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| |  Posted 2/13/2008 8:37:22 PM | |
| Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 2/13/2008 8:29:02 PM
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| | I am researching a system that will take the greywater from my washer, kitchen sink, and showers and allow that water to be re-used as toilet flushing water. I saw an article in Mother Earth News about this. The system that someone had tried there had a collection tank that they strained, added bleach, and then pressurized and plumbed it back into special lines that went to the toilets only. This made the load on the septic much lighter. Has anyone done any work in this area or know of anything like this? I am very interested. |
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| | | Posted 2/13/2008 8:57:06 PM | |
| Supreme Being
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Last Login: Today @ 6:54:02 PM
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| I am researching a system that will take the greywater from my washer, kitchen sink, and showers and allow that water to be re-used as toilet flushing water. I saw an article in Mother Earth News about this. The system that someone had tried there had a collection tank that they strained, added bleach, and then pressurized and plumbed it back into special lines that went to the toilets only. This made the load on the septic much lighter. Has anyone done any work in this area or know of anything like this? I am very interested.
To a great extent, what you can do depends on how much property you have to work with, and how complicated you want to get. I have an average home, with large backyard. Since my washer is essentially outdoors, and I live in an area where freezing temperatures are not likely, I just water the backyard with the washer water. You have to be careful about using bleach (I never do), or really hot water, which might harm plants or the lawn. I suppose that you could use kitchen water for watering plants if they are near the kitchen drain. Again, it would depend on whether you have freezing conditions. I think that capturing water from the shower or bathtub would by more difficult, but that would depend on your particular situation. I wouldn't worry about needing to filter or chlorinate the water if it's going to be used for landscape watering.
If you have a basement that makes the drainage system easily accessible, I suppose you could capture the "non-toilet" waters in some kind of tank, and then supply the toilets with a separate system, which would require a separate pump. Sounds like it would be more trouble than it's worth. Easier just to use "low-flow" toilets. One famous phrase from the past during drought times in California is "if it's yellow, it's mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."
Jeff Naumann
(310) 540-0045
FAX (310) 540-0337
http://www.jeffnaumannassociates.com/ |
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