10 Reasons Why You Should Use Grey Water at Home

Greywater is the wash water that you accumulate in your home that is safe to be re-used. For example, the water from washing your dishes or the water that’s left in the tub after you’ve taken a bath are both types of greywater. Most of us just waste this water. Some of us find the idea of recycling a little bit gross. Others find it too time-consuming or too much of a hassle. And a lot of us just don’t think about. But there are really good reasons why we should each be recycling greywater at home.

Ten reasons the average person should use greywater at home are:

1.     It saves money. Let’s face it; frugality is in. People need to save money these days. One way to save money is to recycle. If you use greywater in the home then you will be using less new tap water. This reduces the cost of your water bills. People who spend a lot of money on landscaping irrigation and watering their home’s plants will find that they see immediate savings when they use greywater instead.

2.     It increases your own access to water. We don’t like to think about it but our water supply is limited. Each year, there are more and more areas that are suffering from water shortages. Re-using your own greywater gives you a little bit of power. You are effectively creating your own water supply. It may not completely cure water shortages but it helps you to strengthen your own water security.

3.     It makes it easier to garden. If you’ve ever tried to keep plants alive in your yard and had some trouble then it might have been because there just wasn’t useful irrigation on your property. This is a common problem for people who mistakenly assume that they just have a brown thumb. Greywater can be an extremely useful source of water for home gardens. The nutrients from greywater are reclaimed by the soil and can create more fertile soil that’s easier to grow plants in. Additionally, your experiments with grey water can help you to feel more attuned to the natural cycles of the earth. This insight and knowledge can aid you in having a better sense of what your plants need at any given time.

4.     It helps slow the depletion of water aquifer capacity in the world. Some of the water shortage that we’re experiencing in the world today is due to the fact that the world’s water aquifers are being diminished more quickly than they are being replenished. They begin to fill with sediment and their total capacity decreases. By using greywater at home, you limit your own impact on this problem.

5.     It reduces the degradation of our other water. The wastewater that comes out of our homes is routinely dumped into surface water and ground water. This process degrades the quality of those water sources. By reusing the greywater in your own home, you reduce this degradation process and help to keep ground water and surface water safer for everyone.

6.     It recharges the ground water. Many people who use groundwater to water their outdoor landscaping end up adding more water to the soil than their plants actually need. This extra water seeps down into the earth and actually recharges the groundwater. So not only is the groundwater less degraded but it may actually be more plentiful thanks to you. It’s almost like you’re adding rain to the earth!

7.     It reduces strain on septic tanks. The septic tanks that we use will have a much longer lifetime capacity if they are not constantly treating wastewater. We can leave these tanks to do their important work on black water (unrecyclable water such as toilet water) while reducing the strain on them with our own greywater use. This is a green action since it reduces the waste of broken down septic tanks.

8.     It reduces your own personal impact on the energy grid. Since less wastewater is being sent to waste treatment plants, these plants require less energy to operate. This ultimately means that less electricity is being used around the world at these treatment plants. It may seem like your part is so small that it doesn’t have an impact but if everyone switched over to greywater recycling then there’d be a significant decrease in energy overuse around the world.

9.     Greywater use encourages healthier natural living. Many people worry that greywater use in the home is unsafe or unclean. Actually, the opposite tends to be true. People who properly use their greywater begin to pay a lot of attention to the cleaners and detergents that they put into that water. There is a natural shift towards the use of healthier natural and organic products. This keeps the greywater safer and adds to the total wellbeing of everyone in the home.

10. It’s something to be proud of. People who produce their own gardens or create their own homemade crafts know that there’s something about these relying-upon-yourself actions that produces a very strong sense of pride. It’s the same way with the use of greywater in the home. The work that you do to learn about greywater and to re-use it properly in the home is something that you’ll be proud of being able to do. And if you reduce your water bills or grow a lush garden thanks to your new recycled water supply then you can be even more proud!