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Rain Barrels
A rainwater tank (sometimes called a rain barrel in North America in reference to smaller tanks, or a water butt in the UK) is a water tank used to collect and store rain water runoff, typically from rooftops via pipes. Rainwater tanks are devices for collecting and maintaining harvested rain. A rainwater catchment or collection (also known as "rainwater harvesting") system can yield of water from of rain on a roof. Rainwater tanks are installed to make use of rain water for later use, reduce mains water use for economic or environmental reasons, and aid self-sufficiency. Stored water may be used for watering gardens, agriculture, flushing toilets, in washing machines, washing cars, and also for drinking, especially when other water supplies are unavailable, expensive, or of poor quality, and when adequate care is taken that the water is not contaminated and is adequately filtered. Underground rainwater tanks can also be used for retention of stormwater for release at a la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CERES Community Environment Park
CERES Community Environment Park is a environmental education centre and social enterprise located in urban Brunswick East, Victoria, Australia. CERES (pronounced ''series)'' stands for Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies. The name also connects with ''Ceres'' the goddess of agriculture in Roman mythology. Established in 1982 on a former rubbish dump, Ceres operates on land owned by the Moreland City Council. CERES is managed as a not-for-profit incorporated association governed by a Board of Management. It provides a range of programs and services including environmental education programs and workshops, an urban farm and community gardens, cafe, grocery, plant nursery and various other social enterprises. Ceres is managed with the principal purpose of "protecting and enhancing the natural environment, including by providing information and education to increase understanding of human impacts on the natural environment". History CERES is located ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mosquito
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "little fly". Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, one pair of wings, one pair of halteres, three pairs of long hair-like legs, and elongated mouthparts. The mosquito life cycle consists of egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages. Eggs are laid on the water surface; they hatch into motile larvae that feed on aquatic algae and organic material. These larvae are important food sources for many freshwater animals, such as dragonfly nymphs, many fish, and some birds such as ducks. The adult females of most species have tube-like mouthparts (called a proboscis) that can pierce the skin of a host and feed on blood, which contains protein and iron needed to produce eggs. Thousands of mosquito species feed on the blood of various hosts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Flashing
Flashing refers to thin pieces of impervious material installed to prevent the passage of water into a structure from a joint or as part of a weather resistant barrier system. In modern buildings, flashing is intended to decrease water penetration at objects such as chimneys, vent pipes, walls, windows and door openings to make buildings more durable and to reduce indoor mold problems. Metal flashing materials include lead, aluminium, copper, stainless steel, zinc alloy, and other materials. Etymology and related terms The origin of the term ''flash'' and ''flashing'' are uncertain, but may come from the Middle English verb ''flasshen'', 'to sprinkle, splash', related to ''flask''. ''Counter-flashing'' (or ''cover flashing'', ''cap flashing'') is a term used when there are two parallel pieces of flashing employed together such as on a chimney, where the counter-flashing is built into the chimney and overlaps a replaceable piece of ''base flashing''. Strips of lead used for flashi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fibrous Cement
Asbestos cement, genericized as fibro, fibrolite (short for "fibrous (or fibre) cement sheet") or AC sheet, is a building material in which asbestos fibres are used to reinforce thin rigid cement sheets. Although invented at the end of the 19th century, the material was adopted extensively during World War II to make easily-built, sturdy and inexpensive structures for military purposes, and it continued to be used widely following the war as an affordable external cladding for buildings. Advertised as a fireproof alternative to other roofing materials such as asphalt, asbestos-cement roofs were popular, not only for safety but also for affordability. Due to asbestos-cement's imitation of more expensive materials such as wood siding and shingles, brick, slate, and stone, the product was marketed as an affordable renovation material. Asbestos-cement faced competition with the aluminum alloy, available in large quantities after WWII, and the reemergence of wood clapboard and vinyl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acrylic Paint
Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted with water, or modified with acrylic gels, mediums, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble a watercolor, a gouache, or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media. Water-based acrylic paints are used as latex house paints, as latex is the technical term for a suspension of polymer microparticles in water. Interior latex house paints tend to be a combination of binder (sometimes acrylic, vinyl, pva, and others), filler, pigment, and water. Exterior latex house paints may also be a co-polymer blend, but the best exterior water-based paints are 100% acrylic, because of its elasticity and other factors. Vinyl, however, costs half of what 100% a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galvanized Iron
Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged in a bath of hot, molten zinc. Protective action The zinc coating, when intact, prevents corrosive substances from reaching the underlying iron. Additional electroplating such as a chromate conversion coating may be applied to provide further surface passivation to the substrate material. History and etymology The earliest known example of galvanized iron was encountered by Europeans on 17th-century Indian armour in the Royal Armouries Museum collection. The term "galvanized" continues to be used metaphorically of any stimulus which results in activity by a person or group of people. In modern usage, the term "galvanizing" has largely come to be associated with zinc coatings, to the exclusion of other metals. Galvanic paint, a prec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead-based Paint
Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead. As pigment, lead(II) chromate (, "chrome yellow"), lead(II,IV) oxide, (, "red lead"), and lead(II) carbonate (, "white lead") are the most common forms.. Lead is added to paint to accelerate drying, increase durability, maintain a fresh appearance, and resist moisture that causes corrosion. It is one of the main health and environmental hazards associated with paint. Lead paint has been generally phased out of use due to the toxic nature of lead. Alternatives such as water-based, lead-free traffic paint are readily available. In some countries, lead continues to be added to paint intended for domestic use, whereas countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have regulations prohibiting its use. However, lead paint may still be found in older properties painted prior to the introduction of such regulations. Although lead has been banned from household paints in the United States since 1978, it may still be f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melbourne Water
Melbourne Water is a Victorian Government-owned statutory authority that controls and manages much of the water bodies and supplies in metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, including the reservoirs, lakes, wetlands, canals and urban creeks, and the sewerage and drainage systems that services the city. Melbourne Water was formed by the merger of Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works and a number of smaller urban water authorities in 1992. Melbourne Water primarily operates under the ''Water Industry Act 1994'' and the ''Water Act 1989''. Overview Melbourne Water is wholly owned by the Victorian State Government. It manages Melbourne's water supply catchments, sewage, rivers and major drainage systems throughout the Port Phillip and Westernport region. Governance of Melbourne Water is by an independent Board of Directors in conjunction with the Minister for Water. Melbourne Water supplies water to the metropolitan retail water businesses (namely, City West Water ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and second smallest state by population. It has a total of 1.8 million people. Its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second-largest centre, has a population of 33,233. South Australia shares borders with all of the other mainland states, as well as the Northern Territory; it is bordered to the west by Western Australia, to the north by the Northern Territory, to the north-east by Queensland, to the east by New South Wales, to the south-east by Victoria, and to the south by the Great Australian Bight.M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New South Wales Department Of Health
The New South Wales Ministry of Health, branded NSW Health, is a ministerial department of the New South Wales Government. NSW Health supports the executive and statutory roles of the Minister for Health, the Minister for Regional Health, and the Minister for Mental Health. The Ministry also monitors the performance of state-wide health organisations that collectively make up NSW Health. It is primarily responsible for the public health system in New South Wales, particularly through public hospitals as well as associated agencies and statutory authorities, such as the NSW Ambulance service. The provision or delivery of health services are delegated to sixteen local health districts, who provide services in a wide range of settings, from primary care posts in the remote outback to metropolitan tertiary health centres, including specialist networks that are focused on children's and paediatric services; custodial health and forensic mental health; and associated agencies. Le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types of air pollutants, such as gases (including ammonia, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane, carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons), particulates (both organic and inorganic), and biological molecules. Air pollution can cause diseases, allergies, and even death to humans; it can also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops, and may damage the natural environment (for example, climate change, ozone depletion or habitat degradation) or built environment (for example, acid rain). Air pollution can be caused by both human activities and natural phenomena. Air pollution is a significant risk factor for a number of pollution-related diseases, including respiratory infections, heart disease, COPD ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
