[Greenbuilding] greywater vessels

[YankeePerm at aol.com]

Hi Reuben:
     I used a 55 gal drum with a straight adaptation to a hose fitting for 
many years to utilize washing machine water.   I think that these systems with 
filters and all sorts of bells and whistles are silly. You are filtering out 
the same stuff you would add to your garden   by the sack as compostables.
     Grey water can get sort of nasty if kept around for long, though. That 
is why Art Ludwig has a system for delivering it as generated.   I've had 
bucket systems that hung around and indeed got nasty and I used them on the garden 
to no ill effect.   But I regard eating salad as a waste of time.   Don't 
irrigate with stored greywater anything you or any kids will eat raw, filtered 
makes no difference (except for wasted fertilzer).

     At present we use a length of 2' PVC pipe to distribute to plants.    
The pipe is laid on the surface of the ground for convenience with a 1/2" hole 
drilled next to each plant (ornamentals by happenstance) to be irrigated and 
one somewhere in the top of the pipe in case venting is ever necessary.   The 
washing machine pumps directly into this system.   It irrigates 5 or 6 plants, 
mostly Roses of Sharon (flowering shrubs).   The pipe is hidden by mulch and 
ground-cover vines.   Following Ludwig's excellent advice, I have not cemented 
the system together, but left simply stuck the components together.   So I can 
take it apart to reconfigure or to clean if, horrors, this becomes necessary 
before I die of old age at 99.   (I'm 67 now.)   It works like a charm and 
because one tends to wash clothing during sunny periods, for obvious reasons, the 
water is distributed more or less as needed.   If I wanted to do the system 
you have in mind, I have a stockpile of salvaged plastic irrigation pipe (about 
1" I think) and I'd just provide holes spaced normally for various plants, 2' 
for tomatoes, 18" for peppers, every 6" for row crops, etc.   Actually, if one 
puts enough water through the system, every 4' should be adequate for a hole. 
  Half inch holes don't clog like drip emitters always do and such a system 
can be moved around.   In fact, now that you have stimulated me to have the 
idea, I'm going to try it, probably as a distribution system for roof catchment. 
Thanks for the inspiration!

For Mother Earth




Dan Hemenway

In a message dated 6/4/07 4:21:03 PM, 9watts at gmail.com writes:


> My little greywater system is taking shape, thanks to a newly evident
> crack in the 110 yr old cast iron drain pipe. I'm hoping to rout the
> water from two sinks and a shower via 30 gallons of intermediate
> storage into my garden. The barrels are so that we can continue using
> a watering can or hose to distribute the water more precisely.
> 
> I have two 15-gallon blue plastic barrels with two bungholes each on
> top. The diameter of the threaded plugs is roughly 2-1/2", with
> knockout centers that can receive 3/4" pipe thread. So far so good.
> However I'd like to plumb my 1-1/2" or 2" ABS pipe into several of
> these. Any idea where I might find replacement plugs that would
> facilitate this, or have ideas how else to accomplish this task?
> 
> Alternately I'm considering rigging up a SIMPLE filter fabric strainer
> deal before the greywater enters the barrels, in which case I could
> imagine 3/4" pipe may be suitable for connecting the two barrels. I
> suspect others have tried this and may have insights into what works
> well.
> Art Ludwig's '06 edition of his book on the subject, though very
> detailed, doesn't speak either to filtering or storage. Thanks for any
> insights.
> 
> Reuben Deumling
> 
> 





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