Build a Washing Machine Greywater Surge Tank

...u want to be able to hold the water in the tank temporarily. Remember that greywater quickly turns into black water if allowed to sit around for more than 24 hours, so use this water quickly. 4. Direct your washing machine’s drain hose into the tank. The hose must first go above the top of the machine before going down into the tank in order to prevent the machine from draining accidentally. Also, don’t make this connection airtight–the washing ma...

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Fifty Shades of Gray Water

...es of the word. Merriam Webster suggests “gray water” not “grey water” or greywater.” Wikipedia goes with greywater” as well as listing off all the variations. Wikipedia also suggests a word so unappealing that it’s almost appealing, “sullage.” Sullage, according to Merriam Webster, is “probably from Anglo-French *sollage, *suillage, from suiller, soiller to soil.” While I like the link with soil, “sullage” appears to be used interchangeably wit...

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Bucket Flushing

...ilet since food scraps, particularly for meat eaters can quickly turn your greywater into rancid blackwater. Greywater systems range from the simple to the complex and we’ll start with the cheap and easy — bucket flushing. Simply keep a bucket next to the shower and collect the water that you run before the shower gets hot. Since you haven’t even stepped into the shower this water is pure water, and not even technically greywater. You can use this...

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Planting a Mini-Orchard

...way to also catch rainwater as it flows down the hill. Both rainwater and greywater work their way into the soil and slowly move down the hill over the course of many months. Since installing the greywater system we’ve seen previously sad plantings we did years ago of rosemary, wormwood and Mexican sage thrive. And we’ve got lots of nopalitos coming our way from the prickly pear plants. For more information on these simple, water saving strategie...

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