06/03/2022
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6. Chapter 1: Greywater Basics
Photo and Article Source: http://oasisdesign.net/greywater/createanoasis/
What Is Greywater?
Any wastewater generated in the home, except water from toilets, is called greywater. Dish, shower, sink, and laundry greywater comprise 50–80% of residential “wastewater.” Greywater may be reused for other purposes, especially landscape irrigation.
Toilet-flush water is called blackwater.
What Can You Do with Greywater?
Why Use Greywater?
It is said that there is no such thing as “waste,” just misplaced resources. Greywater systems turn “wastewater” and its nutrients into useful resources. Why irrigate with drinking water when most plants thrive on used water containing small bits of compost?
Unlike many ecological stopgap measures, greywater use is part of the fundamental solution to many ecological problems. It will probably remain an essentially unchanged feature of ecological houses in the distant future. The benefits of greywater recycling include:
Reduced use of freshwater—Greywater can replace freshwater for some uses. This saves money and increases the effective water supply, especially in regions where irrigation is needed. Residential water use, on average, is almost evenly split between indoors and outdoors. Most water used indoors can be reused outdoors for irrigation, achieving the same result with less water diverted from nature.
Less strain on septic tanks or treatment plants—Greywater, which comprises the majority of the wastewater stream, contains vastly fewer pathogens than blackwater and 90% less nitrogen (a nutrient that is a problematic water pollutant). Reducing a septic system's flow by getting greywater out greatly extends its service life and capacity. For municipal treatment systems, decreased flow means higher treatment effectiveness and lower costs.
More 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 groundwaters. Topsoil is a purification engine many times more powerful than engineered treatment plants, or even in septic systems, which discharge wastewater deeper into the subsoil.3
Feasibility for sites unsuitable for a septic tank—For sites with slow soil percolation or other problems, a greywater system can partially or completely substitute for a costly, over-engineered septic system. (In extreme cases this can enable otherwise undevelopable lots to be built on—a double-edged sword environmentally.)
Reduced use of energy and chemicals—Due to the reduced amount of freshwater and wastewater that needs pumping and treatment. If you provide your own water or electricity, you’ll benefit directly from lessening this burden. Also, processing wastewater in the soil under your fruit trees definitely encourages you to dump fewer toxins down the drain.
Groundwater recharge—Greywater application in excess of plant needs recharges the natural store of water in the ground. Abundant groundwater keeps springs flowing and trees growing in intervals between rains.
Plant growth—Greywater can support a flourishing landscape where irrigation water might otherwise not be available.
Reclamation of nutrients—Loss of nutrients through wastewater disposal in rivers or oceans is a subtle but highly significant form of erosion. Reclaiming otherwise wasted nutrients in greywater helps to maintain the land’s fertility.2,3
Increased awareness of, and sensitivity, to natural cycles—The greywater user, by having a reason to pay more attention to the annual progression of the seasons, the circulation of water between the Earth and the sky, and the needs of plants, benefits intangibly but greatly by participating directly in the wise husbandry of vital global nutrient and water cycles.
Just because—Greywater is fairly harmless and great fun to experiment with. Moreover, life with alternative waste treatment is less expensive and more interesting...
Does Greywater Matter?
