Low-tech grey water system

I document my first attempt to save the water from the washing machine for later use in flushing the toilet.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• grey
• water
• conservation
• washing
• machine
• toilet
• video
• blog

[WoundedEgo]

Your washer put out an amazing amount of water for one small load of clothes! Maybe you should consider a bucket of soapy water and then just wring the clothes out.

[gennytte]

Oh, is that what you do? Maybe you can give me some tips on doing that effectively/efficiently. My trials with hand washing have not gone well. (The clothes are not really clean, and it takes a ridiculously long time.) Also, I usually do more clothing than that (as I stated) but I just didn't for this trial because it was an experiment.

[SupernaturalNEWSLTR]

You should install a spigot/valve near the bottom of the holding tank so you can fill the buckets with less splashing.

[gennytte]

Yes, I'm looking into that as one option. If you have any tips on how to do that, I'm all ears!

[humecarl]

Congratulations. Hope others will be inspired by your low-tech approach. The pump is a Guzzler, which you can find on the web.

Let me know if I can help in any other way.

Humecarl

[gennytte]

I hope so too! This attempt is just the beginning... next I want to figure out a way to share water among people in my apartment. That much water is more than I'll use myself in 2 days, and I don't want to keep it around longer than that. (They say it goes bad, though I didn't wait around for that to happen)

[domesticlonghair]

Why did I suddenly get horny after the first 45 seconds? :D

[javierjuradoalvarez]

you can also save water by putting a 1.5 Lt bottle full of water inside the holding tank. each time you flush it you will save 1.5 Lts :)

[DesertSafire]

Your video has inspired me to attempt something like this. I want to get a 55 gallon water barrel. I have in the past gotten them free from car washes (they use them for their soaps) but I have since found uses for all the free ones & I've had to resort to purchasing a few off of Craigslist $15 each. I will install a spigot near the bottom so that I can hook a hose to it or be able to fit a bucket under it. The washer hose will go into the top hole on the barrel to collect the drain water

[GreenPrep]

@gennytte Actually, it is done this way in many communities.(By hand) My clothes were washed this way in Thailand and were much cleaner, the air/Sun dry made them fresher too. Unfortunately, I don't know the secret. I hope someone does and can show us. It does not take longer, but you gotta be there doing the work the whole time, which sucks. Either way, every small step we take is better and thanks for sharing!

[steve0826]

I like it! I am inspired.

[sabriath]

@wabiandsabi : you would have to turn off the water to the bowl or it would instantly turn on the moment you flush. you get 1 flush from the tank, so you don't need to fill it the moment you need to flush it...but between flushes you do at some point. There is a pump in your washer to go uphill with water, so if you put the container over your toilet, you can use a long hose to fill it from the washer, then a fill valve from container to tank. Use a one-way valve near the washer though.

[badluckbug]

you could use asubmergable pump w a hose and then put the hose in your tank and plug in pump when you want to fill your tank ..

then you could even wash not so dirty clothes like towels and such and then reuse the water and soap for a dirtier load

[badluckbug]

you could use asubmergable pump w a hose and then put the hose in your tank and plug in pump when you want to fill your tank ..

then you could even wash not so dirty clothes like towels and such and then reuse the water and soap for a dirtier load!!Saving both water and soap !!

[badluckbug]

You could use a submergable pump with a hose attached !! you could then insert hose into tank and then plug in pump and it would fill your tank quickly!!

And it would also allow you to wash towels and not really dirty items and then reuse you water for another load of dirtier items..saving water and soap !!

[deoxevictor]

Most retarded shit ever.