The Earth has been running through the planetarium system for millions of years now, and since its formation it has been tightly related to nature. In fact, in any graphical representation, mother earth, the land, is represented as green, natural. Since then, the ecological/environmental system has been found on a universal equilibrium where any creature is in total harmony with nature which founded the balance of our planet. However, our appearance as a more complex specie, complicated the natural global process.
Our articulate specie defeated the natural and broke all the rules of the universe and instead of our gradual extinction like most of the early creatures, we were able to overcome the environment and to surprisingly adapt it to our needs. And thus we grew bigger as proved in all demographic researches and our population increased rapidly especially after the radical ‘evolutive’ era that is still till nowadays thriving.
Our humanity and articulate character permitted us, since the Greek Empire, to appreciate the ‘logos’- logic- over the ‘mythos’- ideologies and values. Logical thinking permitted us to observe, think, predict and find solutions to problems accordingly; in other words to build properly. This is how we enhanced the quality of our lifestyles and avoided the natural disasters, although we were the main reason behind other more dangerous catastrophes especially after the invention of weapons. We were our own savors and our own destructors- Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s nuclear bombs. Our misconception and misinterpretation of the flow of our actions not only caused our premature fatality but also accelerated the environmental resources’ extinction illustrated by the climatic changes, pollution and the planet global warming.
As a way to relieve our human consciousness, international protocols for the environment took place and many actors have taken upon themselves the responsibility to raise people’s awareness all over the world. Designers/architects as well contributed to this issue by creating the sustainable movement. The latter, which is a built system that uses the natural resources and recycles it to re-use it again, is being applied largely in all kinds building’s typomorphologies.
Residential buildings have taken the lead in the application of sustainability through the green construction movement where resources are being managed and especially the water resources and solid wastes that are being reworked and recycled as gas for domestic use.
Concerning the water system in building, two drainage systems are employed, one known as black water; it carries human excrements through special pipes to be discharged in the sewage system. The other system is constituted by the pipes carrying the grey water; it includes both lavatory and bath water. This second water system is usually either treated within the building so the water will be reused in the fixtures or it will be treated elsewhere to be discharged in the sea. This cycle is known as a primary level of treatment; it is somehow practiced in Lebanon on a small and limited scale at Al-Ghadir Sewage Water plant. When the second level is attained, the grey water can actually be used for irrigation or for fixtures (flushing the WC). And finally, if the last level is reached, grey water could eventually become tap water.
Unfortunately, none of the two last cycles exist in Lebanon or in Metropolitan Beirut, or even within the limits of Ras el Nabeh where the picture has been shot. In fact, most of the grey water drained from the residential buildings in Ras el Nabeh circulates through the sewage system to be directly projected in our Mediterranean sea, at the shore’s level which does not only result in undesirable odors but also results in the spread of bacteria and diseases in the polluted air. Nevertheless, the leftover residential buildings within the area drain its grey water in the manhole to reach Al-Ghadir’s river that transports the water to Al-Ghadir’s plant and accomplish the primary level of treatment but not to be reused, but to be discharged in the sea.
The abuse of our water does not rotate around its treatment and discharge but also about the mixing of both the grey and the black unrecyclable water within the same water receptible system. Moreover, our lack of coordination and underground planning resulted in a mischarge of our rainwater that is directly shed in the grey and black water sewage system instead of assigning an independent water receptible system.
Our unconscious environmental abuse is extending to generate greater calamities that are one more time added in the human’s record, especially in developing countries such as ours. Our unaware actions, although unintentionally, are severely afflicting our natural ecological system and profoundly altering our water system that is rapidly proceeding into wreckage.
Perhaps, the first step to begin with of the healing process should be at least the installation of a sewage system (manholes) in some forgotten area. This is not to mention that the usage and exploitation of the underground water resource should directly clogged and future plans should be put under study in order to utilize our abundant rainwater and to store for future usage and distribution within the built systems and the different city usages.
Our articulate specie defeated the natural and broke all the rules of the universe and instead of our gradual extinction like most of the early creatures, we were able to overcome the environment and to surprisingly adapt it to our needs. And thus we grew bigger as proved in all demographic researches and our population increased rapidly especially after the radical ‘evolutive’ era that is still till nowadays thriving.
Our humanity and articulate character permitted us, since the Greek Empire, to appreciate the ‘logos’- logic- over the ‘mythos’- ideologies and values. Logical thinking permitted us to observe, think, predict and find solutions to problems accordingly; in other words to build properly. This is how we enhanced the quality of our lifestyles and avoided the natural disasters, although we were the main reason behind other more dangerous catastrophes especially after the invention of weapons. We were our own savors and our own destructors- Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s nuclear bombs. Our misconception and misinterpretation of the flow of our actions not only caused our premature fatality but also accelerated the environmental resources’ extinction illustrated by the climatic changes, pollution and the planet global warming.
As a way to relieve our human consciousness, international protocols for the environment took place and many actors have taken upon themselves the responsibility to raise people’s awareness all over the world. Designers/architects as well contributed to this issue by creating the sustainable movement. The latter, which is a built system that uses the natural resources and recycles it to re-use it again, is being applied largely in all kinds building’s typomorphologies.
Residential buildings have taken the lead in the application of sustainability through the green construction movement where resources are being managed and especially the water resources and solid wastes that are being reworked and recycled as gas for domestic use.
Concerning the water system in building, two drainage systems are employed, one known as black water; it carries human excrements through special pipes to be discharged in the sewage system. The other system is constituted by the pipes carrying the grey water; it includes both lavatory and bath water. This second water system is usually either treated within the building so the water will be reused in the fixtures or it will be treated elsewhere to be discharged in the sea. This cycle is known as a primary level of treatment; it is somehow practiced in Lebanon on a small and limited scale at Al-Ghadir Sewage Water plant. When the second level is attained, the grey water can actually be used for irrigation or for fixtures (flushing the WC). And finally, if the last level is reached, grey water could eventually become tap water.
Unfortunately, none of the two last cycles exist in Lebanon or in Metropolitan Beirut, or even within the limits of Ras el Nabeh where the picture has been shot. In fact, most of the grey water drained from the residential buildings in Ras el Nabeh circulates through the sewage system to be directly projected in our Mediterranean sea, at the shore’s level which does not only result in undesirable odors but also results in the spread of bacteria and diseases in the polluted air. Nevertheless, the leftover residential buildings within the area drain its grey water in the manhole to reach Al-Ghadir’s river that transports the water to Al-Ghadir’s plant and accomplish the primary level of treatment but not to be reused, but to be discharged in the sea.
The abuse of our water does not rotate around its treatment and discharge but also about the mixing of both the grey and the black unrecyclable water within the same water receptible system. Moreover, our lack of coordination and underground planning resulted in a mischarge of our rainwater that is directly shed in the grey and black water sewage system instead of assigning an independent water receptible system.
Our unconscious environmental abuse is extending to generate greater calamities that are one more time added in the human’s record, especially in developing countries such as ours. Our unaware actions, although unintentionally, are severely afflicting our natural ecological system and profoundly altering our water system that is rapidly proceeding into wreckage.
Perhaps, the first step to begin with of the healing process should be at least the installation of a sewage system (manholes) in some forgotten area. This is not to mention that the usage and exploitation of the underground water resource should directly clogged and future plans should be put under study in order to utilize our abundant rainwater and to store for future usage and distribution within the built systems and the different city usages.
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