:dubious:
:rolleyes:
You could attach piezoelectric generators to that eyebrow
And the rotary motion of those eyes should be pretty easy to convert to useful work.
And how much energy could you generate from a good solid Pit flaming? 
Granted its a stupid idea, but what actual law would it break ? I mean I can see it breaking some of the small print in your agreement with the water co., but a law ?
I’m still wondering why we haven’t managed to extract electricity from the rotary motion of buried corpses.
It probably doesn’t break any laws.
As a matter of fact, it supports Beowulff’s Law which is:
“Whenever there is a ‘system,’ someone will try to game it”
Slight hijack - In my youth I once lived in a small 1 bedroom apartment which had metered electric heat but used a ganged unmetered hot water heater. I would fill my tub and sink with hot water before I went to work in order to “steal” some of the heat out of the system throughout the day.
Many water utilities are publicly owned (such as the municipal utility I work at), and have legally-enforceable regulations set by the municipality itself. Violation of the regulations are usually civil, not criminal offenses, similar to littering or speeding. Violators can be fined.
However, even privately-owned utilities are state- or municipally- regulated. The OP is about wasting water, but all water utilities need to be able to legally enforce their rules to protect public health.
One classic example is the use of backflow prevention devices. This is a device that prevents accidental siphoning of contaminated water into the distribution system. It is generally required on large building services (permanently installed) and on fire hydrants (temporarily installed). The water utility has to be able mandate the use of these, or the public health could be compromised.
Another example is protection of sources of water supply from contamination. Another example is prohibition of inappropriate discharges into the sanitary sewers. All of these rules and regulations must be legally enforceable to protect the public health.
However, in the situation of the OP, once the utility figures out what’s going on, they will simply cut off his water.
Anyway, my utility (and most utilities) have water meters, and screwing with the water meter is a whole different ball game, constituting a criminal offense (because it constitutes theft of service).
That’s a good way to raise the humidity in your apartment to the point you start getting mold growing in any dark places. The health risks wouldn’t be worth the energy saved in my opinion.
Because the wires keep breaking loose. . . .
How is that any worse than taking a hot shower or doing some dishes?
If you’re lazy, like me, another way to think of it is, how much power does it take to pump water at house pressure? Take, for example, this electric drill-powered pump. It requires a 350 watt drill to pump 650 gph. That’s actually twice the flow I get out of my home supply which is closer to 5 gallons/minute. Given that you can’t get more energy out of a system than you put into it, my (admittedly crude) numbers agree with robby’s. 175 Watts, max. You couldn’t even power a PC. (And that water-powered robot on Futurama? Forget about it.)
Breach of contract, I expect. (civil, rather than criminal)
Breaching a contract isn’t breaking the law, strictly speaking.
Now, if you had a stream running through your property, this would be a different matter.
Small scale hydro power is gearing up to be a pretty healthy little industry.
Yes guys, it was a stupid idea and even if it was feasible I wouldn’t do it. Its not like I can’t afford my hydro. Its just that my physics education has largely disappeared, and I was curious about how much energy I could harness.
I was thinking that, too.
Showers only last a few minutes, while a tub full of hot water would be there all the time. Also, your premise is flawed. Showers actually can cause humidity and mold problems. That’s why all bathrooms with showers should have ventilation fans that exhaust to the outside, and why fans should always be used when showering.
If the goverment ever lets it. Right now to do it legally here, you have to do the same watershed analysis the power companies have to do when they dam up a valley, even if you’re just diverting a small protion of a stream. It costs big bucks, outweighing any possible economic benefit.