Conservation: Grey Water Reclamation for Green Living

In every home, clean water is pumped in, used, and then either sewage or grey water is flushed out. Grey water is the term used to describe water that has been used for something in the home but is not contaminated with fecal waste. This grey water is routed out of your home into the sewer just like sewage is, but it could instead be used more constructively than just getting flushed down the drain.

The benefits to reusing grey water are pretty obvious. Since there are a number of things that you need to use water for in your home and yard that do not require drinking-quality water for, many of those needs can be filled by grey water. For example, you can use grey water for flushing the toilet or watering your ornamental plants. Which home areas you can take grey water from, however, rely on what sorts of chemicals you use in your home.

Reclaiming grey water in your home can be as simple as scooping water out of a bathtub when you’re done bathing or putting a bucket in the shower to catch extra water while you’re washing yourself. It’s easy to use this water to irrigate your flower beds with this water, just don’t use it on your vegetable garden because of soap residue or microorganisms.

There are a variety of more high-tech methods for reclaiming grey water in your home. Some, like the sink attachment for the back of your toilet tank, are easy to install and relatively inexpensive. This attachment adds a small sink on top of the tank of your toilet and uses the water feed that normally fills up the bowl of your toilet after flushing to run water through a faucet. You can then wash your hands after flushing and the grey water fills up the toilet bowl. Another benefit if you have this sort of visiable grey water reclamation system is that it “greens up” your home for future buyers.

The bigger and more expensive versions of grey water reclamation can gather grey water from a selection of areas in the house and run them through a filter and surge tank and pipe the water outside for watering or keep it inside for toilet flushing purposes. These systems have to be plumbed into the house by a professional.

The idea here is that grey water reclamation can cut down your water usage, which can be especially useful if you live in an area that is short on water, if your home has a well instead of city water, or even if you’re just concerned about wasting valuable clean water resources. With trends in home buying favouring greener options and better quality homes, grey water reclamation can only make your home look more desirable as well.