Precious water (greywater system)

Post date: Oct 14, 2013

Wow, nearly a month since our last post. Been BUSY with multiple projects on the go. Here is an update for the greywater system:

Vincent adding gravel that was broken with hammers from some of the rocks dug out the holes:

Shower water meets kitchen water:

where kitchen water already has grease trap:

Water travels through barrel of gravel first, then through barrel of sand:

and then flows into bath with water plants (cannas, reeds, watercress, azolla, duckweed, etc) in and around it:

We sunk another blue barrel (vertically) after the bath and then a shallow old fibreglass pond we salvaged from someone in town who was throwing it away. This has various water plants in it supported by submerged rocks. The blue upright barrel will become the wishing well with a little garden around it. Syphon pipes connect the 3 together so that when water is taken out to water the fruit trees, the water in all three equalise.

This is a wonderful water resource when it is dry. Future plans are to add a banana circle after the pond and make it overflow at the same time as when the bath also overflows.. just have to source the most cold tolerant banana plant species I can and mulch them heavily over Winter.