Grey water storage and reuse

[preparedsurrey]

Just planning my ideal home in my head and could do with a little advice, does anybody have real life experience with grey water (bath, shower, washing machine) storage and reuse for toilet flushing etc?
Just wondering what sort of capacity storage tank you used and how large a header tank? Is it more normal to filter the grey water before storage or before pumping to a header tank? Or both?
Would it be possible to set up a system using a sand filter and a solar charger + 12v battery to run the pump?
Ideally I was trying to avoid specialist filters that could be a problem to replace.
I did some searching on the net but the websites I read only seemed concerned with reusing it ASAP as irrigation

Thanks

[Brambles]

The problem with storing grey water is the bacterial load inceases exponentially if it is not treated before storage. In warm weather the water will very quickly become a pretty unfriendly soup of pathogens. I'm a big fan of the reuk website and here's what they have to say about grey water recycling.

"Greywater Toilet Flushing
Sadly untreated greywater is unsuitable for use in toilet flushing as it can start to smell after a few hours, will stain the toilet bowl, and may carry dangerous bacteria and viruses. Treated greywater can be used for toilet flushing although it doesn't always make economical sense to do so. (Instead consider harvesting rainwater for flushing toilets if possible.)

Greywater must not be put into the toilet tank (cistern) in case a drop in water pressure causes it to enter the fresh water supply. Instead the greywater must be sent directly to the toilet bowl via separate plumbing."

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Greywater.htm

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Disinfecting-Greywater.htm

[preparedsurrey]

Thanks for that, looks like rainwater harvesting and storage would be a simpler way, I think I heard about UV grey water treatment being used on some new build properties in London to get a go ahead on planning so will ask the plumber next time I can catch up with him on site.
I could be wrong but I think you can fit a check valve to stop contaminated water being drawn back into the system like those for outside taps?

I can feel a new thread coming on "So you want to bury an IBC?" Lol

[Arzosah]

When I stayed on my cousin's farm in Zimbabwe, he had a hosepipe linked up to a pipe so that the used bathwater filtered off to the garden (not the farm, which was further away, and only grew tobacoo anyway). I asked about killing the plants with heat, from a hot bath, and he said the hosepipe was so long, it'd be cool enough by the time it got there.

In emergency situations, if there was at least water running and you weren't using it to grow root crops, that could be a solution - he was just doing it for flowerbeds, though, so I'm not sure.

[sniper 55]

I'm no expert but I have a feeling UV wont work too well if the water is really cloudy as bath water often is, I'm guessing the time needed would increase and the water in a tank would need to be stired in some way, to ensure the UV reaches as much as possible.

[poppypiesdad]

Not grey water but rain water harvesting
Have a 4000 litre tank buried with a pump to draw it into the house at about 2.5 bar
It is on its own pipe system because it can only be used for toilet flush , washing machine and outside tap .
All pipes on circuit have to be marked as the outside tap to comply with building regulations.
Apart from a couple of top ups last year when it hardly rained .


J

[grenfell]

About as simple as it gets - I have a 5 L paint tube in the drain into which my kitchen water runs. That fills and any excess overflows down the drain. This is set up near my back door which is adjacent to the downstairs toilet so I only have to pick up the tub , walk a few yards and I can flush the toilet with it.

[preparedsurrey]

Not grey water but rain water harvesting
Have a 4000 litre tank buried with a pump to draw it into the house at about 2.5 bar
It is on its own pipe system because it can only be used for toilet flush , washing machine and outside tap .
All pipes on circuit have to be marked as the outside tap to comply with building regulations.
Apart from a couple of top ups last year when it hardly rained .


J

Thanks, that sounds pretty interesting, any filtration requirements or problems with it going green whilst in the storage tanks? Is the tank plastic or cast in place?

[poppypiesdad]

Because its stored underground and i keep the gutters clean ( only a bungalow) and at a cooler temperature then no issues
Only a mesh filter to keep the big stuff from entering the pump
And we dont draw from the bottom of the tank maybe 6 inch stand pipe so we loose some capacity but never had any issues plus we live in scotland where it rains all the time so the water is constantly changing ( it is connected to run off pipes to the ditch ao it can never overflow)

The tank is a off the shelf ( pretty big shelf) fiberglass tank got from

http://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/undergrou ... __4400_ltr

Very similar to this one but our is only 4000 l.

J