What is Grey Water Gardening?by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 22 Jan 2007 07:57 PM
A grey water diverter or grey water system is used to save water around your home by reusing it for your garden. This makes great sense from both a frugal and ecological standpoint. Grey water is any water from sinks, baths, showers and washing machines that has been already used. When you take a shower for example, the water normally goes down the drain and into your septic or sewer system. A diverter system takes that water and sends it off to water your garden instead. A grey water diver system can be as simple as a long water outflow hose from your washer that drains outside to your garden instead of into a utility sink drain. You can also make use of diverter valves and simple diverter kits to capture the water from other parts of the house. It is not recommended that grey water be used for anything other than gardening, because of the potential for bacteria, pathogens and other nasties that could be living in the water. Water purifying systems do exist, but the chemicals and energy output of most of these systems typically outweighs any benefits you would get from reusing the grey water in the first place. Salt and heavy grease in the grey water can be damaging to your garden, so using a detergent that is low in sodium is a good idea when using a diverter system. Powdered detergents contain more salt than do liquid detergents. Kitchen water is generally not a good idea to reuse as grey water for a garden, because it generally very dirty and greasy. Shower and bath water is perfect for reuse in a garden, since the soaps and shampoos we use are generally mild and well-diluted. If you are frugal minded, you may already be using your own form of grey water system. Do you ever water your house plants with water from a glass of water someone didn't finish? What are some of the ways you reuse or save water? Grey water diverters can be found at some larger home improvement stores or online. Related Articles: Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  Linda Hansen (1796) 22 Jan 2007 08:49 PMMary Ann, I am an avid gardener. It is expensive in the hot Texas summer to water all my plants. When the temps reach the 90's and the sun beats unmercifully on my little darlings, I water in the early morning and by the evening they are parched and ready for another drink. I collect rain water and use it whenever its available. There is no chlorine or flouride in it and rainwater is excellent for plants. If I find an unidentified bottle of water sitting around, it always goes on a plant. Art  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 23 Jan 2007 05:08 AMRainwater is a wonderful way to conserve water for gardening! How do you collect it and store it? ivonglz (5) 21 Apr 2008 03:08 PMBesides watering my plants with a stray glass or bottle of water, I use the water in my fish tank to water my indoor houseplants and outdoor patio garden of potted vegetable and herb plants. Since my fish tank requires a regular water change I find that using some of the "bad water" to water plants and then fill the tank with fresh water. I also use my empty cat litter and clorine tablet buckets to catch rain water. This doesn't yield too much water but every drop helps. (Water - Good to the last drop) Community Tags diverter, gardening, grey water, water Discuss this article
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There are some great people reading the frugal living blog! Thanks so some comments on one of my earlier blogs, I learned a little about the existence of grey water diverters.
