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Grey water & soap question

8 years ago

I plan to redirect my shower water to a holding tank to flow into my gardens. If I do, should I be concerned about the soap being used in the shower.

Is there a better one, a worser one?

BTW, Yes, I know about not wanting to store grey water but that is not the question.

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Comments (4)

jean001a
8 years ago
Yes, which soap is important. Information is available online but, depending upon where you live, may also be obtained from your local water agency.
emerogork
Original Author
8 years ago
I had an interesting experience doing the research.

It started with the local health department and ended up with the Sate health dept. No one I had spoken with had ever heard of grey water and I had to explain it. The final answer was that I was not allowed to do it.

The water company was about the same amount of help. A plumber mentioned that the Water Company doesn't want us to use of grey water because they need the return water to make the sewer system work.

This is interesting because I am taxed for return water (based on how much water I use). They even bill me for water that I use for my gardens that never leaves the land.
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Originally I emptied my tub using buckets, but I eventually bought a utility pump. It was expensive--about $50, but it drains the tub down to 1/8" of water and it eliminates the drippy walks through the house. (Getting water from the tub once the water is 6" deep and shallower is a real pain!) I also use the pump for pumping water out of rainbarrels, so it was a very good choice for me. I'm not sure if you even have a washer/dryer in your apartment, or if reusing that water would be feasible for you. In my house I tried to pipe my laundry water directly outside, but until I find something to gasket the washer/pvc interface, it won't work. So I bought a big garbage can to pump the water into on laundry days. Then I use the utility pump to send it outside. I actually prefer it that way because I can water the garden at a time of my choosing--instead of when the washer is emptying. If you have a double sink, you can keep a dishtub in one of them for catching rinsewater. Little bits of food are no problem for the plants. This makes it easy to collect pasta or potato water, too.
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Lots of good info, Kim. Here is my (non-expert) take on soaps harming your plants. Washing machine soaps: I have been watering with my washing machine for the past 3 years. The 1 st year the hose sat in the same spot in the front yard where I had planted some aspen trees. People commented on my "jungle" in the front yard. The baby aspens grew, the native grasses grew thick and tall and some wildflowers, I did not plant, appeared and all of this became a 10 foot diameter wildlife habitat. When I would go out to weed, I would find rabbit tunnels in the long grass and baby horny toads would come out to see what I was up too. I buy the cheapest liquid laundry detergent on the shelf. As long as it has no added bleach. If I want to bleach a load of whites, I buy a bottle of bleach and add it to the wash cycle. This water is routed down the hill where we have nothing but weeds growing. I figure, the cheaper the laundry detergent, the less harmful chemicals the manufactures will have added to the product. Shower Soaps and Shampoos: This stuff is tested to be safe for humans, so will it hurt plants? Probably not. Dish washing liquids: Here again, the cheaper the soap, the less nasty chemicals have been added. If it's safe for human skin, it's probably safe for plants. Automatic Dishwasher Soaps: This is one I have no experience with. I do not own an automatic dishwasher. But, I would suspect, that since the soap does not contact your skin during washing, the manufacturers have much more leeway to add caustic chemicals. I have not lost one plant to gray water watering in the last 3 years. My roses are happy, my rhubarb is huge and my baby aspens have outgrown their deer cages.
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I use Ecos Free & Clear. A website (sorry; I can't remember which one) recommended it for grey water. You want to be sure your laundry soap doesn't have salts (sodium in various forms), phosphate or boron compounds, as I understand. Ecos is the only brand I found that didn't have any of that stuff. I was using Arm & Hammer the first month or two that I used grey water, & the plants didn't look that great then, either. Of course, I'm underwatering, due to the drought. Vinegar makes the water somewhat acidic, depending on how much you use. (Tho, I usually add some to my white loads.) I don't know if the tomato paste would have had much to do with the yellowing - it sounds like very little got into your soil, unless some bacteria built up in the barrel. Kudos to you on recycling your water!
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"The last option would be to use it to heat the cold water coming into your shower." I know about drain heat recovery options, but I had never though of putting it on the cold water side for a shower. Thanks, moandtg, for contributing. I will look at it in a different way. This sounds like the best option. When you start stacking water heating options on top of each other, you don't get additive economy. For example, if you save 50% with solar pre-heat and 20% with your shower hot water in series you will not get 80% savings. It is a little hard to compute the exact figures because it will depend on the weather. In addition, the higher the temperature change, the more efficient the heat transfer is. By pre-heating the water going to the solar, you actually decrease the efficiency of the solar heating process. That is why you are better off installing a cost-effective way to heat the cold water. Note that I am not saying that drain heat recovery devices are cost-effective. I have not evaluated them. If you pre-heat the cold water to the shower, you should get additive heat efficiency. In addition, the plumbing will be greatly simplified and less costly. The heat losses in the between the heat recovery unit and the other water heater will be gone as well!
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hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
8 years ago
Look for products that do not contain sodium. E.g., Sodium lauryl sulfate.

The "low hanging fruit" of grey water is washing machine water. That is the easiest to exploit and the plumbing involved is relatively simple. It's best to have a valve so you have the option of sending the water to the sewer system if you need a load using chlorine bleach. There are laundry detergents recommended for grey water use.

You mentioned a tank: grey water should never be stored but run directly out to the landscape. Grey water that sits becomes black water. Systems that store grey water exist, but they use filters and UV light to treat the water so it does not become "black". It's best to apply it directly to the landscape, under a cover of mulch or into a swale covered with mulch.
emerogork
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Years ago, when I had a top load washing machine, then the 32 gallons per load would have been good to recycle. Right now I have a front loader that scarcely uses 3 gallons per load. It is the shower water that interests me. We love long luxurious showers.

I am fully aware of Grey Water converting to Black Water quickly. The use of a tank is a temporary storage and it will only regulate the flow to the gardens. My barrels collecting rain water from the roof act the same way. A hose connected to the bottom of the barrel feeds directly to the plants as soon as any water is being collected. Most of the time, they are empty.

The tank for grey water will provide a continuous flow until it is empty and will not store water for more than an hour after it has any.

Is sodium the major offender to my system? Anything else to be aware?

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