Greywater: From Washing Machine to Garden

by Nani Teves

Watering a baby plant with wash water

Tim and Stephanie Elliot recently began using greywater from their washing machine to water their garden. Greywater is the water reused from your sink, shower, tub or washing machine. On average a top loading machine uses 40 gallons of water per load and the newer front loaders use half that, which can add up to thousands of gallons a year. Tim and Stephanie have been water conscious for a long time, and their concern for water security, the drought and the lowering ground water table has focused their energy on conservation. But it wasn’t until they attended a Greywater Guerrillas Workshop in the Bay Area that they learned the plumbing skills needed to adapt their washing machine water to be used on their landscaping.

In the spirit of the bay area workshop, they held one of their own in Chico, inviting community members to help install the plumbing, plant landscaping and drip irrigation. It took Tim and Stephanie about a week to gather the parts and a half day for the group to complete the system. Adapting a washing machine requires about 15 plumbing parts, available locally, and costs around 70-150 dollars depending on your irrigation specifics. A three-way valve is a good investment as it allows you to easily switch the outflow to either the sewage system (which you would need for a load of diapers) or to the garden. It is recommended that the distance from washer to garden be no longer that 50ft, however this length can increase if the washer is uphill of the garden. Using all-natural biodegradable laundry soap is essential so plants are not harmed; Tim and Stephanie use Bio Pac which is specifically designed for use in greywater systems. Other guidelines they took into consideration when planning their system were making sure to minimize contact with the water, to not let it pool up and to match their plant water needs with the amount of water they’ll be reusing.

There are so many reasons to conserve water: in 2008 the Governor declared California in a drought; the ground water under Chico has dropped 13ft in 30 years and we use 250 gallons of water per person per day (including the 60-65% increase in Spring and Summer). What makes greywater so necessary and timely right now is that this past August the State of California changed code to legalize the use of “nonpotable reuse systems”, ie greywater. And although water conservation is the big motivator for greywater use, it also decreases the energy needed for pumping, lessons the pressure on sewage disposal systems and reminds us of how much water we use and how easy it is to conserve. If you want to learn more, see photos or contact Tim and Stephanie go to www.ChicoEco.org.

ChicoEco.org is a BEC website that pulls together our communal knowledge of eco-projects, a directory of green businesses, and a full calendar of action events for the purpose of global cooling.

From the Fall 2009 issue of the Environmental News.