Gray water for lawn

[norcalfarm]

I'm going to be planting a lawn soon but I'm a bit of a water conservationist. I've looked at the gray water tank/pump systems, they are very expensive and I'm not sure that I need one. I'm trying to figure out whether I could have my gray water go directly to my lawn, in leach field fashion, which would require no separate tank or pump. If it is do-able, what size pipe would I use, and how far apart would the lines need to be in order to sufficiently water the lawn. Maybe it's completely impossible but I thought that I would see what your thoughts are. Thank you!

[culpeper]

Here in Australia, the driest inhabited continent on earth, the use of grey water is somewhat controversial. Nobody disputes that it is a means of conserving/recycling water, but there ARE health hazards attached to it.

The following article might be of interest to you.

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1366316.htm

and there are many sites you could also visit:

http://www.google.com.au/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=gardening+australia+grey+water&meta=&btnG=Google+Search
Further research will tell you that constant use of grey water soon creates a very unhealthy soil indeed - it becomes 'sour' and can smell dreadful. You can imagine the bacteria in it that cause these things to happen!

The above article suggests that only the final rinse water be recycled - not the water you wash in.

Personally, if I had kids or pets who would play in the area, I would not want to use grey water on my lawn until it was pre-treated to make it safer to use.

Can you think of an alternative use of the area instead of a lawn, which requires a massive amount of water and upkeep? Would you consider using the entire area as a garden - using indigenous plants and groundcovers? A lot of gardeners in Australia are going this way. Presumably you have local parks where children can 'run wild'?

[Windy in Kansas]

For starters you may wish to determine if discharging gray water onto or just under the surface of a lawn is legal where you live. Where I lived it is not. Apparently it is since you speak of systems for it but I thought I should ask anyway.

[norcalfarm]

Thank you for the info, It is legal in my area as long as it is subsurface. Does anybody have any personal experience installing a system?

[Silvercreek Farmer]

My question is how big is your lawn? We typically use 3000 gal/month, say half of which is graywater suitable for irrigation, while it would certainly help, 1500 gal doesn't get you very far irrigating grass...

[norcalfarm]

It will be about 40 x 20. My plan would be to install the gray water system and then a standard sprinkler system to supplement.

[gladetop]

would freeze up cause a problem? what is the maximum depth a pipe can be and still benefit the plants above? I would think that there is a fine line where the plants roots would be deep enough to just bring up the water it needs without having the other bad stuff on the surface too. Just a couple questions that I have pondered over.

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by norcalfarm

.....I'm trying to figure out whether I could have my gray water go directly to my lawn, in leach field fashion, which would require no separate tank or pump.....

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain even distribution of wastewater over (or under) the entire lawn using a gravity-draining system and a series of perporated pipe. What will happen with this type of system is most, if not all, the water will enter the first pipe (the pipe having the lowest elevation) and drain out the first few holes of this pipe. The next time gray water is discharged, the same thing will happen. In other words, one spot in the lawn will recieve the lion's share of gray water and the remainder of the lawn will receive little or none.

The only practical way of obtaining even distribution of gray water throughout the entire lawn is with pressure distribution. You will need (1) a tank (to accumulate a sufficient volume of gray water), (2) a pump to quickly disperse and fill every distribution pipe with wastewater during each discharge cycle, and (3) a small diameter distribution system (~1" distribution pipe) or drip irrigation tubing with emitters. This type of system will give you optimum irrigation for your lawn. As I said, a gravity system will just irrigate one portion of the lawn (unless you want to mess with a series of controls (valves) directing where the graywater should be discharged each time you discharge.

Amazon has a book ( Create an Oasis With Greywater ) , It covers choosing , building & using greywater systems . It costs $14.25 new .

[meanwhile]

Try this site for ideas:
http://www.oasisdesign.net/index.htm

and this one:
http://greywateraction.org/

[norcalfarm]

Thank you for all of the info, it sounds like without spending a small fortune, it would not work very well.