Relying on bacterial action and no filters or chemicals one can reclaim the gray water from the house and use it for agricultural purpose. The only thing I could not do myself is to divert the sewage pipes. My X wife who is probably one of my best friends and whose family has adopted me, has 2 plumbers in the group. They diverted all of the sewer water except for the toilet and sent it into my greenhouse where it arrives at ground level. I could do everything else myself with HD materials.

It is diverted to the bottom of a 40 Gallon heavy duty garbage can, which is sunk into the ground, where it is released under a load of 3/4" gravel. The gravel goes 2/3 up then there is a 5 gallon plastic bucket with holes in it that houses a sump pump. When the level comes within about 8"of the top of the large can the sump pump goes on and elevates to water to the next 40 gallon GB can which now sits at ground level.

It is released on top of the 3/4" gravel which fills the can. A pipe picks it up at the bottom and brings it to the next GB can where it again is released on top of the gravel. This all happens below the top of the cans so holes had to be drilled. The process repeats itself with 3 more gravel filled cans. I have a total of 5 cans filled with gravel and the water passes through the last 4 by gravity, is moved from can 1 to can 2 by the sump pump.

The last can then picks up it's water from the bottom and releases it into an empty can. There are a total of 4 empty cans simply connected by 3/4" pipe. The clean water holding cans have an overflow which goes into the flower bed in front of the house. By experimenting I found out how much lower the clean water cans have to be in order for gravity to move the water down the pipe.

Finally a powerful pump will send the water to the 3 watering stations I use, 2 for the orchids and 1 in front of the house. I have not bought the pump yet, wanted to make sure the rest works. So far so good, no odor, the water comes out clear. Tomorrow I'll feed it to my dog , if she survives, I'll drink it myself.

The cleaning happens by bacteria which coat everything. there is a bag of sand at the bottom of each can. One bag of sand has a greater surface area for bacteria then 20 bags of gravel but the water won't move through the sand hence the gravel. The only problem I see is when the laundry person uses bleach to clean white socks or something like that. Happens about once a month. I have a valve where I can send the water straight into the sewer which I will do every time bleach is used as that would be detrimental to the bacteria on which everything relies.

Once everything is dialed in I'll place a bench on to of the above ground cans so as to not loose any greenhouse space, heaven forbid. The whole thing cost about $600 to $700 but I should recapture it in a couple of years with lowered water bills. The main reason I did it is to be prepared if the city I live in ever rations water usage. I use about 5 times as much water as my neighbor.

I'll report every week or so on progress and tomorrow take a few pictures. It's still messy, haven't had time to polish it yet.

Nick