Easy Greywater System

Intro: Easy Greywater System

Super easy steps to reduce your water consumption through use of greywater. Simply fill up buckets with excess water from your shower and sink and use it to flush the toilet.

STEP 1: Buckets!

Obtain medium sized buckets in order to fill up with water either from your sink or shower.

STEP 2: Shower or Sink or Both!

You can fill up the buckets with water from your shower while your waiting for it to heat up. You can also fill it up with water from your sink. This only works with sinks that have external plumbing, or pipes you can see and touch. With these sinks all you need to do is place the bucket beneath the sink and open the valve located on the pipe. You'll see that all the water going down the sink will be caught in the bucket and can be used to flush the toilet. Make sure you do not fill up the water too much, it may be too heavy to easily pour then. You want it to be about a liter and a half.

STEP 3: Do Your Thing!

enough said..

STEP 4: Flush It!

Pour the collected water directly into the toilet bowl. It will flush if there's enough water, guaranteed! Now you have efficiently used the bathroom and saved water in the process! Yay!

Comments

[martin farid nilchian]

Be sure to add rubber or felt pads to the bottom of the bucket!

I noticed the finish in my tub has worn down a bit over time, due to the hard plastic rubbing in the same spot (especially where the tub curves upwards). Little bummed about it, this was supposed to bring good karma to my showers!

My shower runoff gets me 3-5 gallons a day. (It's become kind of a game to keep it at 3 gallons)

But consider this stunning fact:

5 gallons a day = 1,825 gallons a year

1 pound ground beef = 1,847 gallons of water

[Pa1963]

Did you undo the trap under the sink? You need to keep some water in that bend to block sewer gases.

[SpeakForTheTrees]

I started doing this about a month ago when I had an unfixable leak in my bathroom sink. Now I've got it down to a science. My shower water, however, that my roommates and I have been doing for a while, and that gets used for plants, cats and anything that's going to be boiled.

[justbennett]

You boil your cats and plants?! Hahahar.

[tinker234]

i love the idea i wonder if i could make this so it would store in the tank and use it agin

[diy_bloke]

Have been doing this for a long time already, really makes a difference in water consumption. Just watch out, if you poor in the water too fast, it will easily go over the edge at the front, wetting yr shoes

[372752]

It's a great idea here in Arizona SRP is our water company and of course water is free they just charge for the fee of cleaning it of bacteria and etc. But what we don't know they also charge you to take it out of your house to dispose of it and clean it but this water gets sold to farmers yet still clean but sold to farms

[mrfoltz]

We keep the plug in the bath tub while we take a shower. Then pour it into 5 gallon pails and use it for the toilets... works great! Also, we have a jug by the Kitchen sink and pour any excess water in there that we use for cleaning veggies and fruit (instead of rinsing them, we soak them) and when we do the dishes, we have a double sink (1 wash-1 rinse), we pour the rinse water in there as well and use the water from our de-humidifier and use it to water the plants... Great work!!!

[jayufa]

 it's great to use the water from waiting for it to heat up, but it's not actually greywater...it's fresh water being used for the first time. 

[jtobako]

From the pic in no.4, I'd say you haven't been doing this long or you would have remembered to lift the seat ; )

[dmcunningham]

Now the thing is for me to find a place to store these filled buckets when not being filled. Thank you for sharing your technique on using grey water.

[steelnix]

I do this with water from my dehumidifier.....great instructable!!! Step 3 is to funny...especially the picture...

[Mr. Rig It]

Good idea.