Mexstan

I am considering starting to save and reuse my grey water and rain water. I can easily divert the bathroom sinks and shower water into an underground cistern and the few times it rains, divert most of the water from the roof into the same cistern. Have some questions for the water experts here:
I intend to use this water for only my lawn sprinkler system and plants. Is there any problem doing this? If so, what? (Legalities don't apply)
Should I use some form of filter after or before the irrigation pump, or can I count on the solids falling to the bottom of the cistern and not plugging the sprinkler heads? There should not be much in the way of solids.
For the grey water and the rain water. Should I allow both systems to just run into the top of the cistern, or especially for the rain water, should I run it to the bottom of the tank and allow the rain water to stir up any sediment and flush it out the overflow?
Any other precautions I need to take? As it rains so seldom here, most of the time the water will be solely from the bathroom sinks and showers.

scuzman00

Stan,
I would put a baffle syle tank upstream of your cistern (kind of like a grease trap) to try and drop out soap scum, hair, grease (if you include kitchen sink runoff). I would also see if you can get some type of enzyme started in this baffle style tank to eat up any organic material. Be ready for some funky smelling yard sprinkler water after any period of longterm storage unless you inject clorine into your final cistern.

Good luck with your new irrigation system.

Gary

rich

if you cant do the enzymes may not be enough waste to feed them do the trap and then where the water runs into the cistern have a t in a 4inch pipe where the botom pipe is well perforrated and put a cap on the end of it and that way you can place the 3.5 inch pool clhorine tablets in it every so often and this will keep a lot of the stagnant and mosquito problems down. this what is done on the last tank on an arobic septic system. this allows the gray water to be used as sprinkler water

Jim Lane

I am no expert but It is going to smell nasty after awhile.

Last month I had to check a small house where they diverted the gray water out into a field and the line was backed up and I have never smelled anything so rank smelling, it got backed up and started growing something, it was the water from the shower, wash basin and the kitchen sink, there was soap scum, hair and bits of food from the sink clogging the line. I did not get paid enough to do that job.

I would think it would need to go into a settling tank first for the solids to drop out of suspension before it could be used for irrigation and then it cannot be used above ground.

If it was untreated it could contain a high bacteria content, I don’t know how you as a homeowner could treat it, a place I worked for recycled water to wash busses and it had 4 big cyclonic separators and 50 HP pumps to separate the soap and dirt then it was filtered but the water still smells.

Also you should not use untreated Gray water to irrigate food crops because of the bacteria.

I know that our local ordnances do not apply where you are but do you have any equivalent to our building and health code where you are?

You might smell funky after you roll in the grass.
Good Luck.


http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/ts/WW/GreywaterFact.PDF

http://interests.caes.uga.edu/drough...es/gwlands.htm

RAM2940

I remember seeing a show on Discovery channel or one of the channels similar to this last year, there were homes that used grey and black water for flowerbeds and lawns. They claimed to have no smell, some had continuous drip and fed plants indoors.

Mexstan

Thanks for the info so far. You have given me lots to think about.

rich

when you get a chance check out any info you can find on an arobic septic sytem it will help you out a lot on what you are trying to acomplish and it even passes health codes

Redleg

Can you filter it through gravel into a lagoon sytem and use the water from the lagoon. My folks are on 15 acres and run a lagoon septic sytem because of a high water table.