What is greywater ?
Types of Water: Grey Water, Black Water and White Water
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Sure, gray water sounds like something worth reusing, but what's in it exactly? First, let's draw the line between gray and black.
The key difference between the two is that black water has come into contact with fecal matter. Fecal matter is a haven for harmful bacteria and disease-causing pathogens. Additionally, this waste doesn't break down and decompose in water fast or effectively enough for use in domestic irrigation without the risk of contamination.
Gray water, on the other hand, has not come into contact with solid human waste. This greatly decreases the risk of disease and increases the speed at which it can be broken down and safely reabsorbed into an active garden or lawn.
The line between white and gray, however, comes down to a number of possible additions made in the acts of washing, bathing, cooking and cleaning. Unlike white water, gray water may contain soap particles, fat and oil from cooking, hair, and even flakes of human skin.
If ¬the household chemicals in gray water are kept to a minimum, most plants will be able to handle it. You can keep chemical contamination to a minimum by using environmentally friendly, biodegradable soaps and detergents whenever possible.
When everything you send down the drain winds up in your backyard, "environmentally friendly" certainly hits much closer to home.
Why Does Greywater Matter?
Viewed narrowly, greywater systems don’t look that important. A low flow showerhead can save water with less effort. A septic system can treat greywater almost as well.
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But when you look at the whole picture—how everything connects—the keystone importance of greywater is revealed.
Ecological systems design is about context, and integration between systems. The entirety of integrated, ecological design can be reduced to one sentence: do what’s appropriate for the context.
Ecological systems—rainwater harvesting, runoff management, passive solar, composting toilets, edible landscaping—all of these are more context sensitive than their counterparts in conventional practice; that’s most of what makes them more ecological.
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Greywater systems are more context sensitive than any other manmade ecological system, and more connected to more other systems.
Many people and organizations instinctively recognize that greywater is the ideal test case for the transition to a new way of regulating and building that is appropriate to a post-peak resource, mature civilization.
The US Green Building Council, the City of Santa Barbara, CA, Oregon ReCode, and SLO Green Build are among those organizations which independently chose greywater standards as the technology with which to launch their programs of regulatory reform.
Is greywater reuse safe?
Yes. There are eight million greywater systems in the US with 22 million users. In 60 years, there has been one billion system user-years of exposure, yet there has not been one documented case of greywater transmitted illness.
(In contrast, 400 Americans get hit by lightning each year).
The benefits of greywater recycling
* Lower fresh water use
Greywater can replace fresh water in many instances, saving money and increasing the effective water supply in regions where irrigation is needed. Residential water use is almost evenly split between indoor and outdoor. All except toilet water could be recycled outdoors, achieving the same result with significantly less water diverted from nature.
* Less strain on septic tank or treatment plant
Greywater use greatly extends the useful life and capacity of septic systems. For municipal treatment systems, decreased wastewater flow means higher treatment effectiveness and lower costs.
* Highly effective purification
Greywater is purified to a spectacularly high degree in the upper, most biologically active region of the soil. This protects the quality of natural surface and ground waters.
* Less energy and chemical use
Less energy and chemicals are used due to the reduced amount of both freshwater and wastewater that needs pumping and treatment. For those providing their own water or electricity, the advantage of a reduced burden on the infrastructure is felt directly. Also, treating your wastewater in the soil under your own fruit trees definitely encourages you to dump fewer toxic chemicals down the drain.
* Groundwater recharge
Greywater application in excess of plant needs recharges groundwater.
* Plant growth
Greywater enables a landscape to flourish where water may not otherwise be available to support much plant growth.
* Reclamation of otherwise wasted nutrients
Loss of nutrients through wastewater disposal in rivers or oceans is a subtle, but highly significant form of erosion. Reclaiming nutrients in greywater helps to maintain the fertility of the land.
* Increased awareness of and sensitivity to natural cycles
Greywater use yields the satisfaction of taking responsibility for the wise husbandry of an important resource.
A system like this can reduce your water usage by about 50% so, if you switch to a water meter, you could potentially halve your water bills as well as reducing your water footprint.
Sounds like a neat way to address the problem of water shortages, doesn’t it? Then why isn’t everyone doing it?
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Grey water recycling is an obvious solution to saving more water and reducing our impact on the environment. Recycling grey water saves you money too. AyDo™ SIW Disinfection Systems are designed to remove the inconvenience often associated with trying to save water. Once installed, our systems seamlessly integrate with your existing plumbing.
The average person wastes 25 gallons (95L) of greywater per day. But with a bit of ingenuity, this gently used water just might have the power to change the world.
Using grey water for many of the water needs in a home or garden that don't require potable water can help reduce stresses on water supplies, lower home water usage and costs, and support a thriving landscape.
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Toilet flushing can use considerable amounts of greywater, as it normally accounts for up to 50% of indoor water use. Poor quality greywater is not a problem if it is used to flush toilets, because the water goes into the sewer or septic system where it would have gone had it not been reused. Greywater should be pumped into the toilet bowl for flushing. DO NOT put greywater into the toilet tank. Greywater in the tank may not only cause the flushing mechanism to malfunction, but could be backsiphoned into the fresh water supply if water pressure decreases suddenly.
About 65% of domestic wastewater is greywater. Bathing and laundry can generate considerable quantities of greywater in a large household.
Water shortages already cause problems for millions of people around the world, and the problem will likely only be exacerbated in the future. Get ahead of the curve and start saving water now by building a grewyater recycling system.
These systems divert water from the shower or sink to an outdoor tank which can then be used for watering the garden. This project is fairly easy to complete by following the three steps below:
According to the University of Arizona's Water Resources Research Center, between 60 and 65 percent of the water that goes down a home's drain has the potential to be reused.
Summarize;
- Useful during periods of droughts or water shortage
- Saves on your water bills
- No wastage of water
- Helps save useful plants and vegetables when the water supply is very low
- Can be used for collecting and using rainwater
No organisms have been harmed during the development of our products.
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