Erik wrote:
> I replied to a message today and thought I should probably introduce
myself. My name is Erik Bahnsen
Welcome!
> I have a question about gray water recycling.What kind of detergent is
safe to >use so that I can use it to water plants etc.?What kind of systems
do people >use to recycle the water?
We have not yet diverted the plumbing for our grey water system yet; we had
to wait for the last county inspection. We have set it up so that we can
connect any combination of the kitchen sink, bathroom sinks, tub, shower
and laundry drains to a pipe which goes out and ties into a french drain
and daylights 40 feet from the house.
My plan is to dig and line a large bed filled with some combination and
configuration of soil and the left over drain rock we have, or perhaps some
kind of spongy organic material. The grey water (perhaps after a screen of
some kind for hair, etc.) would run into and through the bed which could
be planted with plants that like lots of water (bog plants?). The bed
could then be drained into another area, perhaps just soil and unlined,
that could be planted to something else that likes damp soil (bamboo?). We
have no need to use it for fruit trees, which is common I'm told. I think
that as long as the water is not on the surface, or goes through an
appropriate bed of plants, there would be little to worry about. You
should be thinking about what goes down your drains anyway.
We are considering not hooking up the kitchen or a bath sink to give us a
place to pour vinegar or similar things which plants might not like.
Anyone know anything about this? Perhaps diluted, it doesn't matter.
Eric Storm
