With the hose pipe ban in effect . I am looking at ways of concerving
water .

I've already got a heavily discounted water butt through the local
council funded scheme (leant about this on Gardeners World, so they
do give out some useful info !!)

I will be installing it this weekend hopefully .

I was wondering about the use of so called GREY water i.e. washing up
water , water from the bath or the washing machine etc

What are people thoughts on using grey water ?

Could it damage the plants ?

Is it only safe to use on certain plants ?

I did read something by Alan Titchmarsh on Crocus but can't find it now

"La Puce" wrote in message
oups.com...

Gardening_Convert wrote:
With the hose pipe ban in effect . I am looking at ways of concerving
water .
I've already got a heavily discounted water butt through the local
council funded scheme

One of the problems of living in a bungalow is that it seems an impossible
task, short of fitting a below ground tank, to easilly collect grey water.
Also any water butt would have to sit at the front of the building which is
not visually pleasing. I don't want to start hacking my guttering around.
At each corner of the building I have about 56 cms of brickwork to stand a
butt. Not much room ! I think as far as grey water I'm stuffed
Derek

"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
ups.com...
With the hose pipe ban in effect . I am looking at ways of concerving
water .

I've already got a heavily discounted water butt through the local
council funded scheme (leant about this on Gardeners World, so they
do give out some useful info !!)

I will be installing it this weekend hopefully .

I was wondering about the use of so called GREY water i.e. washing up
water , water from the bath or the washing machine etc

What are people thoughts on using grey water ?

Could it damage the plants ?

Is it only safe to use on certain plants ?

I did read something by Alan Titchmarsh on Crocus but can't find it now

Avoid grey water from kitchen sink-it can contain too much fat and rubbish.
Grey water tends to be alkaline so do not use it on acid loving plants.
If you are desperate you can adjust the pH to neutral with a bit of vinegar.
I last used grey water during the 95/96 drought at my previous house.
I chucked in straw and soil which acts as some kind of purification and then
used it a few days later. There were no casualties but I was also watering
with clean rain water from the tap:-)

"Derek Banks" wrote in message
...

"La Puce" wrote in message
oups.com...

Gardening_Convert wrote:
With the hose pipe ban in effect . I am looking at ways of concerving
water .
I've already got a heavily discounted water butt through the local
council funded scheme

One of the problems of living in a bungalow is that it seems an impossible
task, short of fitting a below ground tank, to easilly collect grey water.
Also any water butt would have to sit at the front of the building which
is
not visually pleasing. I don't want to start hacking my guttering around.
At each corner of the building I have about 56 cms of brickwork to stand a
butt. Not much room ! I think as far as grey water I'm stuffed
Derek

one of the simpliest ways of using grey water is simply fittig a pipe to the
washing machine and piping the waste water out onto the lawn or gardens. It
is not very sophsiticated but I have heard of it. Some municipal authorities
may not like it, check with them perhaps before doing anything. Also think
about what you put through your washing machine before doing this. For
example, some toxic crap detergents may not be good for the soil. Basic
detergents probably are ok if they are bio-degradable or can be used for
septic tanks. Some contain posphorous which is useful for grass growth (but
which can also nutrient load water ways so best cut out detergents which
contain it). If you wash a load of shitty nappied you may not want to vent
that straight on to a vege garden and your soon to be harvested lettuces.
Like I said, not a very sophisticated method but it may be ok for where you
live. In summer if it is dry it is one way of watering the lawn/gardens.

rob

Rupert wrote:
snip

Avoid grey water from kitchen sink-it can contain too much fat and rubbish.
Grey water tends to be alkaline so do not use it on acid loving plants.
If you are desperate you can adjust the pH to neutral with a bit of vinegar.
I last used grey water during the 95/96 drought at my previous house.
I chucked in straw and soil which acts as some kind of purification and then
used it a few days later. There were no casualties but I was also watering
with clean rain water from the tap:-)

In genuine drought conditions, one should use a bowl in which to do the
washing up and chuck the resulting water onto the garden. (You're
right about 'fatty water', though) My ex father in law's housekeeper
did this in the 1976 drought and the inlaw was amazed at the good
results on the greenfly. I was amazed at his amazement because he was
a very keen and knowledgeable gardener but didn't know about this,
whereas I was a comparative beginner and had learned that from my
grandfather. Going easy on the washing up liquid is probably a good
idea but we now use Ecover products (which I would recommend to anyone)
and I don't think they're likely to present a problem. If someone
knows otherwise, I hope they'll tell us!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

Derek Banks wrote:
One of the problems of living in a bungalow is that it seems an impossible
task, short of fitting a below ground tank, to easilly collect grey water.
Also any water butt would have to sit at the front of the building which is
not visually pleasing. I don't want to start hacking my guttering around.
At each corner of the building I have about 56 cms of brickwork to stand a
butt. Not much room ! I think as far as grey water I'm stuffed

Hmmmm... don't know. You could have a reeds bed )

On Saturday we're off to Ynyslas, near Machynlleth and I'm looking
forward to visit CAT and see how small I can create a reeds bed.
There's been some interesting trials in Holland too, tiny ones created
on 3mx3m plonked in the centre of town.

They are doing a trial on GW now with border water with grey water ,
will be interesting to see what they find !

"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
oups.com...
They are doing a trial on GW now with border water with grey water ,
will be interesting to see what they find !

Toe jam
Belly button fluff
Old bits of soap ............

Jenny "~)

"JennyC" wrote in message
...

"Gardening_Convert" wrote in message
oups.com...
They are doing a trial on GW now with border water with grey water ,
will be interesting to see what they find !

Toe jam
Belly button fluff
Old bits of soap ............

Jenny "~)


Enough already . Thanks for stopping where you did.

The only way of doing it that I can think of is to bury a plastic barrell in the ground near to your bathroom and place a submersible pump into it.You then pump the grey water from the barrell in the ground into an I.B.C 1000 litre jobby !! You can then just open the 2 " tap then when you want to get the water out. Also there is no reason why you cannot save your rainwater into a BIG water butt. Just get the heights right and you can run the pipe between the diverter and the tank as long as you like, mine is at least 35 yards. see www.simplesprinklers.bravehost.com to see what I did.

Gardening_Convert wrote:
With the hose pipe ban in effect . I am looking at ways of concerving
water .

I've already got a heavily discounted water butt through the local
council funded scheme (leant about this on Gardeners World, so they
do give out some useful info !!)


We don't have a ban here yet, but I am topping up my rainwater butt on
a daily basis with water which collects in my washing up bowl from
rinsing hands etc and just a general collection of water throughout the
day. I keep a bucket outside the back door and put the collected water
in that, I also empty the pet water bowls into it as I change the dogs
water twice a day. Currently I am getting about 3/4 bucket of water a
day. I know it isn't much but it helps to keep the water butt topped
up!

Just some food for thought.

regards
Gail