Don't get an overly smart one or it will complain about lack of communication with the outdoor unit. Or hack it if you're good at that.)
Alternatively, an air-to-water heat exchanger (heat pump whose condenser is submerged and evaporator is a conventional indoor AC unit) is way more practical. With cold water, it will use very little electricity and has all the convenience of AC. The output water can be used as preheated feed into your boiler.
i have cold water in the ground, but once it gets to the roof pipes it heats up fast in the summer. we've got them insulated but not insulated enough. i keep arguing with the landlord to let me go up there and put some pool noodles around them. so if you're in the part of the house that gets its water from roof pipes, in the summer sometimes the hot water comes out colder than the cold (that pipe already has a pool noodle around it don't get me started)
For high rises, why not stick a turbine on the outlet for waste water at the bottom of the building? You've already spent the energy to pump it up dozens of floors why not recoup some of it when it falls back down?
Unlikely, but if any main power lines run past your walls or floor where they are regularly carrying substantial current, you can probably use a wire coil to light an led or something.
Well I can say from experience that your landlord won't be happy, but as long as it doesnt say a limit in your lease there's nothing they can do about it.
That's a legal. Metered utilities can be either included in the rent, or metered on a per unit basis.
In this setup, if your neighbor uses a lot of utilities your bill will go up. That's why this is illegal.
98 Comments
roguelazer@lemmy.world · 249 pts · 211d
https://what-if.xkcd.com/91/
cosmOS@lemmy.zip · 81 pts · 211d
And here I thought I was being clever. Thanks for sharing! That was great.
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 50 pts · 211d
I am DELIGHTED
chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 47 pts · 210d
lol
VicksVaporBBQrub@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 211d
Wow. I never thought of bottling and selling water.
Was surprised xkcd didn't mention steam boiler turbines.
RelativeArea1@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 210d
ah. yes. the nestle way.
grue@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 210d
What does that have to do with water pressure? In that system, the energy comes from the heat.
VicksVaporBBQrub@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 210d
True -- it would require a external heat source (wood, gas, coal, concentrated solar, etc) to boil water for turbine generated electricity.
cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 13 pts · 210d
Love this article, but they kinda bury the lede making the Coca-cola joke about bottling and selling water.
Most bottled water you buy in stores is, in fact, tap water. If you think they're getting it from a mountain spring, even if there's a mountain on the label, you would be mistaken. You wouldn't want mountain water (with bear piss) anyway, the water you buy bottled is filtered and treated. It's good tap water, but it's still tap water. So next time your water bottle runs out, just refill it from the tap. Assuming your tap water is potable and doesn't taste like shit.
teft@piefed.social · 5 pts · 210d
I grew up drinking mountain spring water. It’s way better than “bear piss”. Filtered and treated doesn’t mean better. Some natural water from springs is perfectly fine.
ripcord@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 210d
teft@piefed.social · 1 pts · 210d
He says all mountain spring water is bear piss. I say some is good. You downvote. classic fediverse.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 210d
That's only correct if it's labeled as "purified water." If it says "spring water," then it came from a mountain spring.
The thing about being bottled at the source, is that it's upstream from all the "bear piss."
Kacarott@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 210d
I definitely want mountain water, it's delicious. 100x better than any bottled water.
Zoomboingding@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 210d
The flavor is E. coli
Phoenix3875@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 210d
Why is it necessary for the water to go up and down to turn the turbine? Isn't the pressure already added to the water and you can directly use it to drive a heavier turbine at ground level?
YoSoySnekBoi@kbin.earth · 17 pts · 210d
LodeMike@lemmy.today · 99 pts · 211d
You'd be an asshole.
VitoRobles@lemmy.today · -17 pts · 210d
An asshole to whom exactly? A landlord?
Also this is a shower thought. What's with this moral crusade?
luciferofastora@feddit.org · 71 pts · 210d
To the people their arbitrage would harm because it would result in the landlord ending the free water provision. If you abuse a good thing, even the most good-natured people eventually get fed up and stop providing it, to the detriment of those who used it fairly.
NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net · 37 pts · 210d
Think of it this way; 70% of the planet is water. Of that water only 2.5% is fresh water, 68% of that is held in glaciers. About 1% of the fresh water on earth is liquid.
That 1% is the absolute maximum quantity of what's used for drinking, and the steps between ground/reservoir water and the tap in your home involve MASSIVE quantities of electricity and effort to make it so it won't kill you.
What you're suggesting doing is turning the tap on and sending that fresh drinkable water right back into the sewer to generate a miniscule amount of power, since the average tap pressure at 1 bar means you'll be making sub 100W of power, hardly enough to power the big light in your kitchen if it's got more than two incandescent bulbs or spotlights, let alone a kettle or a microwave.
Whostosay@sh.itjust.works · -2 pts · 210d
What aren't you understanding? The water is free to them
By this definition, let me guess, you also think the fine folks over at Nestle are assholes too?
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler If we ever do make it to the riots stage, I hope we can all agree Nestle goes first. :::
NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 210d
::: spoiler spoiler But water isn't a human right, that's the job of datacenters!
You guys get nestle, meta is mine. :::
_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 210d
You are the one who isn't understanding but yeah, fuck Nestle!
Whostosay@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 210d
Lol I understand it perfectly, I was joking
_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 210d
It's like they say: Comedy is hard.
Whostosay@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 210d
I mean, to be fair, my writing may not have been funny to you, but it didn't leave any room for whether or not I understood.
87Six@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 210d
He'd be an asshole because he'd need loads of water he would waste
Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 210d
Droughts
ieGod@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 210d
Depends. If you're in a metropolitan city modern condo, there's a good chance water is provided for all by the condo corp. The condo corp pays the city and adjusts the yearly budgets accordingly, which are then used to determine condo fees. So indirectly every resident pays for the water.
IWW4@lemmy.zip · 87 pts · 210d
You would be that asshole who ruined it for everyone else.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 20 pts · 210d
Not to mention considering most water pressure in... well, any country. They may be able to charge their phone and run a lamp at best.
No tv, no water heater, no fridge, no ac or heat, no white noise fans to fall asleep to.
fuzzzerd@programming.dev · 15 pts · 210d
Wth water running 24/7 there's no need for a white noise machine any more, just listen to the water.
IWW4@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 210d
That is a very good point.
BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 210d
If they don't punish you specifically they'll punish everyone with you.
melsaskca@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 210d
This is a great comment. Only January and this is my comment of the year (so far).
Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 72 pts · 210d
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 13 pts · 210d
Nice to know that someone already did the math (the monster math!)
Crashumbc@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 210d
That's a really stupid way to do it, you connect the water turbine directly to the faucet. Why water all the tap water pressure.
Hacksaw@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 210d
You didn't read past the first paragraph.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 210d
Though what you could do is place small turbines in your piping so that any time you use your water for normal uses, it would generate some electricity at the cost of a loss of pressure once it passes through. Though it would be more efficient to just turn down the pumps generating that pressure to the new pressure setting and using the electricity saved there (if you are the one running the pump, water included in rent would transfer some energy to you but lose some overall).
PeachMan@lemmy.world · 52 pts · 211d
Oh shit, mine gives me free heat......I could just strap a Stirling engine to my radiator!
Psaldorn@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 211d
Or peltier modules
db2@lemmy.world · 38 pts · 211d
Think harder next time. They'll be able to figure out that you're not filling an Olympic sized pool every week and water/sewer use that excessive is gonna be a breach of contract aka eviction.
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 21 pts · 211d
What if I live in a country with renter-friendly laws where landnobility can't just kick out their tenants but have to give them opportunity to correct their behaviour? And also there is a reason that right now eludes me why my landnobleperson or anyone else won't be checking water consumption for the foreseeable future?
db2@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 211d
If they're paying the water bill they're going to know.
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 12 pts · 211d
Yes but that's future me's problem. Present me wants to know if the thing OP is suggesting would work now.
db2@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 211d
Sort of. You could probably get enough out of it for lights and maybe an appliance, but eventually if you're using a lot you'll hit a power consumption ceiling where the water pressure even with the valve wide open is insufficient to turn the generator. In case you don't know, as demand increases the windings of a generator (any generator) get harder to turn.
You could cheat a little and have the water turn a big heavy flywheel that in turn turns the generator, it would be slow to start up but more resilient to demand spikes once it's up to speed.
There's also the noise any of it would make turning and vibrating but that can be future you's problem too.
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 6 pts · 211d
Noice. You're now tagged as "dis dood hydrates" :D
db2@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 211d
I'm OK with that 😆
X@piefed.world · 4 pts · 211d
Well, there’s one way to find out: make it happen, cap’n! No time like the present, no day like today!
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 4 pts · 211d
Unfortunately I do in fact pay for my water. Not to mention I lack the technical knowhow.
X@piefed.world · 5 pts · 211d
Looks like you’re faced with a current you problem. Best kick that can down the road for future you to solve, eh?
Lumidaub@feddit.org · 3 pts · 211d
Oh definitely. I'll be waiting for future me to learn all that stuff so we can demolish my bathroom. It's going to be absolutely smashing.
EpicFailGuy@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 210d
Most apartments with water included in the rent price (Sorry kids, there's no such thing as "free water") closely monitor their usage on a per building or floor basis. Whenever they detect irregularities they schedule inspections with the tenants to check for things like leaking toilet valves and such.
"free water" just means that they've calculated the cost of installing the meters and additional plumbing and determined that monitoring global usage and including it in the price of rent is cheaper.
Source: I have water included in my rent, I pay about $50 more a month than a similar apartment without.
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 210d
When I moved to Tennessee a few years back I looked all over trying to figure out where our gas bill was. Water/electric/sewage/internet, I actually got through one company now which is kinda neat, but our heater is natural gas, and I haven't been billed for it yet, which never makes sense to me. I keep wondering if the management company just covers it or something, but I should see a usage bill I would figure somewhere...
Small towns don't manage much though. They came by to do an inspection a couple months ago and I was like oh shit, they had not stopped by since I moved in back in 2021. (Guess a new management company absorbed them). I've got a chicken coop and put chicken wire up around about 1,000+ square foot and I was wondering what they were going to say about it. They never ended up even going out back. Next year's problem I guess.
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 210d
I bought a house two years ago and had a plumber come out to install a new water heater. He asked me where the water meter was and I had to say "fuck if I know". He said lots of people just let their water account lapse and then remove the meter and tap directly into the water line in the street and get free water. He assumed that the previous owner of my house had done this; I was pondering whether this was a bad thing or not when he found the actual water meter out in the yard under a metal cover. Good news? Probably not -- it turns out my house water is supplied by a very cheap independent local water authority, but they had to go into bankruptcy along with the city and apparently some Saudis are planning to buy it to provide water to grow alfalfa for their racehorses.
DoubleDongle@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 211d
Also consider running cold water through some sort of radiator if you want free AC
ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org · 3 pts · 210d
Not all places have cold water during summer (did the greedy water company already run a heat exchange there?)
This would work but don't use a conventional central heating radiator system: moisture would condense on the radiators and pipes, potentially causing wet floors and walls, and eventually mold. A radiator that deals with moisture well is an indoor AC unit, plus it has a fan, thermostat and remote control, and presumably they're cheap to get when the more complicated outdoor unit fails. Just pump water through the coolant pipes! The water mains pressure is probably enough. (Don't get an overly smart one or it will complain about lack of communication with the outdoor unit. Or hack it if you're good at that.)
Alternatively, an air-to-water heat exchanger (heat pump whose condenser is submerged and evaporator is a conventional indoor AC unit) is way more practical. With cold water, it will use very little electricity and has all the convenience of AC. The output water can be used as preheated feed into your boiler.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 210d
i have cold water in the ground, but once it gets to the roof pipes it heats up fast in the summer. we've got them insulated but not insulated enough. i keep arguing with the landlord to let me go up there and put some pool noodles around them. so if you're in the part of the house that gets its water from roof pipes, in the summer sometimes the hot water comes out colder than the cold (that pipe already has a pool noodle around it don't get me started)
nandeEbisu@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 210d
For high rises, why not stick a turbine on the outlet for waste water at the bottom of the building? You've already spent the energy to pump it up dozens of floors why not recoup some of it when it falls back down?
Flax_vert@feddit.uk · 10 pts · 210d
You'll be using less water than an AI data centre
Trigger2_2000@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 211d
Best fucking idea ever!
If you ever get free gas too, I have an idea for a wind turbine.
X@piefed.world · 5 pts · 211d
Free gas? You (and nearly everyone else on earth) are walking around in and breathing loads of it right now.
Trigger2_2000@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 210d
Some apartments have natural gas including with the price of rent.
X@piefed.world · 1 pts · 210d
Odd. The gas I walk around in is all natural and completely free. It’s not even listed on my rent, though it’d be pretty odd if it was.
Win012@lemmy.today · 8 pts · 209d
You could stick a windmill on top of your car and build up power as you drive to go faster if you drive faster
tux7350@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d
Thank you for the laugh (⁀ᗢ⁀)
j4k3@piefed.world · 7 pts · 211d
Unlikely, but if any main power lines run past your walls or floor where they are regularly carrying substantial current, you can probably use a wire coil to light an led or something.
Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 211d
Sure but there wouldn’t be enough power, especially if you need things like AC.
Fondots@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 211d
You're thinking too small: water cool your apartment
db2@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 211d
The water can even directly drive the fan!
Brkdncr@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 211d
Evaporative air coolers only need enough power to run the fan.
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 211d
Unless you live in a desert, or some other area where added humidity is a bonus then “swap coolers” are doing more harm than good.
boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 210d
That's true. Humidity is a negative here in the summer, would like more in the winter.
How about pumping really cold water through radiators? Not as much cooling as AC, but with free cold water...
gravitas@pie.gravitywell.xyz · 6 pts · 210d
Well I can say from experience that your landlord won't be happy, but as long as it doesnt say a limit in your lease there's nothing they can do about it.
Free Water Every Single Day!
CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 210d
Their ain't a lease in the country that doesn't give a complex the right to toss you out for generic reasons.
And you could waste your time in court, but you'd lose.
Scrollone@feddit.it · 2 pts · 210d
Also, "unlimited" contracts always have a clause where they can block you if you misuse the service or use way more than an acceptable quantity.
stiffyGlitch@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 210d
what he said ⬇
blackn1ght@feddit.uk · 13 pts · 210d
stiffyGlitch's mum should have her own category on PornHub
stiffyGlitch@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 210d
what why
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 210d
stiffyGlitch@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 210d
wait why are we talking about my mum
what
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 210d
No idea
mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 210d
pretty sure there's an old copypasta about this or something
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 210d
Here ya go:
https://www.micro-hydro-power.com/
rumba@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 209d
Mine used to give me free water and natural gas. I filled my waterbed with hot water when I moved in.
Years later, they changed it over so that the whole building was metered and the price was divided.
SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 209d
That's a legal. Metered utilities can be either included in the rent, or metered on a per unit basis. In this setup, if your neighbor uses a lot of utilities your bill will go up. That's why this is illegal.
ADTJ@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 209d
It's illegal everywhere in the world?
Seems an odd thing to come together on
rumba@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 208d
looking into my state code, it's legal if it's in the lease and they did ammend the lease on renewal to include it.
Morale? no. Legal here? it would appear to be.
kossa@feddit.org · 3 pts · 210d
Fill the water in bottles behind your generator and sell it at cheaper rates to folks who pay for their water...even more profit!
MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 210d
Stupid question.
NOT a shower thought.
MimicJar@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 210d
I feel pretty confident they were in the shower when they thought about this question.
ripcord@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 210d
It may not be the kind you like but it (most likely) meets the community rules definition.
Aeri@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d
OP is a dipshit verbatim ripping off an XKCD video no way in hell they came up with it themselves BTW.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 210d
You monster
YeahIgotskills2@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d
Maybe on some other planet, where success is deemed as failure and they all have USB ports for genitals.