Utilities
Our commitment to live in harmony with nature mandates our approach to utilities. We have become aware of multiple ways to live well harnessing natural resources of water, wind, and sun. We are eagerly pursuing many of these possibilities as we begin to build out Elk Meadows.
Water: Our central water system provides crystal clear water from a natural aquifer. However, we do not take this abundant water for granted. We recycle water in order to make wise use of it. Every home must have a gray water system which makes it possible to use culinary water a second time, for such things as irrigation and toilet flushes.
Sewer: In the high desert of Elk Meadows, water conservation is of primary importance. Every home is on our sewer system. We are developing that system's capacity to cleanse wastewater so that it is pure and reusable for streams and ponds.
Electricity: Many technologies for harvesting wind and solar energy are rapidly coming onto the market. In Elk Meadows' future, alternative energy sources will play a major role. One of our partners is serving on Utah's wind power task force. We are designing our water recycling process to make use of wind energy, and are teaming up with nearby Monticello to explore ways to harvest the energy available from wind and sun.
Heat: Most homes in rural Utah have their own propane tanks. We will begin with in-ground tanks, and eventually migrate to natural gas piped into homes. We also are exploring geo-thermal heat systems which make use of the earth's natural temperature to create heat and cooling of homes without any additional fuels being required. These systems lower heating and cooling costs by about 75%. We have plans to make geo-thermal hook-ups available to homes (additional one-time fee required.)
|
|
|
