recycling bathroom water into cistern

alan99_2

Hello

I had a water meter recently installed . am definately saving money. Am with 3 Valleys and Thames Water for sewerage.

To save money further I recycle the (soapy) used water from the bathroom basin and place it ,via a bucket, in the toilet cistern so it refills,just after flushing, with the used water.

But I have my doubts; Can anyone help.
Heard somewhere that soap in the sewerage pipes could solidify and cause eventually a blockage. I tend to use liquid soap rather than solid but am still concerned.
Any comments appreciated.

Alan

Cardew

How much money do you think this practice saves you?

alan99_2

Hello Cardew

Answer.
Not a lot!
According to MSE each flush costs 1p (I think) . So I make that a saving of about £7 a year. But I stand to be corrected on the 1p amount.
So thats about £35 over 5 years. That will buy a few pints or say a return trip to Paris (without tax)
But just think of the savings if there is say a family of 5.

But I will stop it if it causes problems with blockages in sewer pipes.

Alan

Cardew

The soap from your basin/bath/sink/washing machine/dishwasher uses the same sewer. If it doesn't block the narower waste pipes from the basin etc it isn't likely to affect the larger bore waste pipe from the toilet.

Lot of effort to save a penny though!

Wig

If it saves water it's always a good thing regardless of monetary savings. The water from your sink goes through the same sewer as your toilet stuff goes through so there will be no problem (in the sewer). I think if anything what you "heard" was referring to using soapy water in your cistern, This I would say "has potential" to cause problems because inside your cistern is something called a "flap valve" and I can imagine that it may get "greased" with the soap and that might cause it not to function (symptom would be flush not working). .....But this is just logical guesswork and you should either ask for more advice on this aspect (maybe in the DIY board) or keep going and if you run into a problem deal with it when it happens.

Dont know about your water board charges, but ours in South Wales charges 200 quid for 51 tons of supplied water & sewerage removal.

Each flush is 9 litres in our toilet working this out each flush costs us 3.5pence

4 pence if it is a 10 litre toilet.

I admire your commitment, how do you get the water out the basin into the bucket? and then you have the lid off the toilet cistern all the time? and you don't spill any pouring it in?

I will hopefully eventually have 1000 litres storage outside my bathroom window filled with rain water from the roof gutters, I'm lucky in that the toilet is on the ground floor and the garden out side where the rain water storage tank will be is 2 feet higher than the toilet cistern, so I intend to run a pipe from that direct to my cistern, with a T junction and non return valve to enable me to switch to mains when I need to.

I also hope to have the basin water for sink and kitchen fed into a holding tank outside for use in the garden, this will be below the rain water tanks so I could get a pump to pump it up into the rain water tank, if I felt this was a good idea or needed.

Sorry for rambling on but that's what I'm going to do.

hardpressed

I would like to re-cycle the bath water to use on the garden, more to conserve water than to save money and we have a hosepipe ban, although would like to save a bit on the water bill too but with a ground floor bathroom I can't find a easy way to do it. I do keep a bowl in the sink for the many times I wash my hands and save the water when I wash vegtables and use that on the garden.
Any more water saving tips?

Merlin139

The obvious one if you have 2 or 3 toilets in your house is to use one for Number 1's and don't flush until you have been X number of times.

You can also put House bricks in the cistern so it reduces the amount of water that the cistern will hold, therefore reducing the amount of water that is used to flush the Number 1's.

We have 3 toilets in the house and the only one that is flushed everytime is used for Number 2's. It has two bricks in it and that reduces the amount flushed by about 2.5 ltr.

To recyle the bath water from upstairs needs 2 people one to put the hose in the bath and keep it there and one down in the garden to suck on the hose until the water starts to flow. Then water to your hearts content until the water runs dry.

You couls also consider everyone bathing in the same water. I sure most people may have done this when they were children if you are in your 40's or older. If you have a few people in the house take turns on being the last. Oh and make sure that no one, and I mean no one considers weeing in the water.

The best way of saving money is to Shower. You can save water by turning down the shower and getting your self wet then turning the shower off to lather up and wash your hair then turn the water on again to rinse off.

When you have had to shower in Iraq in about 10 ltrs of water you know how easy it can be.

Oh before anybody says anything I shower once a day.

Hope this advice is off use to someone. If it is you could always click the thanks button!!!!!!!!

Oh no you can't its gone.

Ok PM me and I will send you my bank details and you can send me some money.

Wig

hardpressed wrote:

I would like to re-cycle the bath water to use on the garden, more to conserve water than to save money and we have a hosepipe ban, although would like to save a bit on the water bill too but with a ground floor bathroom I can't find a easy way to do it. I do keep a bowl in the sink for the many times I wash my hands and save the water when I wash vegtables and use that on the garden.
Any more water saving tips?

Apart from using a bucket which will wet everything with drips, the only thing I can think of would be to buy a small submersible pump, hose pipe on the end going out the bathroom window into a water butt (try finding a cheaper alternative than the garden centre ones See this thread ) This Ebayer is selling them (expensive imo,) you should get them free from somewhere.


The pump will cost a few $$ but the aim is to save water not money. This pump (click) would be fine Or if your DIY skills are good, you could use an old washing machine pump.

Ken68

I wash and shave using a bowl and do the dish washing in a bowl. This gets used straight into the loo, as and when, no need to put it into the cistern.
Clean the loo daily and use the chain or lever every so often.
For the rest of the time I use buckets of filtered rainwater.
Plus a shower rather than a bath.
Don't see the point of heating a hot water cylinder for just one person, so use filtered rainwater in an electric kettle.(2 kettles a day)
Cold water washing (using a non rinse cycle and fast spin) with the occasional hotwash at 40degrees.
Direct debit is £3 a month.
Am retiried and have the time, so not for everyone.
Plus a seperate kettle for tea making etc. using tap water.

Wig

Ken68

Can you clarify what the rain water in the kettle is for? thanks.

Sounds like your water company has a very low standing charge. Ours is huge standing charge of 27 pounds water and 50 pounds sewerage ! 6.66 pounds a month before any water has been supplied.

I just looked up Anglian waters standing charges
24 water
62 sewerage & surface water
32 sewerage only

So I'm at a loss to understand how you only pay 3 pounds a month? If you don't have surface water included it still amounts to 56 per year.

Ken68

SOLOW rate, Wig....no standing charge, tho higher per volume rate.
Don't use the hot water cylinder and I boil kettles (2 per day) for personal washing and dish washing. Topped up in both cases with filtered rainwater. Filtered as in jug filters (cheap from QD shop) Initially filtered from the rainwater tank thru fleece, and chucked and replaced once a week. C.A.T recommendation.

Electric showers are quick in, lather up, rinse off. Submarine style, it's called, using minmum water .
Have been told by an expert on another site not to ingest the rainwater, but do wonder how my parents got on living in the countryside with no water no electric and no gas.I understand they used roof rainwater and wells. Plus bathing in the river, of course