Comment on Water companies in England and Wales explore ‘surge pricing’ during drought

• MouldyCat@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  I also looked at this recently as I thought that soap would be harmful to plants and/or microbes and the Royal Horticultural Society has done some investigation of their own into the use of greywater, and their advice is “plants can be watered with shower, bath, kitchen and washing machine water (from rinse cycles)”, finding that “soil and potting composts are effective at filtering out” the soap/detergent.

  I’m just echoing what @Denjin@feddit.uk with the RHS link, and I didn’t read the articles he linked but it wouldn’t surprise me if the RHS guidance is the source of those.

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  • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    I wonder if I would need a pump or could connect a tube directly to the bathroom tap/shower outlet at the side of my house. It is only elevated slightly above the ground, it looks like the path is flat but there could be a slight gradient either way that I am unaware of. Kitchen outlet for the washing machine and kitchen sink is a bit higher. But I think the bathroom water is a cleaner source.

    Either way its something to look into trying. Pipe probably doesn’t cost much to experiment with and can be removed when not needed. Worst thing that would happen is the shower fills up and you notice that pretty quickly, then just take it off.

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    • MouldyCat@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      pumps are cheap enough but they probably increase the chance of blockage due to hair and so on. if you could get it using just gravity it would prob be better from a minimum maintenance viewpoint.

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      • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Yeah gravity would be less maintenance, just a tube at that point.

        You can get pumps designed to go under the shower by the look of it but then you need to power it. Otherwise DIY options, might be some battery powered pumps that could work. Thought sump pumps perhaps but apparently those are rated for many many thousands of litres an hour. Maybe if I can find something smaller than that…

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• wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Look into micron filters or even submicron hollowtube filters. They’re washable and reusable, they filter out most suspended solids, some heavy metals, and even pathogens (most bacteria and parasites, even some viruses).

  I don’t think they’d make grey water potable necessarily, but if you’re worried about bathwater contaminating your garden then combining these with switching to biodegradable soaps and solvents is probably enough.

  Adding a charcoal filter stage might bind some stuff that the hollowtube misses. You can even run it through a UV chamber if you want another line of defense, but that’s a bit slower and might be redundant, especially if you’re just watering your garden.

  There are also ceramic filters out there that are supposed to remove pretty much anything the hollowtube filters would miss, but they’re more expensive and the parts aren’t quite as reusable. Supposed to make pretty much anything potable though.

  I’d have to do more research about dissolved particles, but I think some of the filters mentioned can catch some of it. Otherwise it would require distillation or reverse osmosis, both of which are slower and require more expensive equipment. Building a solar still is an option but it’s the slowest one.

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• Denjin@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  First linked site recommends a filter to grab hair and any solid bits of dirt or soap etc. I plan on adding an irrigation system for the future in my garden (mostly fruiting plants in the summer and brassicas over winter) that would be fed first from bath water, then water butts, then tap depending on what’s available.

  Given how likely it seems that we’ll see significant shortages of water within the next few years, rainwater storage seems like a decent idea to me, £3000 for 5000 litres doesn’t make sense in pure financial terms but if it means that or not having any water at all, it seems like a pretty small price to pay.

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  • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Shortages to the point of restrictions though surely, rather than having no water left at all. Where I live hasn’t even had hosepipe bans yet, and we are getting a new reservoir soon.

    If I was planning for no water at all I would look at getting a hand pumped RO filter for filtering sea water. I could distill it but that takes far more energy. Have wondered about the RO filter anyway for cooking by the beach but there are usually public taps close enough. Would allow going to more remote parts of the beach though.

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    • Denjin@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      We’ve had one of the top 10 wettest winters on record and reservoirs in my region are down to about 50%, and there’s no new reservoir construction or expansion even in the planning phase.

      I don’t think it’s a huge leap to think about the possibility of reservoirs running dry if we have a couple more dry summers and follow that with even an average winter supplies could be dangerously low.

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      • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Suppose it also depends on how much water do you want if it was to run out. If you can afford it then continue as normal with a few £1000 spent on a tank could be OK.

        Worst case is enough to drink and wash your hands, and pretty sure they would be distributing water you can collect if it was to get that low.

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