g'day dee,

we believe in keepojg it simple so our washing machine water gets pumped directly to our vege' gardens, we wash our dishes in a plastic bowl and that water goes to the vege garden, we have 2 buckets in the shower (doesn't capture all water) and that goes to food trees mostly, and to top it off i save me wee water and that goes to citrus trees.

to go one step further we use a twin tub washing machine to save the use of water, 90 litres does the washing and rinsing, and that does 3 X 4 kilogram loads. even though we collect rainwater in 55 gal plastic drums to use for clothes washing we still don't waste it.

nothing elaborate all simple.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

Hi len,

Thanks for the reply. I use buckets in the shower too, as well as turning the water off while soaping up and shampooing. I'd love to hook up the shower to a holding tank, though - with four people showering a day that's a lot of buckets to carry down the stairs and outside! Plus, as you said, it doesn't catch a whole lot of water.

Can you give me more specifics on how your washing machine gets pumped to your garden? I'm looking for how to hook things up and lay things out, etc. I'm mechanically challenged, so I need lots of specifics, lol!

Thanks,
Dee

g'day dee,

if the bathroom is upstairs then there maybe a possibility of cutting into the drain pipe and putting in a grey water diverter which would save the bucket idea.

over here we can buy a length of the same construction hose the wash machines use and it coems with a rubber connector to fit it to the washing machine hose and emptying time. there are more elaborate systems as well but that one is nice and simple.

so long as the hose is of a slightly bigger diameter to the wash machine hose there should be no problems.

len

Thanks len. And so you hook up this hose to the washer machine and then...? Does it run directly to the garden? Does it go into some kind of holding tank/bucket, which you then carry out to the garden? Is this tank/bucket outside or inside (basement, perhaps?)?

Also, I just reread your first post more closely and saw that you do use this water on your fruits and vegetables. I wasn't sure about that - but you have had no ill effects? I figured it would be relatively safe, but since I sell at a farmer's market, I also figured I'd stay on the safe side and not use it on vegetables.

Thanks again!
Dee

One caveat is that many areas have laws against grey water reuse (even some that would most benefit). Before doing any diversion, check your local listings.

g'day dee,

we have been using grey water for over a decade now with no ill effects as there are no ill effects to be had, mind you we don't waste any water by spraying over the top we deliver all water to the root zone area.

saw a comment i agree with from experience and it was on one of the forums here, the person said something like this "with all the fear hype associated with using greywater there has never been a single recorded incident of anyone being hospitalised with and illness in relation to its use". and i might add the same goes over here all this fear hype and not one hard evidence case to prove any problems, with using a system that makes sense.

that pretty much says it we use wee water as well.

we don't store the grey water we use it as fresh as so it has had no time to ferment and get smelly which it will do understandably, however if you are carefull and just for convenience you could run it to a drum and then within the next few hours drain or pump that to the plants, remember to flush some fresh water through the drum each time.

local authorities have laws so they can dictate it doesn't mean that law offers any real protection from anything percieved or otherwise.

len

Check out this magazine online: http://www.onsitewater.com/ow.html

Thanks len, for that further info. And thanks bob64 for the link. There was some interesting reading there.

I'm getting frustratd because it seems I can only find information regarding large, intricate systems which need to be installed before a house is built, or which require major overhaul. Lots of websites are either industrial, or again, have plans for the pre-building stages of a house. And what info there is for smaller gardens seems to require beds built specifically for this purpose.

Not much on how an average homeowner can save a few gallons of water and use it on her/his existing garden.

Thanks to those who responded. I do truly appreciate the feedback.

:)
Dee

Diggerdee, you know you can make stuff too complicated, don't you?
My mom had a hose attached to one of the bath rooms and another to the washing machine and just ran it into the yard. One watered just grass and the other watered some citrus trees we had in South Texas. Grass sure grew fine and the citrus was REALL sweet.
It did make it easier that the house was built on piers.
Mike

But you see, Mike, when you are as mechanically challenged as I am, even THAT is too complicated, lol! I mean, I need specifics. I wouldn't even know how or where to start to attach a hose to my shower drain or sink drain. Do you mean just a garden hose? And do I just run it down into the basement into a bucket? And then what do I do in the winter when I can't use this water in the garden? Can I just hook the drain(s) back up to the pipes?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - I really do need more specific information to try to picture this in my mind, never mind try to implement it.

Thanks for your input!
Dee

We have our shower drain hooked up to a hose that delivers the water to a flowerbed on the east side of our house which has two pecan trees that nearly died during our drought and water restrictions.

And on the other side of the house we have our washer hose running into a tank that slowly drains with two hoses, one for the back garden and another to that side garden.

We would not use the tank but for some reason the washer drain blows back, but with a larger hose into the tank, no blow-back. Plus in the winter we can have a few spells where the hoses freeze up but with a tank we can wash 3 or more loads of clothes with no problem. Usually we get above freezing in a short time and the tank drains. We are fortunate to live where temps are mild.

We hope to remodel our kitchen and when we do the kitchen sink will get a grey water hose. At present we wash dishes in a dishpan and haul water to the garden in a bucket. Amazing what a few gallons of water will do for shrubs, trees and flowers during a drought. I find that where the kitchen sink water is poured we have more earthworms.

Wish the city would lower my bill since we are not sending very much to the water treatment plant! And we recycle all glass, cans, plastic and compost all paper and food waste, so we are not putting much in the garbage as well.

I have two granddaughters and hope what little we are doing will make a difference for them when they are my age.

Peggy

Thanks for that info, Peggy. Where do the hoses from the shower drain and washer machine exit the house? Do you run them down into the basement and then out? Through a window? And is the hose to the trees buried? Also, are the hoses that run from the tank buried? And if so, how deeply?

Thank you!
Dee

After my initial post about greywater laws, I did a little digging and found that in the western US, the greywater laws have nothing to do with health, and everything to do with water rights. Apparently, the way the water rights work, we get the right to USE our water once, so if we shower in it, then water our garden, we're "stealing" from somebody who has purchased the rights to the water after its first use.

If you're still with me, it's ok to do something like put a bucket in the shower while the water is warming up, or catch the water in the sink before you shave. You just can't divert the drain water, because after you've used it, it belongs to somebody else. Odd as that sounds, it makes more sense to me now why there would be laws against reusing water in drought areas.

bpgreen, that's very interesting. I had always thought that any restrictions were based on health reasons also. At first your explanation regarding water rights sounded kind of outrageous, but you're right - I guess it does kind of make sense (in terms of rights, at least) in areas with lower water availability. Not much sense in terms of water conservation though.

I'm on a well, (and, on a well in an area with city water, so most of my neighbors are on city water) so I figure that I own my water outright, lol. I'm not paying anyone for the use of water, or for the water itself, so I like to think I'm Queen of My Well.

:)
Dee

yes bpgreen,

it si all about control, and sometime in the future all of us will have the same/similar regulations, they also believe well not believe they also say they own 90% of rain water and all other water including sea water, and there are already legislations over here to protect their rite. they not interested in conservation just profit and control.

there could never be a health issue with greywater unless of course you drank it maybe? but they throw the fear campagne into gear and the uninformed in our society hop on the band wagon without questioning.

len

len, I agree with you on the health issue. Like you said, unless you drink it, greywater isn't really a health menace, but people seem to be so afraid of it. And, admittedly without having read too much in-depth, it seems to me that the powers that be either buy into this when setting their regulations, or don't care to update and move ahead with the regulations and their way of thinking.

Hopefully as people tune in more to the environment and how we are affecting it (and I'm hopeful that that is indeed happening, however slowly) people at all levels will be more open-minded and inform themselves (and take appropriate action to change their ways).

Dee

yes dee,

we need to get the fear hype out of the equation so the community at large will tell the gov' what we need to do to conserve.

the fear hype is gov' driven.

like i say we have been using for over a decade now and our skin isn't falling off or we don't have warts growing all over us, never been sick, and our dog is as healthy as! and we share our produce around when we have to much and guess what none of those people are suffering in anyway, apart from us maybe not being able to give them enough.

len

While reading through another garden forum site, I came across this website, which I thought might be of interest to many of us here.

I haven't looked at the whole site, yet, but did read up on her composting toilet/septic system efforts.

I found it quite interesting. I initially was interested in using greywater as a means of conservation. She brings up nitrogen and its effects on the environment, which I guess is another aspect we should research.

Dee

Here is a link that might be useful: Solviva

Dee

Sorry, had not returned to the forum until DH was asking about posts regarding greywater.

We have no basement; pier and beam so the hose it attached under the bathroom floor and runs outside on top of the ground. I try to move it daily. We are in a dry area so this water is welcome even in the winter.

The washer water is currently going on a new canna bed plus a new Burning Bush. It is on the edge of the dripline for one of our peach trees.

DH has done same treatment to our kitchen sink and that is now watering another pecan tree and other new plants from swaps on GW.

Peggy

Hi Peggy,

Thank you - it was very thoughtful of you to respond after such a long absence! Most people would not have bothered.

Thanks for that further info. Is your set-up "legal"? Is it to code etc.?

Dee

another idea you might find interesting, some parks, buildings and home use a pond filtration with cattails and other plants to cleanse making the water even fresher for gardens. Search and you will find many ideas. Parks that plan the outhouses to cleanse naturally, big commercial buildings that use a graduated trough system with the final stage, a lush green atrium, and home owners that haf progressive ponds ending with fish and wildlife flurishing. There are tons of different concepts to explore.

diggerdee,
I'm in the most restrictive county in Texas for sewer systems and they do not regulate grey water systems in the country. Every state, county, and city may have regulations concerning grey water and you will need to check where you live.
I currently take washing machine water to a dry well with an over-flow opening for that. It dumps water in the vicinty of 2 trees. About 10-15' away. No noticeable effect that I can tell.
Most washing machine pumps are not that strong and so it is best to maintain as simple and as short a piping system as necessary. The point of discharge for washing machine must be below the highest point on the "entrance pipe". Also size of pipe is important, minimum size should be 2", any less and you may experience blow-back or back feed, where the discharge water being pumped blows out or flows out of the drain pipe at the point of entry.

My old engineering books used to specify that an 80' minimum lateral distance should be maintained between a well and a septic system. Not sure how far is necessary for a grey water system, but I would strive to maintain that 80' distance if at all possible just to be safe. Once again, your county, city, or state may have specific requirements.

If you have a septic system currently, then the waste-water, regardless of who owns it, is going into your ground. If you use it for irrigation, then again most of it ends up in the groundwater (though some is lost to evaporation and transpiration).

If your washing machine is on the first floor, then look in the basement at the underside of the floor and you'll see the pvc drain pipe coming down. In that case it's easy to cut it and attach new pipe of the same size and run it out a basement window or vent and thusly along the ground to wherever you want. Just don't restrict the pipe diameter at any point. If the machine is on the sencond floor then you won't be able to catch the drain before it joins the blackwater stream, unless you're willing to rip out some wall and cieling.

In the most likely event that the machine is in the basement, and so below grade, all you can practicably do is take the drain-hose out of the pvc and stick it in a barrel or large bucket and haul the water out. it can be as much as 30 gallons per load so make sure it's a big enough receptacle. What you don't want to do is make the machine pump water uphill - if that works at all it won't for long, it'll burn out the pump, which is only designed to lift the water a short couple of feet up out of the drum into a drain where gravity takes over. So if the drum of the machine is more than at most two feet below where you want the water to end up then it's not going to work.

A greywater system can be as elaborate or as simple as you make it. You can use one of the homemade systems above or purchase a pre-built system. There is a system by a company called flotender which takes water from your shower and washing machine and uses it to irrigate your plants using drip irrigation. I've seen it in action and it's pretty amazing. However it does cost more than doing it yourself but if you want a less time consuming solution check out flotender.

Here is a link that might be useful: Grey Water Systems