Forum
« cedar siding installation What's going up on the corner of 10th st & 8th Ave? »
November 21, 2007
Grey water use
I wanted to have a grey water system when we renovated, but it wasn't feasible. So this is what I do to reuse water. Since it takes a while for the hot water to run in our shower, I have a bucket to catch the cold water and any runoff while showering. I then reuse the water in toilet tank or garden or to rinse things off outside.
Comments
Aren't you industrious! Of course you realize how much you've saved? About $.007 per gallon in cash. Review your EPA billing. Of course you realize the NYC water system is at 73% capacity which is above the norm at this time of year (69%). This is Brooklyn, not Atlanta. A century ago the Brooklyn leaders made an expansion of the gravity-supplied water system(no power required) a requirement for the Greater New York scheme. And nobody knows their names.
Posted by: guest at November 21, 2007 6:33 PM
6:33 - it's not about the $ or NYC water capacity, it's about reducing our environmental footprint. I don't think it's right that we use potable water to flush toilets or to water gardens.
Posted by: guest4 at November 21, 2007 6:51 PM
you wasted more energy turning on your computer to post this crap.
Posted by: guest at November 21, 2007 7:16 PM
Not over the course of my lifetime and the multiplier effect of anyone who reads this and does the same.
Posted by: guest4 at November 21, 2007 7:33 PM
You mentioned that you "renovated". What kind of boiler and water heating system did you convert to?
Posted by: Master Plvmber at November 21, 2007 8:14 PM
OP, if everyone shared your responsible and caring nature this planet wouldn't be on the brink of disaster...
Your post served to remind me to be more
aware of how I can conserve water... it's a precious commodity, and expensive too.
Posted by: bren at November 21, 2007 8:23 PM
Master Plvmber: Not the most environmentally friendly kind, I'm afraid. I wanted to do on-demand, but didn't have time to research it fully. Went for ye olde standard gas boiler. I mean to research on-demand when time & money permit. Ideally, I would have done on-demand & grey water systems throughout.
Posted by: guest4 at November 21, 2007 9:33 PM
Bren: Thanks. I try my best - realizing that if my family lived in a one-room apt, we would not be such hypocrites. I have switched all our lightbulbs to fluorescents and keep the temp to 68. I would be okay with 63, but the rest of the family is not.
Posted by: guest4 at November 21, 2007 9:35 PM
Do you know it takes 600 gallons of fresh water to make 1/3 pound of beef? In the future water will be more valuable than oil.
The problem with NYC is that our fire hydrants are hooked up to our fresh water supply so every time some numb skull opens the hydrant for an hour while he washes his car (which happened on my block all summer long) thousands of gallons go about 10 feet down the road into the city sewer. It kind of made me see the futility in turning off the tap water when I brushed my teeth.
Posted by: guest at November 21, 2007 10:05 PM
I had great luck this summer using a rain barrel to water the plants on my roof deck. I got one with a screen on the top and so far have just caught rain water directly but I'm going to modify it next summer to catch water from the higher roof. Given the approaching freeze period I've had to winterize the barrel but I'll be back at it in the spring.
I started the rain barrel not out of being much of an environmental do-gooder but because there's no hose bib on the roof. But the plants seem to like the rain water so much better than the tap water I was hauling up in multiple gallon jugs...
Good to hear that others are thinking of ways to conserve water. I think it's hard to do the gray water in a small building given the space requirements for a storage tank but I commend you in your efforts.
Posted by: guest at November 21, 2007 10:13 PM
Well, I'm not sure if Mr. Grey (not Gray?) water makes sense, but at least he didn't cite "global warming" as a reason for doing what he wants to do. So he's smarter/less dumb than a good chunk of the population...
Posted by: BrooklynCouch at November 22, 2007 8:05 AM
Should you really be eating anything out of a grey-watered garden? Is that safe?
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 12:31 AM
I respect the desire to reduce footprint. However, I think there are better uses of the effort expended.
Posted by: slick at November 23, 2007 2:39 AM
10:13 - I hope you put a " dunk" in your water catching barrell or you may be breeding more mosquitoes for the nabe.
Posted by: guest at November 23, 2007 12:24 PM
Ever hear of this?
http://reclaimedhome.com/?p=495
Posted by: rh at November 23, 2007 6:29 PM
Creating a system that catches run-off rainwater from the roof and then using it to water the garden is both efficient and more environmentally useful than using shower water. Rain runs off roofs, cascades over the streets and washes filth into the water systems.
I haven't yet posted anything about this on my blog, but I went to reception for a community garden in Crown Heights that installed rain barrels. So I will post those pictures soon.
Also, you can create a rain garden that absorbs run off and these plants transform boggy backyards from being damp and attracting mosquitoes to reasonably dry.
Finally, we're all flushing the chemicals from our systems into the water system. Baby steps have been taken to separate water from nitrates in urine. Two NYC artists have been studying this and created DIY kits.
visit: www.citydirt.net/city_dirt/drinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee.html
Posted by: CityDirt at March 26, 2008 6:07 PM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.