We do the same as you...we run an extension off of the central air for the water to run right into the garden.

-keep a bucket by the kitchen sink. When we rinse out the coffee pot or something relatively food-free, we dump the water into the bucket. When it's full, we water our container plants. You'd be surprised how much water a family can send down the drain.
-when the pool filter gets backwashed, the runoff water gets directed to the garden.
-when giving fresh water to pets, the old water is used for the garden. We also dump the dirty chicken water into the plants.

I bailed the water out of my bath tub (after my bath) and used it to water the cedars.

Liatris52

Thanks Jen1bolt for starting this thread! You answered a question I had (and had written about in another thread in this forum just a few minutes ago). I'm on my way to figuring out how to use that water from our air conditioner!

Apparently you can use gray water from a washing machine, but I'm wondering how to do this, other than moving the hose to a large bucket and carrying it out of the house. Wish there were some way to have it drain OUTside into a bucket, but unless I altered the plumbing, I don't see how!

Dont forget the dehumiderfier. I get 2 buckets/day

Hi all,
For my water loving roses, and tomatoes, this year I purchased AquaCones, they cost about $10.00 and have saved all my plants from even a little stress from this drought. All you need is a little sand and some 2 liter bottles, they are great!! I got them from Gardener's Supply Co.

I am not having drought conditions. I do collect rain water because our well does not supply enough water to water my garden on a regular basis. I do live on a sandy hill top .
Hate for the clothes washer water to go in the septic, so wasteful of all that water . I put a long plastic pipe through my dryer vent to connect to my washer drain, useing some clamps, cutting a few holes. The pipe is not pretty, but it is long enough I can move it around the yard to water a few plants I can really tell the difference in the plants.
I also have a water garden pump connected to a water hose, and a long electric extension cord. I move it around to my water collection barrels when I want to water from the them.
Lindag

I put this question up at the iris forum but I think it would be best answered here... I understand not to add bleach to the wash if it's draining into the garden but what about using Downy fabric softener, is this a problem? and also I use Murphy's Oil Soap to clean my husband's mechanic jeans... (works great!) Is there anything else besides bleach I should be concerned with? I new to this so even the obvious is appreciated!

Thanks for the tip on using the water from the a/c unit! I put a bucket under the pvc pipe that ours drips from and in a few hours, already collected about a quart or 2 of water. Now my problem is that the drain pipe is only about 6" off the ground, so I have the bucket on an angle. I need to figure out how to be able to have the bucket upright, and still enable the pipe to drain into it!

i have those big plastic dollar-store buckets, with the white plastic rope handles, sitting under my eaves to catch rainwater (if we ever get any!). also, i wash dishes in the sink, so i dip out the rinse water into watering cans and use it for my deck containers. next is going to be buckets in the shower!

I, too, use the water from our dehumidifier. Those who have posted about using water from the central a/c. How do you go about doing that? Thanks. Linda

My mom uses the AC water as well. I don't know where all my AC water goes. Anyway, I have an ancient but still efficient de-hunmidifer in the basement and I collect the water from that for plant use. I also use the greywater from the washing machine. That kept my hydrangea alive back in 1999!

I dug a whole down under the pvc pipe that my bucket sits in. It works well plus the extra just fills up the hole, which I can also scoop out. Murphys Oil Soap is fine for plants. Many people use it on leaves to keep slug ans bugs from eating them.
I might just have to buy a dehumidifier just for the watersupply.
Jen

Why is everyone using buckets to collect water from your ac units.wouldn't it be more efficent to put a reducer if needed on the end of your ac pipe.connect an old water hose long enough to reach the garden,and use another connector,to connect drip hose to it,and run it thru your garden and just change it once in a while.are you losing any water when you forget to empty the bucket.save on the back to not having to carry so much.

...until a few days ago, we hadn't had rain in 32 days... it was getting ugly out there.... hubby bought me a clear plastic tubing that fit on the end of the washer drain hose.... it was long enuff to run out the kitchen window and out to a kiddie pool.... also grabbed two black plastic liners I used in my half-barrel planter and set them up to catch the water also.....granted, it's a bit of a chore to run out there and haul water every two loads, but I'm saving 60 gallons of water for every load.....we have to disconnect the drain hose when we do a clorox load, but all others go to the garden....it's kept my stuff alive and well... and I'm told that the low phosphate soap I use is best and that there is some additive in it that is one of the trace elements, like potassium, that plants need, so I'm in no fear of using the water.....we've caught shower water (while you are waiting for it to warm up, in a five gallon bucket), dish rinsing water and the water from the air conditioner.....one other little thing.... all the soda bottles, two or three liters, that we get, we fill with water and stash out in the shed....not only for the plants, but for the fish ponds and in case of a disaster like a hurricane we'll have water handy.....all this hauling water is great exercise, too.....makes ya wonder how the folks a long time ago did it.....tough bunch!.....oh... we used to have a pipe that ran out of the air conditioner and into a gravel pit underground.... we even built it to keep that area of the yard from being soggy.... but now, we've sawed off the pipe, leaving enuff to reconnect it someday, and tucked the kiddie pool under it.....dog appreciates it, too.....one more... if your hose is out in the sun all day before you use it, the water in there is too hot to immediately hit the plants with... have a bucket handy to catch it and let it cool off to use later.....and, you need to use the gray water you catch at least by the next day, otherwise it gets ucky... don't think the plants mind it, but it's not a good thing.....bacteria and such, ya know.....that dish water that's a bit food-y.... throw it on the compost pile.... that's one we tend to forget, and it needs water, too.....if you need to drain or clean a pond use that water on blooming plants... they love it.... I change about 20% of my water every two weeks to keep ahead of the algae and put it on the plants around the pond... they are the happiest I have!!!.....

Keep the hints coming... don't think we're gonna get much rain the rest of the week.... and thanks....

Carlean...it depends on where your garden is!!!

Dicentra, what's "dirty chicken water" ? The chickens I have known were not into bathing LOL.

Carlean - "Everyone" doesn't live in a house with a yard. I'm on the 18th floor of a hi-rise with a long balcony. Everything I have is in containers. So the 2 window ACs (located in windows on opposite ends of a 40' long balcony) get drip buckets.

Ellisgardener thanks for the tip on dishwater + reminder about tending the compost! Perfect! I KNEW I was overlooking something...

In the mid-Atlantic states, we are also experiencing the driest summer ever recorded! We have had barely half the precipitation that we usually received in previous years. Some counties in Maryland are under "water restrictions", others are in "crisis mode", some have run out of water, and those counties will have to resort to having water trucked into their areas. The situation is quite severe, with long lasting ramifications!

We have been "recycling" our water all summer. We have kept a plastic bucket in each bathroom which has a shower/tub. The grey water is then used to water the veggies, flowers, bushes & trees. Do you have any idea how many gallons of water go down your bathtub/shower drain each day???!!! Also water from the washing machine can be used too. Of course, no bleach is added to the wash water. I DON'T think the plants would appreciate that! Unfortunately, we can't un-hook the hoses from the A.C. units, or we would use that grey water too! If you go on a picnic and you use ice cubes to keep the food in the cooler cold, dump the water from the melted cubes on a nearby tree or bush! It doesn't have to grow in your yard, please just give them a drink of water. Everybody and ALL plant life are in this crisis together~we are in it for the long haul!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent topic!!! Please keep the ideas flowing.

bleach in the water can be eliminated if you let the water sit in the sun for at least 24 hours. Sunlight breaks down bleach into harmless chemicals - at least that's why my sister says and she has a Masters Degree in Chemistry.

Shirley, I know what you mean! This has been the worst drought in our area that I've ever seen and I couldn't stand to see all that bath and shower water wasted either, so I kept many plants alive with that water too. I think this drought has really impressed upon me to stop being so wasteful--we are starting to get some much needed rain, but I will continue to water with gray water anyway.

Well,

I purchased 5 plastic pre-fab rainbarrels that work just great! They are set up to catch rainwater from the gutters.

They are each hooked to soaker hoses, and when the groundcovers begin to look limp, I simply flip a switch.

On one side of my house, these rainbarrels actually corrected a very nagging seepage problem (due to having TWO gutters set too close together).

My only "problem" is timing the next rainfall. I often look at the doppler map on Weather.com.

If I am reasonably sure that a rainfall is due, then I let the existing water out of the barrels into my soaker system, and then re-capture more rain.

Janet