WATER  
Independent UK / By Martin Hickman
comments_imageCOMMENTS: 89

New Washing Machine Uses Just a Cup of Water

This machine could save billions of liters of water a year and be on the market in 2009.
June 10, 2008  |  
 
 
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A washing machine that cleans clothes by pounding them with plastic chips could save billions of litres of water a year, its inventors claim.

The Xeros uses less than 2 per cent of the water -- and energy -- of a conventional model and leaves clothes almost dry, doing away with the need for a tumble drier.

The machine uses thousands of reusable plastic chips to remove and absorb dirt. Tests have shown the machine can shift virtually all types of everyday stains, according to a team at Leeds University.

Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, who invented the machine -- which uses one cup of water each cycle -- said: "The performance of the Xeros process in cleaning clothes has been quite astonishing.

"We've shown that it can remove all sorts of everyday stains including coffee and lipstick while using a tiny fraction of the water used by conventional machines."

About 20kg of the chips are added, along with a cup of water and detergent. The chips can be used up to 100 times, the equivalent of six months' washing.

Xeros Ltd, the company developing and marketing the machine, believes it could be on the UK market as early as 2009 and expects it to be used in the washing and dry-cleaning industries.
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Comments are closed-

Plastic chips
[Report this comment]
Posted by: EinMD on Jun 10, 2008 1:49 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So let me get this straight...

We take a ultra efficient washer which uses very little water, power and soap to get the job done like the current batch of GE front loaders.

But instead of that we use 20 kilograms of plastic chips for each load??

Then after 100 washes we dispose of 20 kilograms of plastic chips?

I'm not really seeing this as a step up.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Let the people die damnit Posted by: planet doomed

Comments are closed-

for the Metric impared...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: EinMD on Jun 10, 2008 1:50 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
20 kg is 40 pounds of plastic that needs to be disposed of every 100 washes.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: for the Metric impared... Posted by: the man with a dog
» Actually there is a way Posted by: EinMD
» RE: Plasma gasification Posted by: planet doomed
» RE: for the Metric impared... Posted by: John Annis

Comments are closed-

This Has Got To Be a Spoof
[Report this comment]
Posted by: opmoc on Jun 11, 2008 12:45 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Even the Independent isn't that daft. Maybe we should ask them where the plastic comes from.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: This Has Got To Be a Spoof Posted by: John Annis

Comments are closed-

What about BBQ? Or sour cream and onion?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: kwalla on Jun 11, 2008 1:14 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What flavors do the chips come in?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: What about BBQ? Or sour cream and onion? Posted by: the man with a dog

Comments are closed-

A Really Stupid Invention
[Report this comment]
Posted by: bcgirl125 on Jun 11, 2008 1:49 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Considering the ocean already holds a swirling mass of plastic bigger than the state of Texas.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Probably more useful for the textile industry
[Report this comment]
Posted by: morganizeit on Jun 11, 2008 3:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'm also skeptical about home applications due to the amount of plastic used. After reading up a bit on their website (http://www.xerosltd.com/, it looks to me like this technology will be most useful in the textiles industry. Huge amounts of water are used for dying and fibre processing.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Eh not quite.... Posted by: EinMD
» Sorry for misinterpretation Posted by: nochicagoboys
» No problem Posted by: EinMD
» RE: No problem Posted by: nochicagoboys

Comments are closed-

next great idea please
[Report this comment]
Posted by: grmartin on Jun 11, 2008 3:54 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What's next, coal-powered SUV's?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: next great idea please Posted by: Kcanadensis
» lol Posted by: EinMD

Comments are closed-

Just sent an email ...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: namaste on Jun 11, 2008 4:35 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
to the company Xeros asking about the use of plastics. Will post the reply here when received.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

plastic?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: wittler youth on Jun 11, 2008 4:37 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The brits are a bit daft.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: plastic? Posted by: the man with a dog
» Yeah so like... Posted by: EinMD
» RE: Yeah so like... Posted by: nochicagoboys

Comments are closed-

Um...maybe...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Chickensh*tEagle on Jun 11, 2008 5:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
They're trying to remind us that every better idea comes with trade-offs. Bit of a stretch, I admit.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

More plastic?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: eksommer on Jun 11, 2008 5:24 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
OK, so we save water. That's great. Can the 40 pounds of plastic chips be used for something else after 6 months? As much as we need to save water, we don't need more plastic leaching into the ground, the water systems, and our bodies.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: More plastic? Posted by: EinMD

Comments are closed-

"Oh we just can't get there from here!", wails the regressivist prAggressive poster.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ABetterFuture on Jun 11, 2008 5:43 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
40 lbs of plastic is a lot. Plastic is also a recyclable material, something lost on "awareness raisers" of all many stripes.

Suggest you armchair Edison's come up with a few bright ideas of your own before you raise bloody hell about the efforts genuinely creative, industrious people.

More directly to the point, we as a nation tend to piss and moan quite a lot actually about the rising cost of our relatively cheap gas, which--in a pinch--we could survive without. Humans did it very successfully for the better part of possibly 200,000 years.

Ever try surviving without fresh water?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» What is your problem? Posted by: EinMD
» Take a break and think first Posted by: OldRedleg
» They don't know Posted by: EinMD
» RE: They don't know Posted by: xenocyd
» I understand perfectly. Posted by: EinMD

Comments are closed-

More thechnology is not the answer
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ankhet on Jun 11, 2008 5:56 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Almost 50 pounds of plastic chips - and that at a time when the oceans are choked with plastic chips from our garbage.

And doesn't it take a lot of water - and petroleum - to make and recycle plastic? What about the fumes?

This "solution" is worse than the problem. It only downloads the environmental burden, as with electric cars.

Go to youtube.com and watch the series, "The Story of Stuff".

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Actually it is Posted by: EinMD
» RE: Actually it is Posted by: chaoslegs

Comments are closed-

Agriculture consumes 71% of the fresh water supply....
[Report this comment]
Posted by: xvictor on Jun 11, 2008 6:06 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
..... much of that food stuff is wastefully grown to feed cattle, pigs, and lambs. Those animals also need to drink water. Lots of it. And the slaughter process also demands an abundant water supply. Another waste of good water is the proposed use of rushing fresh water to transport coal: coal slurry. What stupid idea will they think of next.

A washing machine that uses a cup of water? Just a drop in the bucket, as they say.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Unless all that plastic is made from hemp instead of petroleum, this one's a total waster !
[Report this comment]
Posted by: maxpayne on Jun 11, 2008 7:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Water is a renewable resource. Plastic isn't unless it's biodegradable such as the hemp type which just so happens to also be more durable and requires no petroleum to manufacture than corn-based plastic. This would make Britain far more likely to join the US in another war for oil and right now, I seriously doubt Britain can afford it.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Uh oh Posted by: EinMD
» RE: Uh oh Posted by: maxpayne

Comments are closed-

Hey, some people have to haul their water!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: janvdb on Jun 11, 2008 7:15 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If the plastic chips could be recycled, which is entirely possible given that they are uniform, predictable and will be used in large quantities, this is a great idea for people living in low-water environments.

I live in a house to which every drop of water used must be trucked right now. It's expensive and it uses a lot of fuel.

Paying to UPS 40 pounds of plastic off to be re-conditioned every 6 months could very well be a good solution for me and for a lot of people in the arid West.

Or the stores which sell these could set up collection stations for the spent chips, from which they could be trucked in bulk to recycling plants, melted, cleaned and re-sold.

Not everyone is living in environments where all the problems involved in getting your water to you are dealt with by others, folks.

Have a brain.

Jan VanDenBerg

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Eh?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: edgeofnowhere on Jun 11, 2008 7:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
How did you come to live in a house that has no water? Did your well go dry? Curious.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Answer from Xeros Ltd...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: nochicagoboys on Jun 11, 2008 8:28 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As I mentioned in a previous post, I contacted Xeros, Ltd., and have received an answer from their representative, Robe Rule. It follows:

"These are reasonable observations

We would respond as follows:

The plastic chips will last at least 100 times – it could be longer
We are evaluating alternative materials from renewable sources, in keeping with the environmental goals of our company
We have some further work to do to assess the re-use of the chips in other applications and potential impact on recyclability – again, we would hope that the chips can be recycled or re-used. We would hope and aim that the environmental burden from the Xeros process will be lower than current cleaning processes (either washing or dry-cleaning).


Hope this helps

Rob Rule

On behalf of Xeros Ltd"

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Answer from Xeros Ltd... Posted by: OldRedleg
» thanks for that. Posted by: ABetterFuture
» RE: Answer from Xeros Ltd... Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN

Comments are closed-

I've already got an environmentally efficient machine
[Report this comment]
Posted by: wisewebwoman on Jun 11, 2008 2:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's manual, you turn a crank handle and it operates on a vacuum principle which sucks the dirt out.
it is totally water efficient (uses about 5 gallons for a line full of clothes) and does the job in the space of about 4 minutes of cranking.
These items are out there if you look. and buy them before you're forced to.
Prepare for lean times ahead...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Where Did You Buy This Washer Posted by: bcgirl125

Comments are closed-

A cup of water is a huge saving
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ceti on Jun 11, 2008 7:57 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This does look promising -- providing one can recycle the chips, yet even then, the water and energy savings alone are outstanding.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Do you believe in BS ???
[Report this comment]
Posted by: gellero1 on Jun 11, 2008 7:59 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
All the posters above need another toke......No prototype, no product, no citations of the scientific literature..................I think you all should take your life savings and invest in this miracle.

Don't bogart that joint............

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Where did all the water go?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Bearzerker on Jun 12, 2008 10:42 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
can you say Deforestation?
maybe overpopulation?

time to plant a tree and save the environment... not in the US...
but in Indonesia, New Guinea, Brazil and Central Africa... etc etc!

so much deforestation... so little time... LEFT!
make difference... adopt a tree...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

A Sound Idea
[Report this comment]
Posted by: HoboHomo on Jun 12, 2008 1:01 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I know that jewelry can be cleaned by a sonic device: sound waves vibrating all grime, dirt and dust off the gems and metal.

So I always thought some day we'd have washing machines using sound waves instead of H2O waves. Just don't get stuck in the lint trap!

But plastic chips? Perhaps all that plastic in our oceans will turn out to clean up the environment. The earth will be one big washing machine!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

here's the link to the washer and it works incredibly well
[Report this comment]
Posted by: wisewebwoman on Jun 12, 2008 9:52 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
http://www.laundry-alternative.com/washing.html

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Alternet Comments:

Comments are closed-

Plastic chips
[Report this comment]
Posted by: EinMD on Jun 10, 2008 1:49 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So let me get this straight...

We take a ultra efficient washer which uses very little water, power and soap to get the job done like the current batch of GE front loaders.

But instead of that we use 20 kilograms of plastic chips for each load??

Then after 100 washes we dispose of 20 kilograms of plastic chips?

I'm not really seeing this as a step up.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Let the people die damnit Posted by: planet doomed

Comments are closed-

for the Metric impared...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: EinMD on Jun 10, 2008 1:50 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
20 kg is 40 pounds of plastic that needs to be disposed of every 100 washes.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: for the Metric impared... Posted by: the man with a dog
» Actually there is a way Posted by: EinMD
» RE: Plasma gasification Posted by: planet doomed
» RE: for the Metric impared... Posted by: John Annis

Comments are closed-

This Has Got To Be a Spoof
[Report this comment]
Posted by: opmoc on Jun 11, 2008 12:45 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Even the Independent isn't that daft. Maybe we should ask them where the plastic comes from.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: This Has Got To Be a Spoof Posted by: John Annis

Comments are closed-

What about BBQ? Or sour cream and onion?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: kwalla on Jun 11, 2008 1:14 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What flavors do the chips come in?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: What about BBQ? Or sour cream and onion? Posted by: the man with a dog

Comments are closed-

A Really Stupid Invention
[Report this comment]
Posted by: bcgirl125 on Jun 11, 2008 1:49 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Considering the ocean already holds a swirling mass of plastic bigger than the state of Texas.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Probably more useful for the textile industry
[Report this comment]
Posted by: morganizeit on Jun 11, 2008 3:53 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'm also skeptical about home applications due to the amount of plastic used. After reading up a bit on their website (http://www.xerosltd.com/, it looks to me like this technology will be most useful in the textiles industry. Huge amounts of water are used for dying and fibre processing.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Eh not quite.... Posted by: EinMD
» Sorry for misinterpretation Posted by: nochicagoboys
» No problem Posted by: EinMD
» RE: No problem Posted by: nochicagoboys

Comments are closed-

next great idea please
[Report this comment]
Posted by: grmartin on Jun 11, 2008 3:54 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What's next, coal-powered SUV's?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: next great idea please Posted by: Kcanadensis
» lol Posted by: EinMD

Comments are closed-

Just sent an email ...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: namaste on Jun 11, 2008 4:35 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
to the company Xeros asking about the use of plastics. Will post the reply here when received.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

plastic?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: wittler youth on Jun 11, 2008 4:37 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The brits are a bit daft.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: plastic? Posted by: the man with a dog
» Yeah so like... Posted by: EinMD
» RE: Yeah so like... Posted by: nochicagoboys

Comments are closed-

Um...maybe...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: Chickensh*tEagle on Jun 11, 2008 5:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
They're trying to remind us that every better idea comes with trade-offs. Bit of a stretch, I admit.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

More plastic?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: eksommer on Jun 11, 2008 5:24 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
OK, so we save water. That's great. Can the 40 pounds of plastic chips be used for something else after 6 months? As much as we need to save water, we don't need more plastic leaching into the ground, the water systems, and our bodies.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: More plastic? Posted by: EinMD

Comments are closed-

"Oh we just can't get there from here!", wails the regressivist prAggressive poster.
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ABetterFuture on Jun 11, 2008 5:43 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
40 lbs of plastic is a lot. Plastic is also a recyclable material, something lost on "awareness raisers" of all many stripes.

Suggest you armchair Edison's come up with a few bright ideas of your own before you raise bloody hell about the efforts genuinely creative, industrious people.

More directly to the point, we as a nation tend to piss and moan quite a lot actually about the rising cost of our relatively cheap gas, which--in a pinch--we could survive without. Humans did it very successfully for the better part of possibly 200,000 years.

Ever try surviving without fresh water?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» What is your problem? Posted by: EinMD
» Take a break and think first Posted by: OldRedleg
» They don't know Posted by: EinMD
» RE: They don't know Posted by: xenocyd
» I understand perfectly. Posted by: EinMD

Comments are closed-

More thechnology is not the answer
[Report this comment]
Posted by: ankhet on Jun 11, 2008 5:56 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Almost 50 pounds of plastic chips - and that at a time when the oceans are choked with plastic chips from our garbage.

And doesn't it take a lot of water - and petroleum - to make and recycle plastic? What about the fumes?

This "solution" is worse than the problem. It only downloads the environmental burden, as with electric cars.

Go to youtube.com and watch the series, "The Story of Stuff".

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Actually it is Posted by: EinMD
» RE: Actually it is Posted by: chaoslegs

Comments are closed-

Agriculture consumes 71% of the fresh water supply....
[Report this comment]
Posted by: xvictor on Jun 11, 2008 6:06 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
..... much of that food stuff is wastefully grown to feed cattle, pigs, and lambs. Those animals also need to drink water. Lots of it. And the slaughter process also demands an abundant water supply. Another waste of good water is the proposed use of rushing fresh water to transport coal: coal slurry. What stupid idea will they think of next.

A washing machine that uses a cup of water? Just a drop in the bucket, as they say.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Unless all that plastic is made from hemp instead of petroleum, this one's a total waster !
[Report this comment]
Posted by: maxpayne on Jun 11, 2008 7:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Water is a renewable resource. Plastic isn't unless it's biodegradable such as the hemp type which just so happens to also be more durable and requires no petroleum to manufacture than corn-based plastic. This would make Britain far more likely to join the US in another war for oil and right now, I seriously doubt Britain can afford it.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» Uh oh Posted by: EinMD
» RE: Uh oh Posted by: maxpayne

Comments are closed-

Hey, some people have to haul their water!
[Report this comment]
Posted by: janvdb on Jun 11, 2008 7:15 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If the plastic chips could be recycled, which is entirely possible given that they are uniform, predictable and will be used in large quantities, this is a great idea for people living in low-water environments.

I live in a house to which every drop of water used must be trucked right now. It's expensive and it uses a lot of fuel.

Paying to UPS 40 pounds of plastic off to be re-conditioned every 6 months could very well be a good solution for me and for a lot of people in the arid West.

Or the stores which sell these could set up collection stations for the spent chips, from which they could be trucked in bulk to recycling plants, melted, cleaned and re-sold.

Not everyone is living in environments where all the problems involved in getting your water to you are dealt with by others, folks.

Have a brain.

Jan VanDenBerg

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Eh?
[Report this comment]
Posted by: edgeofnowhere on Jun 11, 2008 7:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
How did you come to live in a house that has no water? Did your well go dry? Curious.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Comments are closed-

Answer from Xeros Ltd...
[Report this comment]
Posted by: nochicagoboys on Jun 11, 2008 8:28 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As I mentioned in a previous post, I contacted Xeros, Ltd., and have received an answer from their representative, Robe Rule. It follows:

"These are reasonable observations

We would respond as follows:

The plastic chips will last at least 100 times – it could be longer
We are evaluating alternative materials from renewable sources, in keeping with the environmental goals of our company
We have some further work to do to assess the re-use of the chips in other applications and potential impact on recyclability – again, we would hope that the chips can be recycled or re-used. We would hope and aim that the environmental burden from the Xeros process will be lower than current cleaning processes (either washing or dry-cleaning).


Hope this helps

Rob Rule

On behalf of Xeros Ltd"

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Answer from Xeros Ltd... Posted by: OldRedleg
» thanks for that. Posted by: ABetterFuture
» RE: Answer from Xeros Ltd... Posted by: AMERICAN VETERAN

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I've already got an environmentally efficient machine
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Posted by: wisewebwoman on Jun 11, 2008 2:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's manual, you turn a crank handle and it operates on a vacuum principle which sucks the dirt out.
it is totally water efficient (uses about 5 gallons for a line full of clothes) and does the job in the space of about 4 minutes of cranking.
These items are out there if you look. and buy them before you're forced to.
Prepare for lean times ahead...

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» Where Did You Buy This Washer Posted by: bcgirl125

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A cup of water is a huge saving
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Posted by: ceti on Jun 11, 2008 7:57 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This does look promising -- providing one can recycle the chips, yet even then, the water and energy savings alone are outstanding.

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Do you believe in BS ???
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Posted by: gellero1 on Jun 11, 2008 7:59 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
All the posters above need another toke......No prototype, no product, no citations of the scientific literature..................I think you all should take your life savings and invest in this miracle.

Don't bogart that joint............

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Where did all the water go?
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Posted by: Bearzerker on Jun 12, 2008 10:42 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
can you say Deforestation?
maybe overpopulation?

time to plant a tree and save the environment... not in the US...
but in Indonesia, New Guinea, Brazil and Central Africa... etc etc!

so much deforestation... so little time... LEFT!
make difference... adopt a tree...

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A Sound Idea
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Posted by: HoboHomo on Jun 12, 2008 1:01 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I know that jewelry can be cleaned by a sonic device: sound waves vibrating all grime, dirt and dust off the gems and metal.

So I always thought some day we'd have washing machines using sound waves instead of H2O waves. Just don't get stuck in the lint trap!

But plastic chips? Perhaps all that plastic in our oceans will turn out to clean up the environment. The earth will be one big washing machine!

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here's the link to the washer and it works incredibly well
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Posted by: wisewebwoman on Jun 12, 2008 9:52 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
http://www.laundry-alternative.com/washing.html

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