On Thu, 30 September 1999, eric + michiko wrote:
> The Gray water ideas sound great but you may want to reconsider the use of bamboo, I
>believe it is on the invader plant list. I've read not plant it unless you love it
>because you cant kill it,when you chop it down it shoots up someplace else.
> 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
