Greywater question

[wehes5]

My Hubby and I were talking about on our land digging a pond about 1/4- 1/2 acre and putting greenery around it and a park bench. This pond would be a catcher for our GREY water ONLY. You know bath water, clotheswasher, etc...but it would serve a couple of purposes...catch grey water, add a pond to the property and maybe a watering hole for the deer, etc. Is this something that is do-able? Thanks.

[Valduare]

grey water can be put into a water storage tank and used for irrigation in some area's. i know some area's in backwoods places do this and "water the forrest" without people known. and i know your thinkin about septic issues as well. one thing people commonly do is rent a honey bucket to be legal. 45 dollars a month for the rental and service is cheep compared to a septic right off the bat.

as far as a pond goes. legaly it whould have to be a permit item and done through the county as it involves creating a new waterbody.

but bio degradable soaps for laundry and baths and water your garden isnt too bad.

[wehes5]

Originally Posted by Valduare

grey water can be put into a water storage tank and used for irrigation in some area's. i know some area's in backwoods places do this and "water the forrest" without people known. and i know your thinkin about septic issues as well. one thing people commonly do is rent a honey bucket to be legal. 45 dollars a month for the rental and service is cheep compared to a septic right off the bat.

as far as a pond goes. legaly it whould have to be a permit item and done through the county as it involves creating a new waterbody.

but bio degradable soaps for laundry and baths and water your garden isnt too bad.

county govt said that you generally only need a permit if it is on wetland...so what do you others think about this?

[Cyngbaeld]

In the Humanure Handbook the author talks about doing a greywater lagoon. You need an exit for the clean water to flow out or it will get stagnate tho. You would also need to make sure you were not putting chemicals into the water that would prevent natural cleansing to take place.

[VALENT]

Would your pond be likely to freeze? This would mess up your greywater drainage. Also, what kind of drainage does your soil have? I, too, have thought about something similar but have not done it even though I do let my graywater serve other purposes.

[gobug]

Be careful
Depending on what's in it, grey water turns to black water quickly
It cannot come from the kitchen, but it seems you already know this.
I have heard you must use it up quickly and not let it sit.

Thats a mighty big pond to build for just bath and washing machine water.
It seems like it would take years to fill.
For example, a 3 foot deep 10 foot wide pond would hold nearly 1800 gallons.
Thats a lot of laundry.

[Thumper/inOkla.]

To do it correctly you need a "wet lands area" up stream from your pond.
By the time the water gets to the pond it should be mostly clean of the organic matter and soaps used in the house.

check out www.biorealis.com and www.oasisdesign.net

[wehes5]

Originally Posted by gobug

Be careful
Depending on what's in it, grey water turns to black water quickly
It cannot come from the kitchen, but it seems you already know this.
I have heard you must use it up quickly and not let it sit.

Thats a mighty big pond to build for just bath and washing machine water.
It seems like it would take years to fill.
For example, a 3 foot deep 10 foot wide pond would hold nearly 1800 gallons.
Thats a lot of laundry.

thanks,,I don't know acrage very well, so my hubby laughed and said yes, it would be much smaller...lol I guess it's a female thing...