Water Storage - How to recycle Greywater
You might think that it is not worth doing anything with your Greywater, just let it flush down the pipes. Alright then first of all lets consider just how much water we are talking about, I'm sure in the end you will see my reasoning.
From my research I have found that the average amount of water consumed by the average household located on a normal suburban size block is approximately 300,000 litres per year of drinking quality water coming via the water mains.
This is broken up thus:
100,000 litres a year is used on lawns and gardens etc
200,000 litres a year is used somewhere else in the home.(not including blackwater from the toilet or Kitchen Sink.
Of the 200,000 litres, it is estimated that up to 60% of that water leaves the house as what could be usable greywater. So that is about 120,000 litres of water per year gets wasted by you and costs money to be transported away from your house and treated elsewhere.
Greywater equals Garden Water
The funny thing is, if you check the above figures, that amount of water would be more than enough to water all of the average garden and lawn, and after the initial installation it would virtually cost you nothing for this water.
Depending on the cost of your water you can see that if you take the amount of water you save out of your water bill it would be quite a saving in your hip pocket. After the initial installation is amotized of course :-)
If I have convinced you to do some more thinking about your greywater please read on!
If not "Goodbye" ! You will be wasting your time reading any further I may see you on another Hub :-)
For those of my readers still interested in the subject matter here are some points to ponder:
- You should use greywater underground. We must look after our kids and animal life don't we?
- Do not put greywater on the edible parts of vegetables ( see last point)
- If you are going to use greywater through 'soaker hoses' makes sure there are filters fitted before the 'soaker hose' (removes any lint and hair).
- As the greywater will more than likely be 'alkaline' don't use near 'acid' loving plants.
Very Important Points:
- Don't let your greywater flow onto your neighbors property (very poor form).
- Make sure that the correct detergent and softener is used in the washing Machine.
- Any equipment fitted to control greywater must be kept well maintained to avoid any spread of any 'nasties'
Warning
Warning (please read and take very seriously)
- For health reasons Greywater must never be kept stored in Tanks.
- Never put Greywater in with other collected rainwater.
Most authorities have regulations stating that Greywater must not be stored for more than 24 hours and must be disbursed throughout the garden via the sub-surface (underground).
Dangers lurking in Greywater
- Toxoplasmosis: Fact Sheet - CDC DPD
A fellow Hubber has alerted us to a nasty which is possibly lurking in our Greywater. Learn about Toxoplasmosis and its public health significance.