Grey water on gardens

 I'm interested in some low cost solutions to using our grey water. Anyone
got any hints on how to go about it? Good website references would help too.
What sort of detergent is best when on this system?

Liz

 

if you want to use grey water for the sake of reducing your water usage a
simple option is to have a system that recycles it to flush the toilet. The
grey water ends up in waste treatment but has had two cycles through your
house rather than one. The same amount of water does 2 jobs rather than 1.
This will avoid some of the questions as to what you can spread on your
garden.

If you want to water your garden that is a different matter. Some system of
rainwater harvesting may be more straight forward and chances are the
quality of rain water will be better than grey water.

rob

 Staycalm wrote:

http://www.greywaterreuse.com.au/

I attended a saturday workshop with Ross, and he really knows his
stuff.

Essentially (from memory):

* don't use greywater from your kitchen sink. This water probably
  accounts for less than 10% of your greywater production, but the
  grease and crud in your sink water will probably give you 90% of
  the problems

* don't use on your vege garden. That is the official word, although
  lots of people do. As long as you are using drippers it is probably
  fine, maybe not for root veg

* if you can use a gravity feed system it will save you a great deal
  in setup and maintenance costs

* don't mix greywater with rainwater

* don't save your greywater too long. Empty the tank daily is ideal,
  although your plants are probably better off on a 3 day cycle.
  Perhaps if you rotate the watering zone...

* your greywater collection system must overflow back into the
  sewer

* other stuff that I have forgotten (I haven't actually implemented a
  greywater system)

If you are in Perth Ross will come out and prepare a greywater
plan for your block for a very reasonable fee.


Ross showed us a table which had all the brands cross referenced
against phosphates and other salts. A lot of the brands increased
salts when they reduced phosphates and that is bad for your garden.
The liquid detergents however had much lower salt levels, so a good
rule of thumb is to use a liquid detergent and you should be fine.

  brucef@eudoramail.com wrote:



From what I understand, the fear is that some of your intestinal bugs have
made it into the water from the shower, or via your clothes, and will then
give you gastro when you eat the vegies that they have landed on.  Given that
most keen gardeners shovel you-know-what on their gardens anyway, this seems a
bit hysterical.  I wrote to Gardening Australia once asking why a bit of human
faecal matter was such a worry given Pete's enthusiasm for ordure, and they
said they were just following what the water/health authorities said.  They
carefully refrained from comment on the realities of gardening!
 

I use the Planet Ark low-phosphate detergent.  The bananas look fine so far...

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

 

accepting this may in fact be true, what I wonder is if the greebies
eminated from me in the first place, how would eating food soaked in these
greebies further harm me? If they are inside me, surely the effect would be
the same once they re-enter me in food?

rob