Greywater

Kevin & I are steadily working towards making our home largely self-sufficient, meaning we're less dependent on importing water & other resources.  A simple way to move towards a closed loop is harvesting rain water & recycling eligible water within the home.  We knew we wanted to install both rain barrels as well as a grey water system.  Grey water is recycling water from the washing machine and some sinks, being mindful of the cleaning products and matter that interacts with these water sources.  This water is perfectly safe for plants.

Rain barrels are often installed on platforms outside the house to harvest rain from the gutters and then allow gravity to passively distribute water to the garden.  We knew we needed a lot of water for our garden.  The thought of tons of platforms seemed somewhat cumbersome & potentially an eye-sore for our neighbors.  Plus, if we wanted passive distribution of greywater the barrels couldn't be high-- unless we created separate systems for greywater & rain water.

Kevin came up with a creative solution.  This winter he dug holes in the ground to bury rain barrels.  He found a source & purchased six 55-gallon barrels.  He then began connecting certa-flex pipes from the down-spouts to the barrels to collect rain water.  He created the same process to connect output from the washing machine & kitchen sink.  

In this way, when we have a surplus of water we can disconnect the pipes from the barrels and allow the water to flow back to the city gutters.  In the winter, we'll disconnect the greywater system.  It's important to use greywater frequently due to the other organic matter in the water.  This way it's available when we have high water demands in the garden & easily detached when we're in colder seasons.

We've switched our detergents and soaps to greywater approved.  Ecover products are easily found at shops near us, but they can also be ordered online.  This has urged me to clean mainly with lemon, vinegar, and baking soda, which is healthier for us and greywater safe.

OK, but how does the water reach the garden?  Kevin thought of a pool pump.  We had to try two before we found one strong enough to pump the water from the sunken barrels into the hose.  We're on the grid with this idea, using electricity to power the pump.  We hope to incorporate solar panels onto our home at some point so that this would largely be an off-grid approach.

It's taken some getting used to.  The hose has less pressure pumping from the greywater and rainwater barrels than it does when connected to the spigot.  The pumps tend to shut off automatically if we connect the hose to our soaker hoses.  However, working through these kinks and readjusting our habits has been worth it.  Our water bill and water consumption has drastically decreased.  

I'm anal.  A sign for guests letting them know the deal.  I hate being in a space & feeling like I might mess something up.  My hope is that folks in my home feel comfortable & fully informed.

Still fine-tuning, but fully hydrated & happy!  BTW-- just got the water bill.  HALF what it was before we implemented this grey-water system!  Environmentally friendly & fiscally responsible!