Lawn Watering in Texas with Greywater
Subject: Watering a lawn in Texas with greywater
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 09:32:31 -0700
From: Art Ludwig
Bruce writes:
> We live in Cedar Hill, Texas. Every year we have a
> drought. Right now it has been over 80 days since we
> last had any rain. For 2 months we watered our lawn with
> sprinklers. The cost was well over $100 per month just
> for water. We would like to separate our 'gray' water
> from the 'black' water and collect the grey water to be
> used in connection with a yet-to-be-installed sprinkler
> system. We figured if we can collect and use that water
> we will be able to keep our lawn alive and green and
> still be conserving water. I have looked and looked for
> information on how to do this. Until I found your site I
> had no luck. Our house is about 1400 sf, built on pier
> and beam foundation. It is a 2 bedroom 2 bath house with
> a septic system. We have an old septic tank on our
> property that has not been used for over 16 years.
> I don't know what else to tell you. Can you help us?Bruce,
The only way to water a lawn safely with greywater is via
subsurface drip. The only system I know of which *might* be
able to do this is the "earthstar" from http://www.realgoods.com/
This is a copy of a system which proved itself in the
field.
If the septic tank is perfectly water-tight, you could pre-
filter the greywater by running it through the tank. If you
want a consultation on the collection plumbing I could help
you out. Oasis greywater-book and the
Builder's GW Guide-book would provide useful
information as well.
This sort of system is not cheap--at least $1000. Your
water bill is high enough that you might actually be able
to get this system to pay for itself eventually.
Good luck,
Art
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—All our greywater books and video together at a discount - Oasis greywater-book —How to choose, build and use 17 types of greywater systems
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