Talk to me about gray water please

[dragonlaurel]

I read up on what this guy is doing and it makes sense to me. He is building a community now. I could not afford one of his places but would be happy to use some of the ideas. Her's the link:
http://www.earthship.net/
Good luck !


" How about this?? For all to consider. I heard somewhere that you should not use the rain water that comes off your roof on veggies either. Something about the chemicals in the asphalt shingles. What do you think?? Opens a whole new can of worms. idunno "

Asphalt is a pretty nasty petrochemical and the roof's heat is supposed to make it easier for the chemicals to get into the water. If you have nontoxic roof materials- no problem. With an asphalt roof, I would want to do a chemical filter. Sometimes they use a diverter that lets the first bit of rainwater get away (while rinsing the roof of chemicals and bird poop) then save the rest to a cistern.

 

[Lady Henevere]

I have read the same about certain types of shingles, but I also read that if you just let the first bit of rain wash down the roof before you start collecting, it's fine.

 

[dacjohns]

The main problem with collecting rain water from your roof is the bird poo. Many people that collect rain water for drinking purposes divert the water when it first starts raining then start collecting after the roof is washed off. You still should treat your water if your going to use it for cooking, drinking, washing, etc.

Little off topic from the gray water but that happens.

 

[DawnSuiter]

I'm so glad to have found this thread!

We are working to provide ourselves the option of switching our washing machine output from the septic to the back garden. The choice will be right in the laundry room so anytime we don't feel that a load is "vegetable" worthy, we can just put it into the septic as before.

My primary reasons for the switch are
#1 - my septic is filling with too much water
#2 - my back garden is difficult to water, so this and a basic rainwater collection system should do the trick.

I learned 2 things here...
#1 - the line that I use to take the water out to the garden should be new, so that we know what's going into the garden
#2 - we should let the water out into a basic sand filter that will catch any debris coming through the hose and then guide the water through the walking rows in our garden.

We'll not be using it to water the leaves or anything.. just the spaces between the rows.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Welcome Dawn! Love your avatar!!

 

[DawnSuiter]

Thank you very much!

 

[GardeNerd]

Here is an photo of my gray water trash can collector. You can sort of see the scrap of screen sticking out that serves as a lint collector. If you don't use one, you can end up with a thin mat of non biodegradable clothing debris (from synthetic fibers) on the soil under the mulch.

The bin is raised up on some cinder blocks to help with gravity feed the water out of the hose in to the mulched flower bed. I don't keep water in it over night. It gets emptied almost immediately after each laundry load. The only loads I wait a little on are the ones I use extra hot water in, then I wait for it to cool off. I move the hose after each load.

This is one of the main areas the water is used. No vegetables in here. Water is also used in the mulch with some of the fruit trees in the yard.

The trash can tank in the first picture sits just behind the Camelia on the left in the second image. Just above the Camelia, you can see where the drain hose comes out of the house.

On a side note: I have tried many different laundry detergents over the three or so years I have used gray water in the garden. For price, convenience, and least fragrance, I eventually settled on Stater Bros. Ultra 2X Concentrated: Free and Clear Detergent. It is not rated HE for my front load washer, but it does not over suds and the clothes come out clean. I have seen no ill effects in any of my plants with this one. It is about $0.12 a load.

Other brands I tried and used without noticeable plant damage over the years:
Planet
Trader Joe's Liquid
Ecover
Ecos
Seventh Generation

 

[Occamstazer]

Oh dear, Josh's parents have use their rainwater to irrigate their garden.
Up until I read this, I thought the system was genius. All rainwater from the roof collects in a barrel. They then pump it up to another barrel on higher ground. Second barrel has an on-off valve. The irrigation hoses are the kind with all the little holes in them, and they're buried a couple feet down in the garden. They get the most amazing yield out of a tiny plot!
I wonder if I should send them a link...

 

[DawnSuiter]

I just wanted to follow up. We have FINALLY gotten the washing machine to let out in the yard. We have two options for it, which means we can put it in the septic as always or out in the yard easily by switching the hose behind the machine.

DH ran a swimming pool filter hose ($38) from the crawlspace up through floor of the house into the laundry room, and ran the other end to a 30 gallon storage tub like GardeNerd posted through a hole in the crawlspace access door. We collect the water and then it flows out of the tub through a hose bib installed near the bottom and a hose. We're going to switch to a 50 gallon drum because the water won't let out of the storage tub fast enough to do any loads larger than Medium size.

The red cap marks the septic pipe and the black hose is the washing machine hose.

The end of the hose can be directed anywhere and we can move it around freely and roll it up and put it away if need be too! The let out areas for us are quite large & parched so we can feel free to soak away without having to move it. But I can put it in the garden, at the apple trees, out in the yard, in our water run off ditch (our gutters take the water out underground and off the hill).
No photos of the drum cuz essentially it's just like GardeNerd's trash can.

I'm VERY happy now.