Jim -- I'm VERY interested. I'm in Ventura Co., where are you located?

I am in Palo Alto.

OK. You've got more water than we do, but still very relevant. I'll P.M. you in the morning.

Good work. May I ask what the idea behind those basins is? To avoid runoff?

Here is a useful resource for gray water systems. http://oasisdesign.net/greywater/laundry/

The plastic case is just to make sure that spigot doesn't get buried in dirt or clogged with roots. The plastic case is set in a hole filled with mulch. It can be about 1-3 feet from the plant, depending on your soil, size of plant, amount of water, etc. The water flows out through the mulch and to the plant roots. It can take them a little time to find the water.

If you're handy, you can probably do the job yourself. But if you're not, there are plenty of companies that will install a system.

I'll post a few more photos of the system. But I'm in my office now.

We've not wasted our gray water here in the much more humid and wetter east. Our well water from limstone fractures comes out of the ground, we used it and if it's not bound for the septic tank it goes onto roses.

Winters here are wet, and the grey water may make an area too wet certain months of the year. We should divert it farther down the hill for winter months.

China roses have a real winter preference for the fronts of borders where drainage is stronger. What I've seen in the past three years is that if drainage is good enough so that daffodils don't rot, the Chinas do well.

In summer, the roses never have too much water. The evaporation rates are so much higher June-August that the occassional 5" rain didn't bother the roses in July. (This year we had nine well spaced inches....no problem because it was hot and windy when it wasn't raining. The weeds loved it.)

Our humidity drops in winter, in summer it's enough to support lichens growing on all sides of trees as well as on metal outdoor porch furniture. That really messes up any evapotranspiration rates that are published for this region. The river really does affect us without adding solid precipitation.

The other thing that I see that might influence some of your planning is that soils that look alike aren't necessarily alike. One end of a bed retains water much better than the other and I don't know why (and I don't have the lab to do clay analyses.)

I'm very interested as well and thank you so much for posting photos.