I have been doing some research into water recycling systems in an effort to "green" up the house a bit more. While "greywater" use is common in industrial complexes (all the irrigation where I work uses non-potable recycled water with little "nonpotable" signs all around campus), it's not that common at all in residential development. There is a group called the Greywater Guerillas that have all kinds of water hacks available on their site. There are some other interesting sites that sell little filtering/pump systems and toilet systems. I am not looking to create a little water filtration swamp in my yard to purify my own water. But I am intrigued by what is being developed to make it easier to recycle water for things like irrigation.
For instance, you can add a diverter valve to your washing machine and send the washing waste water out to a system that filters and distributes the water to planting beds. The company that makes a little system for this is based in South Africa. Here's their site. You don't need a whole kit to do this but sometimes making things super-easy makes people more likely to try. There are also systems that take shower and lavatory water and fill toilet tanks. That seems like it might not be worth the trouble in a single family residence especially if your toilets are already dual-flush or super low-flow but it seems like that might be a good idea for an apartment building or place with quite a few toilets to fill.
You aren't supposed to store greywater for more than 24 hours because bacteria or other fun stuff could grow in it, so it's great for things like drip irrigation where the water goes right out to the yard whenever you have it on hand. This kind of system also creates incentives to use eco-friendly detergents and cleaning agents.
I am trying to configure our landscaping with drought tolerant planting beds we can put on drip irrigation and avoid a lawn out front altogether. Out back the boys will need a play area and there are some artificial turf solutions that seem appealing. Although I do hate the little black pellets that manufacturers use as in-fill. I know that some turf can get very hot so there are trade offs to consider. I love the look of lawn, I just don't want a huge summer water bill. We've used a fescue grass mix to reduce water usage in our current house but walking on that stuff gives me a rash. We have a BIG yard which means a lot of water bills down the road but also means a big up-front number if we do the artificial turf. I've read that it goes for $8-$12/sq. ft. So it might actually be cheaper to put down hardwood flooring in the backyard. Lots to think about.
What's very promising is that the stimulus bill has a lot of "green" incentives built into it. There are rebates for energy saving windows, appliances, solar, all kinds of goodies. It's a very exciting time to build a house! Greg is going nuts with his plans for solar hot water. We're going to have so much hot water we may run out of places to use it.
Now if someone would only explain why greywater is spelled with an "e" instead of an "a" I would stop scratching my head over it. Meanwile, more research....
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