Just bought a recycled water diverter

gromituk

Yes, there's no problem to install one in the shower outlet. I'm not sure plumbing grey water into the toilet cistern is a good idea, both from the point of view of blocking the valve, and the water going manky if it stands in the cistern. It will also go manky sitting in the bowl. I would suggest that if you need to add bleach to keep it sanitary then you are undoing any environmental benefit you might otherwise have.

tawnyowls

se999 wrote:

If you Google for storing grey water there are quite a lot of health/safety warnings. Because when you drain it off it's warm, has bacteria in it and also nutrients due to soap etc., so an ideal mixture.

Biotal do a product for cleaning grey water: https://secure.crocus.co.uk/times_online/productresults/?ContentType=Product_Card&ClassID=2000006654

Supposed to be biological and non-toxic.

margaretclare

gromituk wrote:

Yes, there's no problem to install one in the shower outlet. I'm not sure plumbing grey water into the toilet cistern is a good idea, both from the point of view of blocking the valve, and the water going manky if it stands in the cistern. It will also go manky sitting in the bowl. I would suggest that if you need to add bleach to keep it sanitary then you are undoing any environmental benefit you might otherwise have.

Thank you, gromituk.

I put this idea to my DH and he reminded me that we live in a bungalow, therefore the water from the bathroom, whether shower, bath or basin, has no 'height' to fall from.

There is probably not going to be enough run-off from the shower (both of us once a day) to make with worthwhile, not like emptying a bath in an upstairs bathroom. Thanks anyway.

Margaret Clare

patchwork_cat

Does anyone know if there is any move afoot to make the use of grey water in new builds mandatory?

stealth_mode

margaretclare wrote:

Thank you, gromituk.

I put this idea to my DH and he reminded me that we live in a bungalow, therefore the water from the bathroom, whether shower, bath or basin, has no 'height' to fall from.

There is probably not going to be enough run-off from the shower (both of us once a day) to make with worthwhile, not like emptying a bath in an upstairs bathroom. Thanks anyway.

Margaret Clare

Around one third of water in the home is flushed down the toilet. We only consume about 4%. And they think this is an efficient way getting fluoride into kids?!

Perhaps it wouldn't be practical to collect grey water from your ground floor shower, but your washing machine pumps its water out. This now gets a bit too techy for me - need an engineer to advise on pipe length/height above washing machine outlet etc. but there's probably something basic in the washing machine manual. One advantage of washing machine water is that it's relatively dilute (providing you don't overdose the detergent as most people do).

I used to work in an office that used rainwater to flush the toilets. In dry weather the system reverted to mains. It didn't use rainwater all the time, but every flush not from the mains is around 9 litres of drinking water saved.

Do you have dual flush? You can retrofit a dualflush mechanism to your existing toilet quite easily.

Ken68

Hi Save a lot.......I use buckets of rainwater to flush the loo, stands outside during the day and in the bath at night. A splash of half strength and cheapest bleach is added, or mixed with the washing machine water which is collected in a plastic dustbin.
Personal washing and dish washing are done in bowls and they finish up down the loo or on the garden. The electric shower is the only wasted water.
My neighbour is also is into this sort of thing and mentioned that kids are being taught water saving at school (would you believe it "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down") and he is trying to get his firm (700 people) to make similiar savings.
Just don't understand why this government is so far behind all the time. Greywater is the future, all new builds should have it.

gromituk

But this "splash of bleach" is a pollutant - I wonder if its consequences are significant?

Ken68

Hi Grom...you could be right..tho I did follow guidelines of the product being less than 5% Sodium Hypo-something.
What do you suggest as a cheap disinfectant,don't like the thought of all those bugs waiting to hatch overnight.

ashcarrot

So washing machine water is ok with all the detergent in it to put on plants? Surely its bio stuff eats away at food etc to get rid of the strains?

C_Ronaldo

Could we get one of these things and use it to divert water from the washing machine, dishwasher and sink