Harvesting shower gray water

13 years ago

I think we can harvest shower water to run to the pond. The distance is about 35-40 feet.

I'm trying to figure out a way to move my shower water from the shower to a gravel bog filter then into the pool. Gotta save on water! That's maybe 25-40 gallons of water at a time) If we use a storage type container to stand in and collect most of the water, we can use a small submersible pond pump (for a small waterfall) in that tub, lift it several feet, run a hose along the wall, out the door or a window, across the porch and drop it down via a fall into another tub, maybe a shower stall floor (recycled, of course) maybe of cattails by the patio, then to the pool, or a small raised gravel bog closer to the pool, also with plants, then right into the pool.

How long does the gray water have to be in the filter before going into the pool--pond? Since it's such a small amount of water, does the gravel bed need to be 12" deep?

I will also need to keep a bottle of de-chlorinator in the bathroom and add a few drops to the tub before sending the water to the pool.

After all is said and done, it may prove more bothersome than what we can do, but with the evporation and cost of water, we will do what we can. All suggestions to make it easier and more user friendly are welcome. The plan now is this:

we have a small submersible pump, Beckett 210 G210AG20 80138

Cord Length: 16 ft.

Amp: .5

Watts: 25

GPH at 1ft: 210

GPH at 6ft: 71

Outlet: 1/4 MPT or 1/2" tubing

We could use this to pump that water up above the door, across the room, down and out the patio door, across the patio ceiling and have it fall to a gravel bed that then flows to the pool. It would take plugging it in and setting it into the tub, and turning it on. Maybe it won't be so difficult after all...

If that tub holds the same amount of water, plus gravel and plants, and isn't moving till the next shower, minutes later or the next day or so, is it going to thrive? What about mosquitos? Use Dunks?

That could potentially take care of a large part of evaporation/water bill problems.

potential problem: If it's pumping 71GPH at 6ft, how long will it take to move 30 gallons? that's about a half hour, isn't it? Not so bad.

What's wrong with that picture? How would you improve on it?

Ella

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Comments (7)

pondmaninal
13 years ago
Ella, I've seen a story on PBS where a guy, who was retired from NASA, used hydroponics to filter out his water that came from a whole bathroom, toilet, tub, and lavatory. The only problem is, there very little excess water that made it to his mud bottom pond. The hydroponic system was in his sun room just behind that bathroom. So, there was no pump. It would also be cheaper, if you have plastic drain pipe to just cut the drain and divert the water to a gravel basin with plants. Oh, and they don't have to be aquatic.
Ella5
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks. I think the only way I could cut the drain is to put another shower floor inside the existing one and use it. Otherwise, rather than running the tubing/hose 6' high, would be to do it at floor level. It's a possibility. I'll have to look at that. I don't know that I could get the bog water elevation high enough that way, but I haven't thought about it much, either.
Thanks fo the input. I'll check it out.
Ella
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larryl
13 years ago
Once a pond is filled the amount of water that needs to be added is pretty small unless the pond is really large. Reusing water is an admirable goal, but it might not be worth the trouble just to top off a pond.

Secondly, the soap that goes into shower and bath water could have an unpleasant effect on any fish in the pond. I wouldn't worry about the chlorine, since it evaporates pretty quickly, but soap doesn't evaporate. Even biodegradable soap will take some time to degrade. It might be worth testing the shower water for fish viability before you go to a lot of trouble.
Ella5
Original Author
13 years ago
Didn't think of the soap-it is fragrance free, and I have to read the lable as to biodegradeable. I just always thought so. The not yet pond is a 15x30x4'deep pool right now, so the surface area is 450sq'. It's in the sun during the summer, all day, and with temps over 100' for 3+ months, I think that's probably a lot of evaporation. But I'm new to this, and don't know.
How would I test it? Put some fish in a bucket with some of the shower water? I guess using a comparative amount, but what would that be? The pool holds about 15000 gallons, a bucket 5 gallons. A 10 minute shower is 25 to 40 gallons. So how much shower water goes into my 5 gallon bucket of pool water? And given cumulative effects, maybe I should run it through a larger gravel filter first. You raised a good point. Thanks.
Ella
krnuttle
13 years ago
While saving water is good. You may want to check the county, state, and federal water regulations before you do your project. While the shower water appears clean, by definition it is contaminated water and must be handled as such. By that definition you if you install the system are contaminating environment.

I know in some areas, you can not bring ground water into a plant and discharge it, because since you pumped it out of the ground you have used it in a process therefore it is contaminated.
Ella5
Original Author
13 years ago
Another excellent point. The city does recommend re-using water, but I will contact them for the brochure. Thanks.
Ella
azlar
13 years ago
Grey water (shower, kitchen sink, washing machine) is fine for your bog. But I wouldn't let it get near the pond. The gravel sounds good, but remember, Tucson has an ordinance against standing grey water.
Greywater your bog, greywater your trees, but use clean water for the fish.
Do you rainwater-harvest? Mixed opinions on this board but that might help top off your pond.