Create an Oasis with Greywater
Greywater is the term for all household wastewater except for the toilet and kitchen sink. This is the only comprehensive book I know of on the subject, and in this fifth and expanded edition, Art Ludwig explains how to choose, build, and use a variety of simple greywater systems. There are clear drawings for sending washing machine water into the garden (with or without a drum), for putting diversion valves on bathtubs or showers, for creating “mulch basins,” for ultra-simple setups like “Garden Hose Through the Bathroom,” and “Dishpan Dump (Bucketing)” -- the latter of which I've been practicing lately to the great benefit of both septic system and compost piles.
There’s a large section on branched drains -- splitting the flow and dispersing greywater to a number of mulch basins in the garden -- using gravity flow, no pumps or electricity. Mistakes made in greywater systems over the years are documented here, along with suggested improvements, and there's a two-page System Selection Chart with a comparison of 18 different systems.
[Complete plans for one of the book’s most broadly appealing projects -- a Laundry to Landscape Grey Water System -- are available, free, on the Oasis Design site. -- ES]
Simple Laundry Drum with Rainwater Harvesting
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Figure 7.6: Laundry Drumless Laundry
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Favorite (15)
Andrew Pollack
If I ever diverted the water used by my kids in the shower out into the garden, I'd flood the neighborhood.
Nathaniel
Maybe it's just me, but redirecting laundry water to your gardens, etc sounds like a bad idea. I'm not sure what kind of chemicals are in your typical laundry detergent, but I'd bet they're not great for plants.
elon
Good point, Nathaniel. Oasis makes this laundry detergent for that very reason:
http://www.yourguidetogreen.com/store/home-garden/cleaning/oasis-laundry-detergent-1-gallon/prod_325.html
Charles
@Nathaniel, the main concern here is simply sodium build-up in the soil. Using a sodium-free "natural" type detergent should be fine. There is some debate whether sodium build-up is actually an issue, given the small amount of sodium in detergents and that laundry water is likely to be a small percentage of overall water used in the garden, but I would probably use a "natural" detergent anyway, just to be safe.
Erik Knutzen
Andrew--this is something that Ludwig covers in the book. You have to match the water output to your landscape. If you have a lot of greywater you plant stuff that likes lots of water--in Los Angeles that would be something like bananas. You can also install a diverter so that you can switch the water back to the sewer if you have too much or an extended period of rain. Greywater is highly context specific and doesn't work in every situation. For me, in our dry southwest climate (and with water rationing) it makes a lot of sense.
I've been using Oasis detergent for two years now and redirecting my laundry water to fruit trees in the front yard with great success. I've been eating delicious greywater irrigated figs all summer. Ludwig's book is fantastic--the bible of greywater.