With the record breaking heat and drought thoroughout the country this summer, water bans have been pervasive. How do you continue to water your garden within the rules? Answer: Make the most of the water you are allowed to use.
Laundry to Landscape? I'm still trying to think through whether, in my own home (which uses well water and a septic system), capturing grey water is worth the effort as an environmental improvement. I am, however, quite sure that for city dwellers and those using town water, particularly in arid environments, making good use of every drop of water is smart.
This easy to install Laundry to Landscape system, built using greywater guru Art Ludwig's free open-source plans, seems simple enough. It certainly requires greater attention to detergent choices and a greater level of understanding about what is needed and not needed in your soil, but with a little extra effort, you might be able to water your garden after all. Take care though — many municipalities have regulations around greywater systems that are worth researching to avoid running into trouble.
Art Ludwig has written extensively on the subject in his book The New Create an Oasis with Greywater: Choosing, Building and Using Greywater Systems - Includes Branched Drains
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I do believe I was once told that some municipal waste water treatment programs rely on the grey-water remaining in their system to dilute more waste-based effluent to optimize their treatment processes. So in some systems, diverting grey-water for garden use would undermine other actions. Worth investigating before experimenting.
Rain barrels and runoff collection, of course, are a separate issue -- if you get rain. (This year we, in NH, got lots, but I am painfully aware that many other areas suffered from the lack.)
Good input Sherry. I'm sure that if the municipality started noticing a substantial drop in grey water they would ask you to curb it.
I wish that all areas had better grey water recyling and water conservation efforts. Why can we build an oil pipeline from Alaska but we can't pipe water from wet New England to the dry southwest?
@Funstraw, I'd gladly have routed my flooded back yard your way if I could have! In about an hour, the low part of my yard acquired at least inches of water. It all drained away as quickly, but it was impressive when the storm drains backed up and spouted like geysers! I never saw that much water fall all at once, ever!
Please make sure that greywater is legal where you are. In Georgia, for example, it isn't. Of course, if you're talking about small, unobtrusive uses like capturing bath water for use on your indoor plants who's to know? But larger systems designed to utilize water from dishwashers, washing machines, etc., may cause a problem.
As Sherrybinnnh said, rain barrels are great. But do check the pH of that water. I put out a rain barrel to capture runoff from the roof of my new house and the water was so acid (maybe from the rain, maybe from something used to build the roof) that I couldn't even use it on acid-loving azaleas. Now, THAT was annoying!
i can't believe some places actually restrict greywater! crazy!!! i mean, assuming you're not using bleach or something, a few suds is certainly better than rain on a street. the little bit of soap also helps to prevent mosquitos from laying eggs in the standing water. win win the suds are also a nice way to protect some plants from pests. martha says so!
what i do is just run the hose of my washing machine into my pitcher. a little soap is good for my plants. i have 2 large rain barrels (i live in se asia so this is common) that i fill w/ the laundry water. i carry it around in buckets & my garden stayed green through the dry season w/o me using any extra water. also, i got a nice workout from carrying all those buckets of water. hahaha if you're going to do this, i seriously suggest having a few diff barrels sitting around.
If you plan on using laundry water it might be better to use a detergent alternative or go without. At our house we use the SmartKlean laundry ball. http://www.smartklean.com/
No soap, softener, or dryer sheets needed. You don't even need the extra rinse cycle! It's changed my laundry habits forever!
This would allow you to easily use your greywater without the concern for detergents or other chemicals getting into your plants or the environment.
@sherry, I'm in Brooklyn, so I'm good with water, thanks.
We've been using our washing machine gray water for YEARS to water the plants in the back yard. I mean at least a couple decades now. Its mostly used on ornamental succulents, but we use it on stuff we eat as well. Don't use any special soaps either. It works great for us.
Been doing this forever! Everywhere I live I rig the washer drain hose to go outside into the garden. Why this isn't required by law is beyond me! I don't use detergent or soap. A little baking soda and vinegar. And only cold water. My clothes never wear out! (Oh, we also hang dry. Never used a dryer.) Here in New Mexico water is very scarce. So every drop is precious. We wash & rinse our dishes in a dish pan & pour that water into the garden. In the bathroom a small basin is used in the sink to catch water from hand washing, teeth brushing, men's shaving. That water is poured into the toilet for flushing. Also there is a bucket in the shower to catch excess water which we use for watering the indoor plants & mopping floors. Not only is all this water conservation so much more ecologically sound, but we have the lowest water bills of anyone we know. July's water bill for 3 adults living in the house: $65.
Yeah, I know watering plants during drought is really a very big problem in North America. People facing the same problem just connect to Gottashopit. And the best part is you can get your job done at the lowest price.
I live in an area with a high water table and my sump pump runs year-round (even during summer droughts). I had a plumber friend add a Y pipe and lever to the sump pump discharge pipe after it leaves the house; with the lever in the normal position it discharges to the storm sewer as usual, but when I switch the lever it discharges into a rain barrel I've placed next to the pipe on the side of the house - and then I can use this water for my plants and garden. It only takes a day or two for the rain barrel to be full. A switch of the lever and the water discharges back into the storm sewer until I need to refill the rain barrel. Too bad when the house was built no one thought about adding a below-ground cistern to collect the water, but the rain barrel works just fine.