We had the privilege of attending a very hands on greywater workshop courtesy of The Greywater Guerillas, a local Bay Area crew of experts who are passionate about teaching folks to use their water (twice) wisely. Greywater is water that has been used once in your home and only contains a little soap, dirt (from laundry or skin) or kitchen particles like food or grease. Unlike blackwater, which is water that has touched excrement, like toilet water, greywater is safe to use in watering your garden. As Laura Allen, co-editor of the book Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground, and our amazing instructor points out in this video:
You don’t want to put the greywater onto the part of the plant that you’re going to eat…if you get the water going into the ground, there are no more health risks than would be [associated with the regular dirt in your garden]. So you want to get the greywater into the ground soaking down to irrigate the roots of your plants.
We were able to do just this in home owner Tara’s backyard. We replaced her kitchen sink pipe with a 3 way valve giving her the choice to send her sink water back to the sewer or out to the greywater system of pipes and mulch basins surrounding four fruit trees. The system was relatively simple and inexpensive. Total price was $200 for all new pipes which included a $60 top of the line 3 way valve, a bunch of 2 way splitters and under a hundred feet of piping. If you live close to a salvage yard or are savvy on Freecycle or Craigslist you can get these materials for way cheaper or even free.
Laura touches on some of the legality of systems like this:
California has a greywater code so greywater theoretically is legal…some states have no code so greywater is not legal. In California, you have the potential to do greywater…that said, the code that’s written down for greywater is very, very wasteful, it’s very bad, most people don’t follow it. In California most people have unpermitted systems which are…technically illegal, just as building anything unpermitted is technically illegal.
There are a few states, like Arizona, that encourage safe and resourceful greywater systems like the one we built here. So find out what your state allows before cutting into your pipes. But if you’re like these Californians and your state codes are no good, you’ll want to find some greywater experts to consult and keep in touch with to help change the codes for better.
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Interesting. We took our own clothes washing machine off of the sewer system. Water from it goes directly into the flowerbed of an ornamental tree in our back yard, and we don’t really ever need to water it. I do have to pull weeds out of the area every spring, and when I do, I wear a dust mask. The weeds tend to trap a significant layer of soap scum from the washing machine. I don’t want to be breathing that in.
But, having done some reading up on greywater, I don’t think I would consider using it to water food plants without running it through at least a sand filter. It seems like a nice, easy way to eliminate more of the potential pathogens from the water.
Love the idea of a valve that lets you choose, this water here, this water there.
water, we take it so much for granted. Imagine the horrific world without it, or at least without clean water. I’ll look at what I can rig up at home. Our water bills are huge, we waste so much on sprinklers.
I like this, a lot. During the drought in the mid/late 80’s we used to save our greywater by transferring tub water and sink water into buckets, then walk them out front back to water the non-edible plants. The backbreaking work only happens once here…when you put in the system. And, with friends, it didn’t look too bad.
It is very interesting to see how water is handled in the more urban and arid areas. We’re in rural New Hampshire. Water is very abundant and in our home water conservation isn’t a daily concern (we’re more concerned with conserving the electricity used to pump the water).
We have both a private well and a private septic system. The water we use is moved from the front yard (from a well 30 feet deep), through the house as we use it, into the back yard (into a septic system). A total movement of 40 feet at most.
Exceed the amount of water the land can give and the well stops giving water while it “recharges” and if you fail to maintain a healthy septic system then… yeah that’s much worse. EVERYTHING that goes down the drain needs to be bio-degradable or bad things happen. Very local bad things.
Very interesting video and concept.
good point Chris. In system where you have a well and septic tank, you’re already set up. It’s the urban areas that need to rethink how they use our water. Mant people probably have never lived in a place where they have to deal with the consequences of a dry well…or an overflowing septic system.
Great info!!! I live in the only remaining D-4 drought area of Alabama and I’m always looking for ways to save/collect water to keep the garden growing…. Thanks. (Should you tell the homeowner’s name since it’s not permitted???)
regina
agreed Regina. it seems a no brainer to capture rainwater..and reuse kitchen water.
New Mexico allows it too - hopefully we will be moving into an earthship in the coming years out in Taos, where they encourage grey water use!
I did not know this was possible!!!
This is so cool.
I am a General Contractor in Florida. We are building the first Earthship here in this state (very tough codes here) and the Dept of Enviroment and Health are actually working with us to install a greywater system; it is through an innovative use permit and will require follow-up testing. The good news is that by proving the viability of the subsurface wick system we can hopefully help to open the door to more common use of these type systems. Although everyone thinks of this state as an abundant source of water, we have serious issues with overuse of the aquifer system and contamination of groundwater as well as our bays and estuaries with overloading of the sewer systems. A well thought out greywater system designed into many homes would start to reverse the damage done.