Using "gray water" for irrigation

[HopeFarms]

Ok. So the only thing in our house that goes to the septic tank is the toilet. Our bath water and bathroom sink and kitchen sink go to a pipe and then toward the west side of our property where it drains off and runs down a culvert of sorts.....

Hubby just acquired a 1948 Farmall "A" tractor with cultivators and some other attachments and has started digging up the dirt about 20' wide and 60' long so I can plant a garden there. (where this water runs to) and this soil is gorgeous....dark, with lots of worms, and just...looks FANTASTIC to plant in.

Anyone ever use gray water for irrigation? I don't use harsh chemicals or cleaners, just regular dishsoap and occasionally a weak solution of bleach/water/dishsoap to clean the tub/sinks.

I'm wondering if that will be Not-So-Good for the vegetation? (but....where this water drains off, everything seems to GROW like crazy..so it can't be too bad...)

Thoughts/ideas/opinions welcomed.....

[FrodoLass]

I wondered about this also. I know in earthships, the grey water is filtered and used to flush the toilet.

[themamahen]

when we move we are planing to use the graywater and gutter systems to irrigate as well. alot do it, I dont know the specific plans but i would think PVC pipe with elbow joints would work just fine

[SolarGary]

Hi,
I think you will find people on both sides of the fence on this, but a lot of people seem to successfully use grey water for irrigation.

Some examples here:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...Water.htm#Grey

The Oasis site thats listed first at the link above has some nice simple schemes.


Gary

[Alice Kramden]

Way back when I was a kid, and I am 56 years old, all of us who lived out in the country had no running water, no indoor facilities, and none of the things we take for granted now. (I can tell you about drawing water out of the well, heating it on the stove, and bathing in a galvanized tub. And, about outhouses and chamber pots.)

We had the kitchen sink draining out into the back yard into "the ditch", a shallow trench dug in the yard to take the runoff down into the woods.

I learned quickly to avoid stepping in it or around it, and to hold my breath.

Food particles and grease became putrid and black in the open. It was my brothers job to keep "the ditch" cleaned out, and I avoided the back yard when that was going on.

The folks that lived in front of us had one that was even worse. Most of their side yard was soft and icky, and smelly from the discharge.

A few years ago, my nephew and I went back through the woods at Mom's to check on the situation with the trashy trailer park next door to her. The owner of the park has routed the sewage from several of the trailers to a pipe that empties into the woods and down a hill. We could not determine if it was draining onto our land or not, and he never followed up on it. I believe it was kitchen waste, it was gagging, but we did not see bathroom "evidence".

I'd be inclined to stick with just bathtub and washing machine grey water. My Mom still has the washing machine running down the back yard, and all that comes out is "clean" soapy water, no stink, no bacteria.

[FarmerGreen]

Try googling "constructed wetlands" for some good ideas on treating greywater.

[Dirtslinger]

probably best not to tell anyone in case it's illegal. But either way be sure not to pollute any creeks/even ditches. What you already have should be illegal if it isn't...

[prairiedog]

We had gray watergoing to the fruit trees and one place i lived and a lotof people in water scarce CA use gray wter for landscape watering

[Mrs_stuart]

We run our bath water and our laundry water to our garden...we use black flexable pipes to "move the water around"...
we do no use kitchen water, it is really nasty and smells, draws flies and all.

Some people say you should not use laundy or bath water for gardening because some "small amount of feces" could possible get on your produce and cause problems. Personally, I will take the chance... cause I know who bathes here and who does laundry... I am also a stong believer in the sunlight will sanitize it all.

Belinda

[juliew]

A friend of mine grew up on a cotton farm on the Mississippi River. One of the sharecroppers caught her kid with marijuana and flushed it down the toilet. The toilet water ran into a ditch, and she said they spent the next 3 years chopping down marijuana plants. I guess the graywater didn't hurt fertility too much.

[Up North Louie]

Originally Posted by juliew

A friend of mine grew up on a cotton farm on the Mississippi River. One of the sharecroppers caught her kid with marijuana and flushed it down the toilet. The toilet water ran into a ditch, and she said they spent the next 3 years chopping down marijuana plants. I guess the graywater didn't hurt fertility too much.

That gives new meaning to the term "ditch weed."

All that aside, however, We would like to divert gray water in such a manner. This would be to alleviate the load on an ordinary septic system in a place with not-real-good perk. The Wisconsin DNR, which regulates this kind of thing, is supposedly puzzling on the idea. According to a contractor who has asked about it, they would grant conditional permits to do it, but it amounts to constructing 90% of another septic, and they don't like the idea of pumping it out for irrigation, which I guess isn't surprising. Then if they don't like the results, you have to pay to have it ripped out, and they'll make you build a mound. We've elected to not pursue it.

But if anybody has seen anything with some decent science and method behind it, settling tanks, filtering, whatever, that could be done on a small scale, I would be grateful if they would post it. Down the road, something will have to be done, and more options are almost always preferable to less.

Thanks,

Don

[Pony]

There are lots of resources online for greywater reclamation. Nick and I have been investigating it for "someday" when we can set up a system that saves water.

Some of my favorites:

http://www.greywater.com/

http://www.oasisdesign.net/greywater/

http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/

http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_m/m-106.html

I'm sure you can find more. We're really excited by the possibilities. In the meantime, we're working on a rainwater catchment system here in the 'burbs.

Pony!

[FalconDance]

I've used the kitchen sink water for watering the garden - with *great* success. I don't put grease down the drain nor large bits of foodstuffs, so that was never a concern. The little food particles composted straight in (or the worms ate them). The small amount of dishsoap really cut down on unwanted bugs on my veggies, too!

Trying to figure out to reroute all kitchen, bathroom sink and shower water to a holding system of some sort now for the garden(s). Our land is virtually flat and the house not very high off that (hundred year old little place) so looks like some sort of pump will be needed.

[anniew]

When we re-routed all but the toilet water, we also had a valve which could direct the gray water to barrels or to the septic system. We put everything in the barrels EXCEPT the wash water in the washer. After the wash water drained, we changed the valve so that the rinse water went into the barrels. That might help some who might have a problem with feces going into the irrigation water. Dilution, for the most part, is one way to handle undesireables. By putting the wash water only into the septic you have likely eliminated 99 percent of any feces material that might be on the clothes. We didn't worry about bath water and it went directly into the barrels.
We used this gray water on the veggie garden during one summer when there was a water ban in the area. It was the best garden I ever had. Of course, to keep water use to a minimum, I also heavily mulched with grass clippings which dried to make a nice solid barrier to any weeds growing.
The barrels of water in the basement were pumped up to barrels outside the house that were also fed by any rainwater from the roof. From those barrels the garden was irrigated using gravity...no pump needed for that.

[HopeFarms]

As for the legalities of the way the plumbing in this (118 year old) house was (is) set up, it was like this when we bought it. I think I'd be more worried for my neighbor who has her well downhill of a place that had gasoline stored underground and used motor oil dumped out onto the ground as well, as opposed to some kitchen sink water coming from my house onto my property, and staying on my property.

I find it curious what people will bring up as legal vs. illegal when it comes to stuff like this.

That said, I hesitate to say anymore on this project because someone might turn me in?!?!

Anyways. Maybe it will rain a lot this season and I won't need to irrigate.

Happy gardening everyone!

[Up North Louie]

It won't be me turning you in. But legalities aren't imaginary. The Wisconsin DNR is maybe nosier than most, and we like to do what we can to keep them at arm's length. When you go through almost any permitting process here, they can nearly turn into house guests, and they can be a real drag to have around. Once they have you on the radar, it's a while before you get off.

The irony is that here, small holders whose inputs aren't terribly significant are regulated pretty mercilessly, while larger concerns like paper mills and power plants get a comparatively free ride. One paper company has stalled cleaning up a PCB site in the Fox River for going on 25 years. We need industry, to be sure, I have no quarrel with that. But they need to be held to a certain standard of stewardship which is proportional to their impact. And so it should be with the small holder, who more often than not, lives right in his problem, and has a lot of incentive to do things as right as possible.

Don

[HockeyFan]

Most people that use greywater as you do, generally let the kitchen sink go to the septic tank. This is because it might contain food, and sending it to the woods or elsewhere will attract animals (beneficial, but most of the time not).

[GrannyG]

Many, many years ago we had cleared off land and moved a trailer in...we plumbed the bathtub water to go out to an area by itself. We planted asparagus, and for years, we had the best bed of asparagus. I often think about that.