Gray Water
 

It has been very hot and dry in Portland. Record breaking. We have plenty of water, but our water rates are high enough that watering the plants a lot still generates a stiff bill. Plus the drought on the west coast had made me more conscious of saving water.

So I've started keeping a big steel workbowl in the kitchen sink. When it is full, if the water is not too soapy or dirty, I take ten steps and dump it on the garden or in the potted plants. Wow, I didn't realize how much basically clean water I send down the drain while cooking. At every meal I send five to ten gallons to the backyard plants, and they've never looked happier. This makes me think about how to capture gray water for the yard. If we also diverted the shower water to irrigation, I'd almost not need to use the drip system or the sprinkler. We don't water the lawn, just the garden and plants.

Anyone use gray water at home?. What is your system?. How much water do you save?

My whole hill side is brown, and somewhere up here, there's a least one fire during the 4th due to illegal fireworks. I use a dirverter valve under the house to regulate the water coming out of the washer. We have two kids, so we wash a lot. I run a 2" ABS pipe under the deck and cut across the yard (drilled 1/2" holes 12" apart) then run the end section toward another plants down below.

There are discussions ongoing to use the grey water for flushing the WC and for the washing machine. There is a filter in front of course.
When building an new house you can have a second water circuit for that.
I dont know the negative effects. Are the pipes clogged faster? You also have to have a cross-system if the collected water does not suffice and you need to mix in fresh water.
What about the WCs? Do you need to clean them more often? How oftne do you need to clean the filter?

As usual it is all about what is left in my wallet.
Installing such a system costs more then a normal system of course.
How fast can I get a ROI?

And so on.

At our previous house (out in the country so no codes) the drain line for the washing machine was in the interior garage wall and the water went into the septic tank. I just added a second drain outlet that I ran down the garage wall and out into the back yard.
I could capture/divert the water to the lawn or landscaping and it kept all the grey water out of the septic tank. worked great.

If your washing machine drain piping is in an outside or garage wall it is fairly simple to divert it. To use grey water from showers, kitchen etc. is a whole nother ballgame ...

We put in a rain barrel this year. I figure it alone has ended the drought in Oklahoma.;) We are several inches above the total yearly average rainfall already. Our drought is 100% over and all the lakes are FULL and everything is GREEN.

The rain barrel is neat in that it will fill up with just a small rain and my wife can water the plants in the back yard easily. We have had so much rain (NO COMPLAINTS) that she has not used it much.

Do you have to filter soap out of a shower or kitchen sink drain, or do you just start using biodegradable soap?

I have a question about using the gray water from the washer also. I installed a separate drain pipe that empties onto the outer slope of our property where there are five trees. We have a septic system, so use biodegradable laundry soap. I've been thinking of diverting the laundry outflow to empty out of that pipe. Any knowledge here on the effects of that?

My parents have been draining their washer at the base of a 30' scotch pine tree for at least 10 years. Tree still looks healthy and the grass around it green. Wish our washer was on an exterior wall like that.

I went to home depot and bought one of those big orange buckets and put it in our shower to catch the water while it heats up, plus catch any extra during the shower.

It's amazing how much I get, almost a full bucket every shower. I use it on the potted plants, and here and there on the grass though the grass is pretty much a lost cause at this point.

I don't know about long term, but we had a drought here about 20 years ago and I used washing machine water on my garden and lawn for a month. We used phosphate-free soap because the county extension agent said the only problem was with phosphates in some soaps. There were no negative effects.

Marv, I did that for nearly 10 years. watered the grass, trees, shrubs with the washing machine water and no issues at all. I think most laundry detergents are phosphate free now days and it was the phosphates that cause problems IIRC.

Meh,

I took a soaker hose and put it around about 40 of my Oak Trees over a month and watered each one for about 3-4 hours, the soaker hose delivered 1 gallon/foot/hour, so with a 50 hose about 200 gallons over 4 hours. So my excess water usage was around 8,000 gallons, compared to before I watered under the Oak Trees.

The Disney Ranch arborist told me to do this 2-3 times/year due to the drought.

My water bill last month went from $67 to $83.

Seems so strange to me that I live in Arizona (the desert) and we have no shortage of water. People here do not think about water conservation (well, some do, but not most people). However, in Cali, a state bordered by the Pacific Ocean, you all have no water...

Man! My water bill (which does include sewer) is about $300 every two months. We are four people and don't water the lawn.

I would do to the fairly easy work to drain my washing machine into the yard here in So Cal, but it hardly uses any water. It is amazing how little in fact.

We use regular soap and the damn trees and plants grows well. I really think its because my wife wash so damn much with all the kid's clothes. I have a down slope also, so I drill holes along th e bottom of the pipe to control the flow and the float rate.

I think then I'll get a gray water set up for as many plants in the front of the house as I can. We're on a septic system, so what we use in the washer shouldn't be a problem. ThanX!

How much water does a front loading washer use?

The internet sez. A less than 10 years old, Energy Star, front loading, high efficiency machine uses about 13 gallons. If that's true, it's not bad.

That's very water efficient.