A low-tech solution to the gray water problem at Burning Man, based on the wicking action of the towel.
Tues Aug 28, morning after set-up
Tasked in 2013 with handling gray water for a camp with a group kitchen for 40+ and a central camp shower, I found a dead-simple, low-tech, low-cost solution that proved itself on the playa.
A challenge for responsible Burners is what to do with the “gray water” left over from cooking and camp showers. As a page on the BORG site details, “evaporation ponds” don’t work. They recommend instead the Evapotron, an ingenious device that uses wind power and bicycle wheels to throw droplets of gray water into the air to help the evaporation process.
Alas, building an Evapotron is beyond my limited Maker skill set. Issues have also been raised about the potential health hazards of throwing droplets of waste water into the air. What to do?
How about using another technology to expose gray water to the wind? Say, the humble towel.
Towel: a fabric optimized to quickly absorb water, then quickly release it.
Wed Aug 29. Note bucket, strainer, bleach.
A Wikiwickatron (Wickatron for short) can be set up in minutes. Materials cost less than $100:
• Inflatable kiddie pool
• Laundry drying rack
• 12-20 old bath towels (your own or cast-offs from Goodwill)
• Bleach, paint strainer, paint bucket.
• Latex gloves
• Stakes and rope to tie it all down.
Thu Aug 30, after 3 days of 40+ showers and group kitchen meals
At first I arranged the towels to make sure that their bottoms trailed in the water. The idea was that water would wick up into the towel all day long. As it turned out, water only wicks up the towel a few inches.
It only takes a few minutes though to dunk dried-out towels in the water and replace them on the rack. Depending on the weather and how absorbent your towels are, towels will dry out completely five to ten times a day.
Fri Aug 31. Still less than 1 inch water
Other practical advice:
• Make sure to run all water through a mesh paint strainer stretched over a paint bucket before dumping it in the pond.
• Disinfect with a little bleach (whatever technology you use.)
• Have campmates pour water over the towels on the rack, and redunk any that look dry.
• Those who dunk and replace towels might wear gloves.
• Stretch towels across two rungs of the dryer to maximize exposed surface.
• Ask campmates to refrain from brushing their teeth over the gray water pond.
Sun 1 Sep before the last flurry of kitchen and shower activity
Things you don’t need: Grommets
• My first idea was to punch grommets into the towels, using a little grommet-making machine from a hardware store, then hang the towels using unlockable zip ties.
• It turned out to be pretty tough to punch grommet holes in some of my towels.
• The grommets were also unnecessary, once I stopped trying to have the end of every towel touching the water.
• Towels heavy with water stayed on the rack without any other attachment.
• It was easier to redunk the towels without having to undo and redo zip ties.
The Wickatron took up a tiny amount of space and handled the cooking and shower water of a camp of over 40 straight through to Sunday. Water from the last flurry of showers was poured into empty water jugs and packed out.
At the end of the week you will have a pile of intensely grungy pieces of cloth. Bring a sturdy garbage bag in which to haul them out, perhaps inside a cooler.
Have a great, dry burn!
Update: In 2014 there were two wikitrons on the playa. See pictures and details here.
wikiwickatron 