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Old 05-01-2007, 02:22 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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.


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Old 05-01-2007, 02:58 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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


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Old 05-01-2007, 03:02 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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!)
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Old 05-01-2007, 03:11 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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


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Old 05-01-2007, 03:56 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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.




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Old 05-01-2007, 04:35 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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?


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Old 05-01-2007, 05:08 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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


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Old 05-01-2007, 06:21 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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
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Old 05-01-2007, 01:43 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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
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Old 05-01-2007, 07:39 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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/


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Old 05-01-2007, 11:38 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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
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Old 06-01-2007, 12:08 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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.


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Old 06-01-2007, 06:43 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default 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...


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Old 06-01-2007, 06:45 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Posts: 196
Default 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.


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Old 06-01-2007, 06:47 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Posts: 12
Default 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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