Water Recycler (Grey Water)

Step 6 Setting it up outside

I installed the Grey Water recycling bin up the side of the house that has all the plumbing. The recycler needs a sewage inlet that the overflow pipe can connect to. It also needs a hose run from the outlet of the washing machine to the inlet (top) of the bin. You can connect your shower or bath to the bin but this would require major plumbing alterations. Also hear in Australia any permanent plumbing needs to be carried out by a licensed plumber. You also must not use the recycler for Black Water e.g. water from sinks & toilets for obvious smelly reasons.

The outlet of the recycler is feed into the garden via 19mm (3/4" I think) garden poly tubing. This is nice and cheap. In the garden I have buried slotted poly drainage pipe which the Grey Water empties into. You can't use sprinklers as the soap in the water will clog any small nozzles and also spraying the water could be a health hazard as any water left in the tubing will become stagnant. There is also the risk of inhaling waterborne bacteria so don't use sprinklers.

I have also noticed a range of low pressure drip hoses designed for tank water / gravity feed irrigation systems. I'm not too sure how long these hoses would last with the soap content in the water. They also could be used to deliver the water to the required locations in the garden.

Comments

[boarder2k7]

It seems like putting soapy water into the garden is going to have a detrimental impact on plant growth.

[ausisit]

no in fact it will help as when you buy wetta soil and other wetting agents they contain similar materials and the soapy water is good to get rid of aphids

[Dru77]

Actually, the soap (phosphate or otherwise) is a great fertilizer for your lawn or garden. You have to make sure you switch to organic soaps, use NO bleach or powdered detergents (which contain heavy salts) in order to use this system. But liquid detergent can be great plant food in a system like this. What you don't want to do is put grey water ON the plants, but water the ground by running the outflow into a shallow pit next to the plants, which is filled with bark, stones or other porous materials.

[boarder2k7]

Alright yeah that makes sense, because I was thinking of the ramifications of putting all laundry water on the plants, and it didn't seem like it would be good. I guess you could add some sort of a bypass valve to the system to go into the regular sewer/septic system when you needed to use bleach or something in the load.