Laundry to Landscape Grey Water Completed

Continuing on from my earlier post, our L2L garden project is complete and I can’t wait to do the laundry! The Grey water experts, aka Grey Water Corps, installed the system in less than 5 hours with remarkable skill and a good measure of aesthetic awareness. While the project was a  low-tech plumbing operation the crew made sure that all the elbow joints were tight and sound and that all the pipes were unobtrusive and blended with the stucco color and wood tones of the walls and steps.

Step 1:

 The washing machine waste water pipe was modified so that the waste grey water could be diverted for garden use. This was achieved by connecting a new plastic pipe to the existing pipe and channeling it downwards and through a small hole in the wall to the outside. A directional valve was added that allows the washing machine water to be directed either to the garden or to the sewer line, a useful item for those occasions when you may be using your machine with less plant friendly detergents. As I will be using salt free environmentally friendly detergents the valve will be set to landscape mode.

 The washing machine motor is powerful and will push the water into the connecting pipe and into the outside down pipe where gravity does the rest. There is no need for an additional pump as Greywater Corp’s designed the system utilizing the grade of the garden to make maximum gravity flow.

Step 2:

The pipe from the washing machine having passed through the outside wall was connected to a down pipe which in turn was connected to the new irrigation delivery pipe. Each elbow joint was tightly fitted and firmly glued. The down pipe and connecting elbow joints were painted beige to blend with the stucco wall. The brown irrigation pipe was snugly fitted to the wooden step and then continued on to the outer edge of the garden.

Step 3: 

The rigid brown delivery pipe was then connected to a flexible blue pipe that was buried in the soil and continued around the garden supplying grey water to each mulch basin via a connecting T fixture ( below). See above photo red box shows blue pipe painted brown to blend.

 Step 4 – Step 1 chronologically

 Each designated mulch basin, identified with a purple flag was dug to a depth and width of approximately 18”. A black collar was then installed to house the water valve and create a barrier that will stop excessive mulch and debris from clogging the valve mechanism. The collar sits inside the hole and was partially filled with mulch to conduct water down to the plant roots. The amount of water released is controlled by a simple valve at the end of the T connector. The area around the collar is filled with mulch that helps distribute water to surrounding surface areas by osmosis. Each collar is fitted with a cap that also serves to protect the valve.

 The mulch used by Greywater Corp was fairly chunky so it will break down slowly but will need to be replaced or augmented in about 12 months.  

 Thank you Leigh,Danica,Trent, Russell,Clay and all the great people at Greywater Corps that made this project possible.

Water water everywhere .....

This week’s post will be focusing on grey water and the drought we are facing in most of the US.

When considering a title for this piece I had a flashback to childhood and remembered my English literature teacher who once a week read a poem to the class and one occasion she read “The rime (rhyme) of the Ancient Mariner” and for homework we had to memorize 3 verses. If you haven’t read this master piece written by by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798 it is worth struggling with it’s ballad format and use of old  English words but to get into the rhythm of the poem you may first need to re-fresh your understanding of iambic meters. The poem is a very imaginative layered piece that on the surface tells the story of mariners on the sea who befall calm windless waters and are cursed by the actions of one sailor. The imagery is powerful  and chilling and deals with issues of morality, punishment, loneliness and redemption and is poignantly pertinent to our current global nightmare.

Back to present day. In previous posts I have documented how we responded to the California drought by replacing our water sucking gardens at home with drought tolerant plants that are drip-fed rather than sprinkler fed. In recent months we have further reduced our consumption by using our dishwasher more often, showering less and relying more on bathing with sink water. I ran the calculations and for the pre-saving years in a 60 day period we consumed 4,700 cubic feet compared to the current amount of 900 cubic feet. Gallons are easier to understand (multiply by 7.48) so for a 60 day period the pre-daily gallons use was 586  compared with our current daily gallons use of 112 gallons per day (900x 7.481= 6,733 divided by 60 =  112 gallons) this is for a household of 2 humans and 2 canines. A report from the Legislative Analyst’s Office for 2016 showed that one person on average uses 85 gallons.

We have reduced our water use by 80% to 112 gallons or 66 gallons per person but how can we reduce this further? That is what we hope to find out in our meetings with grey water and rain water experts we are meeting at our home. As we cannot realistically consume less we are looking to see how we can recycle what we use from one area to another. Grey water is water that comes from water from showers, tubs, bathroom sinks and washing machines. Black water is what comes from toilets, dishwashers and kitchen sinks. I am assuming that the grease and meat scraps in the kitchen sink and dishwasher prevent these sources from being recycled but this is a question I will have for the experts. I also need to understand if grey water needs to be filtered and or treated with an organic compound before it can be safely used to water my trees and plants.

While we have not received much rain over the last 2 years, I am hoping that when we do I can store and filter it to a level suitable for drinking and if not to supplement our grey water system. Storing rain water will be a challenge as our home is on a small down hill slope and there are few flat areas to place storage tanks, yet another question for the experts.

The agave plants at the beginning of this post were on my morning hike and they reminded me of the agave candlestick holders we have made.