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#1
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Grey water from washing machine
As an experiment, I caught all of the water coming out of the washing
machine this morning in buckets. To my amazement, I captured 10 buckets from the wash cycle and another 10 buckets from the rinse cycle! At an average of 8 litres per bucket, that's a helluva lot of water - enough to water my modest suburban garden. My top loading Whirlpool 7244E has Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large settings and I had it set on Large. So, since we do about four loads per week, Melbourne's new regime which permits watering only by hand on two days per week is not the problem I had thought it was going to be, provided I can find the time to collect the water from the washing machine. The detergent I've got is Duo, which claims 3.1 grams of phosphorus per wash, supposedly half the maximum set by the industry's own standard. No idea if 3.1 is acceptable for natives or not, but I'm a bit nervous about it so I'll look for one of the liquid detergents at the supermarket like Aware or Planet Ark. I could just use the rinse cycle water, but that seems a terrible waste. |
#2
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Grey water from washing machine
"Claude" wrote in message
... As an experiment, I caught all of the water coming out of the washing machine this morning in buckets. To my amazement, I captured 10 buckets from the wash cycle and another 10 buckets from the rinse cycle! At an average of 8 litres per bucket, that's a helluva lot of water - enough to water my modest suburban garden. My top loading Whirlpool 7244E has Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large settings and I had it set on Large. So, since we do about four loads per week, Melbourne's new regime which permits watering only by hand on two days per week is not the problem I had thought it was going to be, provided I can find the time to collect the water from the washing machine. The detergent I've got is Duo, which claims 3.1 grams of phosphorus per wash, supposedly half the maximum set by the industry's own standard. No idea if 3.1 is acceptable for natives or not, but I'm a bit nervous about it so I'll look for one of the liquid detergents at the supermarket like Aware or Planet Ark. I could just use the rinse cycle water, but that seems a terrible waste. when you get to thinking about what you could do with it instead, it is indeed a terrible waste :-) i'd be nervous about 3.1 too, seeing as you can now get 0g powders. i was recently seen here singing the praises of aware powder (no phosphates). because of the bizarre (to state it mildly) construction of my house, the washing machine cavity is set up to just pump the water straight out the wall (through a pipe, of course ;-) and down to the garden. i just pump it straight out this way and have seen no problems at all. the only thing i need to do which is still not done (gahhh!) is to change the pipe so it's longer & more flexible, in order to use it more effectively, as atm it does not reach many places, so effectively much of this water is probably "wasted" anyway :-) my mum lives in a slightly more normal house, & connects an ordinary garden hose to the washing machine outlet, hose goes out the door onto the yard, then she just moves the hose around at whim. your best bet is probably something like this. another idea if you're muscly, organised & don't have a handy door or window (or hole in the wall ;-) near the washer, is to pump it into a very large container or two, then perhaps either siphon or bucket it out. i am thinking though that there'd be an easier solution than this with a bit of applied thought. you can now buy large water containers on wheels (i saw one with a tap & short hose attached, even) so there is certainly going to be some solution available to you. kylie |
#3
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Grey water from washing machine
Claude wrote:
As an experiment, I caught all of the water coming out of the washing machine this morning in buckets. To my amazement, I captured 10 buckets from the wash cycle and another 10 buckets from the rinse cycle! At an average of 8 litres per bucket, that's a helluva lot of water - enough to water my modest suburban garden. My top loading Whirlpool 7244E has Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large settings and I had it set on Large. So, since we do about four loads per week, Melbourne's new regime which permits watering only by hand on two days per week is not the problem I had thought it was going to be, provided I can find the time to collect the water from the washing machine. The detergent I've got is Duo, which claims 3.1 grams of phosphorus per wash, supposedly half the maximum set by the industry's own standard. No idea if 3.1 is acceptable for natives or not, but I'm a bit nervous about it so I'll look for one of the liquid detergents at the supermarket like Aware or Planet Ark. I could just use the rinse cycle water, but that seems a terrible waste. If they dont build a water desalination plant this year, there is going to be hell to pay. And unfortunately it would be best powered either solar or nuclear. (Ouch I can feel derision coming on that last one) What ever, we wont be around otherwise due to people fighting for water. Why are we still importing people when the water system cannot handle the population we have now? I am going to tell "Thwaitse" in Melbourne he does not know how to use numbers except to twist them and make the people cringe. Blame us for their incompetance? All we domestic consumers use is some 8/9 percent of water, while industry and irrigators use the rest. Yesterday he claimed we use 40 to 50 %. What utter lack of knowledge for a supposed leader of people. What we save is minuscule. Are we being misled? YES. Some would call it SPIN. That avoids the word lies. Spin sounds nicer. I sometimes wonder if these people got their university ticket by email. As a matter of fact, I think its time the government checked all the credentials of public servants, after what I heard going on with the judge in Sydney and his misleading the traffic people for a fine collected in a dead persons name. It makes for interesting reading. Im not being paranoiac. Prudent is the correct word.... Never mind you guys, I'm gonna make a home solar water distiller (I'll have plenty of water)so all the sludge left behind can be mixed in with my nuclear bomb shelter concrete. (grin!) |
#4
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Grey water from washing machine
"0tterbot" wrote in message
... my mum lives in a slightly more normal house, & connects an ordinary garden hose to the washing machine outlet in fact, it's the larger size of garden hose, not the ordinary kind. i mean, it's quite ordinary, but not totally ordinary. well, in fact not ordinary at all - rather good in fact. yet not quite extraordinary. i might stop now while i'm still amusing myself, but before i bore others. g kylie |
#5
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Grey water from washing machine
"0tterbot" wrote in message ... "0tterbot" wrote in message i might stop now while i'm still amusing myself, but before i bore others. g kylie Heh, heh, I found it very amusing, Kylie. Always room here for a bit of wit. |
#6
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Grey water from washing machine
"Jonno" wrote in message
If they dont build a water desalination plant this year, there is going to be hell to pay. They'd be better starting with the wasted storm water methinks. After that, then maybe desalination. I am going to tell "Thwaitse" in Melbourne ???? Who? |
#7
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Grey water from washing machine
"0tterbot" wrote in message ... "Claude" wrote in message ... As an experiment, I caught all of the water coming out of the washing machine this morning in buckets. To my amazement, I captured 10 buckets from the wash cycle and another 10 buckets from the rinse cycle! At an average of 8 litres per bucket, that's a helluva lot of water - enough to water my modest suburban garden. My top loading Whirlpool 7244E has Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large settings and I had it set on Large. So, since we do about four loads per week, Melbourne's new regime which permits watering only by hand on two days per week is not the problem I had thought it was going to be, provided I can find the time to collect the water from the washing machine. The detergent I've got is Duo, which claims 3.1 grams of phosphorus per wash, supposedly half the maximum set by the industry's own standard. No idea if 3.1 is acceptable for natives or not, but I'm a bit nervous about it so I'll look for one of the liquid detergents at the supermarket like Aware or Planet Ark. I could just use the rinse cycle water, but that seems a terrible waste. when you get to thinking about what you could do with it instead, it is indeed a terrible waste :-) i'd be nervous about 3.1 too, seeing as you can now get 0g powders. i was recently seen here singing the praises of aware powder (no phosphates). because of the bizarre (to state it mildly) construction of my house, the washing machine cavity is set up to just pump the water straight out the wall (through a pipe, of course ;-) and down to the garden. i just pump it straight out this way and have seen no problems at all. the only thing i need to do which is still not done (gahhh!) is to change the pipe so it's longer & more flexible, in order to use it more effectively, as atm it does not reach many places, so effectively much of this water is probably "wasted" anyway :-) my mum lives in a slightly more normal house, & connects an ordinary garden hose to the washing machine outlet, hose goes out the door onto the yard, then she just moves the hose around at whim. your best bet is probably something like this. another idea if you're muscly, organised & don't have a handy door or window (or hole in the wall ;-) near the washer, is to pump it into a very large container or two, then perhaps either siphon or bucket it out. i am thinking though that there'd be an easier solution than this with a bit of applied thought. you can now buy large water containers on wheels (i saw one with a tap & short hose attached, even) so there is certainly going to be some solution available to you. kylie You can buy those hoses that fit directly on to your Washing Machine outlet from Bunnings for $20-30 |
#8
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Grey water from washing machine
On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 02:11:08 GMT, "0tterbot" wrote:
"0tterbot" wrote in message ... my mum lives in a slightly more normal house, & connects an ordinary garden hose to the washing machine outlet in fact, it's the larger size of garden hose, not the ordinary kind. i mean, it's quite ordinary, but not totally ordinary. well, in fact not ordinary at all - rather good in fact. yet not quite extraordinary. i might stop now while i'm still amusing myself, but before i bore others. g kylie Oh no, please continue. It was just starting to get linguistically and Goon-ishly interesting! Tish |
#9
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Grey water from washing machine
Farm1 wrote:
"Jonno" wrote in message If they dont build a water desalination plant this year, there is going to be hell to pay. They'd be better starting with the wasted storm water methinks. After that, then maybe desalination. I am going to tell "Thwaitse" in Melbourne ???? Who? Cant be bothered spelling this mans name write |
#10
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Grey water from washing machine
g'day claude,
we make our own wash detergent (recipe on our web site) and also use a twin tub washing machine because they allow you to be very economical on water usage our 4 kilo' machine uses a total of 90 litres water (rinse & wash) and in that we do 3 loads of washing. all our grey water goes to vege gardens On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 01:22:12 GMT, "Claude" wrote: snipped With peace and brightest of blessings, len -- "Be Content With What You Have And May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In A World That You May Not Understand." http://www.lensgarden.com.au/ |
#11
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Grey water from washing machine
In article ,
"Claude" wrote: As an experiment, I caught all of the water coming out of the washing machine this morning in buckets. To my amazement, I captured 10 buckets from the wash cycle and another 10 buckets from the rinse cycle! At an average of 8 litres per bucket, that's a helluva lot of water - enough to water my modest suburban garden. My top loading Whirlpool 7244E has Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large settings and I had it set on Large. So, since You can check Choice for water efficiency of washing machines. Top loaders (which most Aussies prefer) are not very water efficient. OTOH the wash water from a front loader might be too 'dirty' (from detergent) to use on the garden. we do about four loads per week, Melbourne's new regime which permits watering only by hand on two days per week is not the problem I had thought it was going to be, provided I can find the time to collect the water from the washing machine. The detergent I've got is Duo, which claims 3.1 grams of phosphorus per wash, supposedly half the maximum set by the industry's own standard. No idea if 3.1 is acceptable for natives or not, but I'm a bit nervous about it so I'll look for one of the liquid detergents at the supermarket like Aware or Planet Ark. I could just use the rinse cycle water, but that seems a terrible waste. I use Aware at about $3.50/kg. Planet Ark is the same price and probably the same stuff. If you are nervous about Duo, just direct it to the lawn. I bought two of those $20 washing machine extension pipes from Bunnings. Just a tip: make sure there is a connector ring on the end (creamy-white rubber). Sometimes you find they're missing and then you have to be a bit creative to attach the wretched thing. -- 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 |
#12
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Grey water from washing machine
"gardenlen" wrote in message ... we make our own wash detergent (recipe on our web site) Thanks Len. Couldn't find the recipe on the site, can you point me in the right direction? BTW, wonderful site. |
#13
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Grey water from washing machine
"0tterbot" wrote in message ... "0tterbot" wrote in message ... my mum lives in a slightly more normal house, & connects an ordinary garden hose to the washing machine outlet in fact, it's the larger size of garden hose, not the ordinary kind. i mean, it's quite ordinary, but not totally ordinary. well, in fact not ordinary at all - rather good in fact. yet not quite extraordinary. i might stop now while i'm still amusing myself, but before i bore others. g kylie Lol...you could have worked the 'bore' bit a little more, I thought... |
#14
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Grey water from washing machine
"Chookie" cackled: You can check Choice for water efficiency of washing machines. Top loaders (which most Aussies prefer) are not very water efficient. OTOH the wash water from a front loader might be too 'dirty' (from detergent) to use on the garden. I agree. I've just had to swap my front loader for a top loader due to the bloody thing breaking over Christmads, and I'm not impressed at all with the new one. Wastes too much water, and doesn't wash the clothes as efficiently; stuff comes out still a bit grubby, and that never happened in the front loader. It's a very inefficient way to wash, and I'll be going back to a front loader as soon as I can afford it. |
#15
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Grey water from washing machine
just a bit of info,
I stopped using bio-z and any washing powder with emzymes as the grey water forms a white fungus coating on the lawn. Like the emzyme bacteria is multiplying on the lawn, then dries cake hard. I am now using the cheapest $3/kilo brands and lawn looking great! Must be all the nitrogen. I usually have a bath each nite, then use the bath water to fill washing machine then out to the lawn and lemon tree. Only hassle is waiting around with a bucket to fill machine each cycle. The last rinse I let the machine use clean tap water but I only let it fill to EXTRA LOW setting. |
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