Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with graywater

Grey Water on Veggies and Illness Transmission

Tsisqua47 — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:05:38 -0800

My husband used old grey water (daughter's bath water, a few days old) to water potted capsicum/pepper plants (with fruit) and tomato plants (not yet fruiting) and then came down with vomitting that night. I hope it is only a gastro-intestinal virus. It is clear that the grey water was old, and he should not have used it. That's not the question. My question is this: Do we have to cook all the fruit that are currently on the plants, even if they need a few more weeks to ripen? Say I pick all the fruit off now, then what about subsequent fruit? I was hoping to keep these pepper plants for a few years and we do like to eat the tomatoes and peppers raw in salads.

It sure looks like gray water

tingting — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:27:11 -0800

I do a lot of stuff with paper pulp that I make from recycling newsprint, magazines, etc. The process requires a decent amount of water use (soak water, rinse-out-the-ink water, etc) and I hate just seeing it go down the drain. Can I use this (literally) gray water on my plants?

What about this gray water recovery system?

wsg — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:08:07 -0800

I'm kicking off a major home renovation and looking for some green innovations I can incorporate without breaking the bank. This gray water recovery system looks promising. The AQUS system sells for about $300.00 per toilet. Does anyone have experience with this system? Is it practical? Is it funky? I've read where the gray water can mess up the toilet hardware with time. You have to feed the reservoir tank bromine and chlorine tablets to kill bacteria in the sink waste water. Is it nasty? Is this more pain than it's worth? Any feedback is appreciated.

Survival of the Wettest

bonobo — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:23:20 -0800

Do you or anyone you know make use of graywater. If so, how? I plan to live a more sustainable lifestyle. I seek anecdotes about using gray/greywater|rainwater. My region (Western Kentucky) experienced a great deal of rainfall recently and I pondered how much non-potable water could have been saved. I currently rent an apartment and am quite limited in my exterior "projects." Within the next year-or-so I should be able to start a more crunchy-granola lifestyle.

I have researched online and subscribe to Mother Earth News and Grit. What experiences can you relate and how do local laws/codes affect you?

Is it wise to setup a gray water system when you have a septic tank?

TauLepton — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 07:57:59 -0800

Is it wise to setup a gray water system when you have a septic tank? We live on 2.5 acres in Colorado. We have a well for our water supply and a septic system for the gray/black water.

I've been researching setting up a gray water system. However, I don't know if this would have a negative effect upon the septic system. And I can't find an answer anywhere via Google.

Is the gray water volume necessary for the correct functioning of the septic system?