What are ways each person can help with water conservation in the US?
There are a number of things you can do. In order of impact:1. Plant species outside that do not require irrigation. Irrigating turf grass lawns is a huge waste of energy and money.2. install Watersense accredited toilets. These toilets use 1.28 gallons per flush, which could be as much 2/3 less then older models.3. install faucets that flow at 0.5 gallon per minute. Most household restroom faucets flow a 2 gallons per minute or more. This is quite wasteful.4. Install energy star rated clothing and dish washers. Energy star rated clothing washers require much less water to wash a load of clothing than other models. Energy Star rated dishwashers use much less water than other models AND much less water than washing the dishes by hand.5. Install a small circulator pump and recirculating loop into your hot water system. This will ensure that hot water is available immediately on demand and will limited the amount of cold water squandered when you get ready to take a shower.If you have done all of this and you still are not satisfied, you can install a cistern to collect rain water for non-potable water applications, such as flushing and clothing washing.Do not install a device that takes water that has already gone down the drain and sends it back to the hot water tank. The hot water tank is part of the potable water system water from sink drains is NOT potable water. The potable water system and the non-potable water system should NEVER be mixed. That's how cholera happens.
The method to conserve water?
Shut off all taps and faucets. Repair all leaks. Don't allow it to drain away. Use water harvesting methods to collect rain water, which can be used to wash a car, flooring and for watering plants Use only as much as is required.
What is a blind tank?
From context and my experience, without having encountered the term before, a blind tank is a holding tank that does not connect by some output to some place. It has to be pumped out, either by the input line or by opening an access hole. The quoted description is saying that places that generate small amounts of toxic or dangerous material might use such a tank. An example I can think of is an auto repair facility that used a limited quantity of degreaser/cleaner that is recirculated over a very dirty engine until it is clean - resulting in the few gallons used being very dirty and contaminated with petroleum by-products. Instead of treating it to put in sewer, they might hold it in a 100 or 500 gallon tank for collection once a week or month. A non-blind tank might be settling tank where certain solids settle out but most of the water leaves to the sewer. The solids would be removed by back flushing and treatment or cartage away. Consider the reverse of a oil fuel tank that is filled by a truck coming by and the fuel drains into the furnace.
What happens when a centrifugal pump runs dry?
Pumps should not be operated running dry.When a pump is run dry, there are two common results.1) The impeller will melt along the shaft, causing the impeller to seize onto the shaft.If the impeller seizes, it will stop and not rotate. To correct this, the pump should be taken apart and a drill bit should be used to clean out the bore of the impeller.2) The rear housing may melt. A hole may develop in the rear housing, allowing liquid to escape. Or, the boss of the rear housing, which secures the pump shaft, may become deformed, which will allow the shaft to move instead of remaining stationary.This will cause damage to the impeller and may cause the shaft to break from the impeller bouncing on it.If the pump is made from stainless steel, it is unlikely holes will develop in the rear housing or that the boss will deform. What is likely to happen is the impeller bushing will seize onto the shaft.The amount of time it takes for a pump to suffer damage from running dry depends on many variables.Pump size:Generally, the larger the pump with larger and heavier impellers, the faster it will be to suffer damage.Bore size:The bore size of the impeller can also be a factor. The more clearance between the bore of the impeller and the shaft, the more time you will have before suffering damage. Polypropylene will suffer damage quicker than Kynar on the same model, and stainless steel will take more time than plastic.Liquid used in the pump:Another factor is the liquid previously in the pump. If the liquid is ambient or cooler, it will take more time for the pump to suffer damage after it starts to run dry than if the liquid is warmer.Safe options for dry pumping:If you are using the pump for tank transfer and want to empty the tank, this may mean running the pump dry for a few seconds. If the pump is run dry for less than 45-60 seconds, the pump should not suffer damage.Dry running can be an expensive hazard on your equipment but with care and supervision, you can elongate the life of your machinery.