Water. The universal solvent. The life blood of the planet. Whatever way you look at it, it is the major limiting or enabling factor for human habitation, or indeed any species. All life processes require water, and for many eons life could only exist in the ocean. The ocean is pulled by the moon, and this has given us a legacy of lunar rhythms that still affect our lives in many ways.

Average rainfall in Denmark is around 1100mm/year, though falling. The South West forests help ensure the region remains an oasis within the second driest state in the world. The Hay, Sleeman and Denmark rivers form a catchment spanning three shires - Plantaganet, Albany and Denmark, a total of over 2263 square kms. At 600 million years old, they form one of the oldest river systems in the world. The Wilson Inlet - the place they all empty into - was formed only 5-6000 years ago after the last ice age. It was an important aboriginal meeting place, with evidence of 3000 year old fish traps still remaining. It is 14x4 kilometres covering approximately 56 square kilometres, and provides recreation and livelihoods for many. The inlet enters into the Southern Ocean through an artificial channel, created annually through the sand bar; the cause of much discussion and healthy debate in the town! It divides the magnificent Ocean Beach into two during early summer. It is a spectacular, rugged, and very unspoilt coast line. Whales, dolphins and seals are regular visitors, and it is migratory home to many of the worlds waterbirds.

The upper end of the catchment is becoming increasingly saline, with 11% lost already to salt, and 40% under threat. Much work has been done by local groups to stem this by fencing water lines from agriculture, and allowing re-generation of native plant species.

Preserving the quality and quantity of water would have to be a primary goal of any sustainable system.

At Living Waters, we have come to the conclusion that dry composting toilets are the only sensible way to deal with solid human waste. Not only does it save almost half the amount of water used in an average house, its by-product is fine organic matter. It seems absurd to us that we use such a precious resource to flush away our waste - that is itself so badly needed on the land! The remaining water used by ourselves is thus drastically reduced and becomes far easier to deal with, as grey water. Nevertheless, excess phosphates are a particular problem with washing and laundry water. Low-phosphate detergents are an obvious bonus.

Large scale pollution of water bodies (such as the toxic algal blooms that kill the fish etc) are generally the result of agriculture, and in city areas horticulture, especially lawns and golf courses! The result of excess nutrient being leached into the waterways. At a domestic level, grey water becomes easy to deal with by using biological systems that use plants and worms to deal with excess nutrients from waste washing water.

If forests are the lungs of the earth, wetlands are the kidneys - Natures way of cleaning up water before it enters the waterway. By creating a constructed wetland system we are mimicking this process and can be sure that the water re-enters our creeks free from pollution.