Water Saving Week- Using Grey Water

Personally speaking, I use grey water to water my yard. I have a bucket in the shower, a bucket under the kitchen sink and just keep throwing that water into my yard. I don’t have a large yard, but it works. I also use biodegradable products as an extra safeguard in reusing water.

Grey Water is water that has been used for washing dishes, laundering, bathing or any other water than toilet wastes. This water may contain grease, food, hair and other ‘impurities’ but is still able to be reused.

I Just Gotta Tell Ya

• Greywater makes up about 40 gallons per person per day in a home
• Greywater Guerrillas are a group of educators, designers, builders and artists who educate people to build a sustainable water culture
• Check out this great book-The New Create an Oasis with Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systems – Includes Branched Drains

Green Factor:

• Reduces the amount of freshwater needed and used in a household
• Reduces the amount of water entering sewer or septic systems.
• Use for toilet flushing (do not put in tank)
• Use with automatic clothes washer- lightly soiled laundry load or rinse water can be saved to wash the next load.

Where to Use

• Irrigating lawns, trees, food crops

Where Not to Use

• Do not drink or apply to root crops such as potatoes or carrots
• Do Not water lawns with greywatet using a sprinkler
• Do Not wash patios, driveways with greywater
• Only store grey water for 24 hours
• Do not use on young plants or plants in acidic conditions

Where to Buy

• Water Quality & Conservation From Real Goods- Earthstar 55 gallon greywater filter system.  ($1,199)
• Oasis Design-offers aspect of Grey Water Designing
• AquaPro– water conservation, purification and management systems

Installation

1. Contact your county health agency for permits.
2. Develop a design that matches your needs and local codes
3. Apply greywater safely by irrigataing with greywater below the surface of the ground.

Resources

• New Mexico State University
• Common Grey Water Errors
• Ecology Center– Installing and Using Greywater