Watering with grey water?

cheyannarach Sun Mar 10, 2013 3:01 am

I have a really bad well and can't always water as much as needed throughout the summer so me and hubby are building a rain barrel and we also have a grey water tank. I have heard of people using grey water to water with but I am curious to see if any of you do this or what you think. I am wondering mostly about soap from dishes, hands, hair, laundry, dishwasher... I seems like that would be the biggest additive to grey water.

Muckmuck Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:42 am

My orchard is watered with Grey Water. My Grey Water System is outlined on the page that link takes you to. SFG use is going to be figured out this year in attempt to keep the lanes in my orchard moist but productive.

**Turan** Sun Mar 10, 2013 1:48 pm

When I lived in SanDeigo I used gray water from the laundry to water trees and the lawn. I never used it on vegetables though. Some of those soaps are pretty strong. I killed an acacia tree with borax, not realizing how potent it is. Grass can handle a lot of stuff, vegetables seem a little more sensitive, or maybe it is the worth in my mind?

Hardcoir Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:00 pm

We have rain barrels and 55-gallon plastic garbage cans to store rainwater. We also pour bathwater (R.O. filtered from the house) and water used to boil or steam in the kitchen.

We also use a water filter on our garden hose in order to avoid chlorinated water. Our new filter just arrived Friday from Boogie Brew.

If you use chemicals, like bleach or Cheer, in your laundry water, I would not use that in your garden. It may supply moisture, but is will supply other things you don't want in your vegetables.

Unmutual Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:04 am

cheyannarach wrote:I have a really bad well and can't always water as much as needed throughout the summer so me and hubby are building a rain barrel and we also have a grey water tank. I have heard of people using grey water to water with but I am curious to see if any of you do this or what you think. I am wondering mostly about soap from dishes, hands, hair, laundry, dishwasher... I seems like that would be the biggest additive to grey water.

It really all depends on what goes in to the gray water, though most people use it just for orchards because of that. You'd have to research(there's info on the net) everything you use, sometimes by ingredient. Having a diverter, for when you use something like bleach so it goes to your regular sewerage, is a must.

cheyannarach Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:08 pm

Okay, thanks for the input everybody. Can't believe I didn't even think of bleach affraid

. I will do some more digging and see what I can do!

And Hardcoir thanks for the idea of using all that wasted water!

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