Talk to me about gray water please

[Lovechooks]

We have a tank that all the washing water gets pumped into, can't use the blackwater (sink) as it's too greasy, anyway the tank is underground and DH has hooked up a pump to it and a spinkler system we water the whole garden with it and it does stink but only while it's watering and we do it all at night so not to spray anyone.

We are allowed to use it straight on the garden and we use a special detergent that is garden safe.

My roses and all plants are looking fantastic, we actually have green grass out the front all Summer as we must use this water with 24 hours and I do A LOT of washing I had a child in nappies (cloth) and my business goes through a lot of towels plus washing for 5 family members.

The water board actually came and checked the system as we had a complaint, they thought we were spinkling with mains water which we are not allowesd to do.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Those of you who are interested in using laundry greywater in the landscape, I found a nice article on a relatively quick & easy set up. I hope someone finds this article helpful!

As a side, I heard CA has legalized greywater usage.

 

[Lady Henevere]

I mentioned greywater to DH the other day. Usually when I bring up this kind of eco-friendly, self-sufficient thing he listens politely, throws in a comment or two, and that's about it. Well, for some reason (recent city water restrictions, perhaps) the greywater issue caught his attention, and since I had some permaculture books checked out from the library he started reading up on it. I got him some more info and pictures online (including info from this thread -- thank you all) and he looked at that too.

I got home from work the next day and found him retrofitting the laundry room for greywater drainage to a tank! (Okay, so it's not really a tank, it's a plastic trash can, but I'll take it.) I couldn't believe it. When I saw how much water comes out of a full load of laundry I was really surprised. We should have done this years ago.

Anyway, here's a good site that has a lot of info: http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/greywater.html

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good detergent that doesn't seem to bother the plants?

 

[Lady Henevere]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good detergent that doesn't seem to bother the plants?

I will answer my own question, in case anyone else is wondering the same thing. I have been using Seventh Generation liquid laundry detergent, and it works fine and doesn't seem to be killing anything in the yard.

 

[Nifty]

With our new washer here that I'm about to install I was thinking about this very subject. I'm thinking about a diverter valve that I can manually switch right after the main was cycle and right before the rinse cycle to divert that "cleaner" water to my yard. Shouldn't be too difficult to do, especially because the hose on my new washer looks like a standard garden hose.

 

[Wifezilla]

They used to make washing machines that had a "suds saver" option. Instead of the rinse water going down the drain, it was used as the wash water for the next load. My mom had one. When you put it in suds saver mode, it pumped that rinse water in to the utility sink. All you had to do was remember to put the plug in the bottom.

We had a septic system and this was supposed to make it easier on the leach field. I haven't seen a washer like that since.

 

[Nifty]

That is such a good idea! A new line of washers should be built with some kind of basin in the bottom for this purpose. The rinse water could be run through a filter and used for the next wash cycle. A built in timer could just flush the rinse water if it wasn't used within 24 hours.

 

[Wifezilla]

Exactly. She had this thing when I was in high school...millions of years ago...when dinosaurs ran free....so it isn't like all kinds of new technology would be involved.

 

[Nifty]

That's what is cool, all kinds of new tech could take that old idea and make it really trouble free today. UV lights to kill stuff, sensors to determine how clean / dirty the water is, timers to determine if the water has sat too long, etc.

Ok, who wants to be investors in my new washing machine company!?!

 

[Wifezilla]

Let me check the couch cushions real quick...