Grey water for irrigation
 

I have installed a complete irrigation system in my garden, but would like
to use grey water if possible. (Water would be from the bath, shower and
hand basin)

Am I allowed to use it in my own garden?

If so, do I need to do anything to the water to make it suitable for use?

The current system takes water from the roof and stores it in 2 1450 Litre
containers (above ground)
The filtration I have on this is a simple mesh bucket (Used for planting
plants in ponds) followed by a bucket of gravel (The exit holes at the
bottom of the bucket are covered with smaller pond plant pots, so the gravel
doesn't escape!)
This then drains into a small water butt, a pump then pumps the water into
one of the 1400 litre containers, this is then connected to a second one at
the bottom, and a high pressure pump then delivers the water to the
irrigation system.

I was thinking of installing a small tank with another pump (with a float
switch) that would also feed into the 1400L containers, but was unsure if
the water needed some kind of treatment to remove soap etc.?

Thanks for any advise, or pointers!

Sparks

In article ,
Sparks wrote:
I have installed a complete irrigation system in my garden, but would like
to use grey water if possible. (Water would be from the bath, shower and
hand basin)

Am I allowed to use it in my own garden?

If so, do I need to do anything to the water to make it suitable for use?

This is a FAQ, and was answered just a short time back. I can't
remember the title of the thread, but you should be able to find it
if you look.

In summary, yes, you can.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
:: In article ,
:: Sparks wrote:
::: I have installed a complete irrigation system in my garden, but
::: would like to use grey water if possible. (Water would be from
::: the bath, shower and hand basin)
:::
::: Am I allowed to use it in my own garden?
:::
::: If so, do I need to do anything to the water to make it suitable
::: for use?
::
:: This is a FAQ, and was answered just a short time back. I can't
:: remember the title of the thread, but you should be able to find it
:: if you look.
::
:: In summary, yes, you can.
::

And in wintery?

:-p

--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.

The message
from "Sparks" contains these words:

I have installed a complete irrigation system in my garden, but would like
to use grey water if possible. (Water would be from the bath, shower and
hand basin)

Am I allowed to use it in my own garden?

If you have a hosepipe ban, it's a ban on the use of hosepipes per se,
and even rainwater must not be supplied through a pipe.

During a hosepipe ban, you can still use a watering-can, but what the
eye doesn't see...

Otherwise, no problems. Just don't use the water from a washing machine
or dishwasher.

If so, do I need to do anything to the water to make it suitable for use?

Nope, but don't use it if you've (for instance) soaked fabrics in the
bath/basin with a washing powder/fluid.

The current system takes water from the roof and stores it in 2 1450 Litre
containers (above ground)
The filtration I have on this is a simple mesh bucket (Used for planting
plants in ponds) followed by a bucket of gravel (The exit holes at the
bottom of the bucket are covered with smaller pond plant pots, so the gravel
doesn't escape!)
This then drains into a small water butt, a pump then pumps the water into
one of the 1400 litre containers, this is then connected to a second one at
the bottom, and a high pressure pump then delivers the water to the
irrigation system.

I was thinking of installing a small tank with another pump (with a float
switch) that would also feed into the 1400L containers, but was unsure if
the water needed some kind of treatment to remove soap etc.?


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You can make a sand filter out of a piece of plastic tube, dustbin, etc.

In the bottom have large pebbles, on top of those, smaller ones, then
smaller, then gravel, then sand. This is to prevent the sand washing
through and out of the outlet.

Then, reverse the process on top, but cap the stones with some large
ones. The stones at the top act as a coarse filter, but more
importantly, to prevent the inflow of water stirring-up the sand.

Begin by passing rainwater through it, and after a couple of weeks,
there will be a build-up of algae coating the stones and grains of sand,
and these will eat any bacteria, nitrates, etc, and then pass your grey
water through, and it will break down soap, etc, and the water which
comes out should be drinkable.

I'm about to install something very similar.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

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You can make a sand filter out of a piece of plastic tube, dustbin, etc.


Sounds like a good idea!
Would I keep the rainwater going through it all the time?
Would I need to clean this out periodically, or would it keep it's self
clean!?
(I would filter out the big bits of crap from the roof with my current
filter)

Sparks...

The message
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You can make a sand filter out of a piece of plastic tube, dustbin, etc.


Sounds like a good idea!
Would I keep the rainwater going through it all the time?

You don't have to, but it wouldn't harm it, and might help to keep it
clear. (I'm thinking of soap scum - it'll thrive on skin fragments)

This is similar to the sort of filter used in a waterworks. Back in the
time when Scouts were Boy Scouts and wore big hats and shorts I helped
with a Senior Scout County Venture weekend camp. Part of the
'entertainment' was a lecture and demo by a boffin from the water board,
and he brought along two plastic oil drums and some bags of sand, gravel
and stones.

He asked me and another to find the filthiest water we could and bring a
bucket of it back.

I looked at him, and he looked at me, and evil grins spread across our
faces, for on the walk down to the site we'd both noticed a ditch
outside a farmyard, and the water in it looked and smetl *EVIL*.

We brought back a bucket of this stuff expecting it to be rejected as a
health-hazard, as we'd been promised a drinkable result. Not a bit of
it! he went into raptures, extolling it as the filthiest water he'd ever
seen. He put some in a glass, and it was green, a horrible pea-green,
and when he held it up against the light it looked red.

Passed through the filter, it came out a sandy colour, but passed
through again, it was clear and bright, but not drinkable, as you needed
a fortnight or so for the (natural) algae to build up and coat the
stones and sand grains. So, he added some Milton, swirled it round a bit
and took a swig. He passed the glass round the hundred or so Scouts, and
a few of us tried it.

I'm still here...

You'd need to collect the water and either pass it through a 'closed'
filter, or if you have an open top, to arrange header room and have a
ballcock to prevent it overflowing.

Would I need to clean this out periodically, or would it keep it's self
clean!?

I intend having two parallel filters, and be using one until it needs
cleaning (which may be never, I don't know), and then switch to the
other.

(I would filter out the big bits of crap from the roof with my current
filter)

Well, yes. I'm sure the waterworks does that, too.

I've used a similar filter, pre-packed and pre-charged with algae in a
piece of plastic drainpipe to filter some slightly murky stream-water at
a camp. It passed through the filter fairly slowly, but we just left it
trickling into the receiver, and the water was sweet and clear when we
came to use it.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Off topics:
"Sparks" .were you by any chance a Telegraphist (RN )/Radio
operator(RAF)...H

Harold Walker wrote:
Off topics:
"Sparks" .were you by any chance a Telegraphist (RN )/Radio
operator(RAF)...H

Nope!