Grey Water Irrigation
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane and Neville Passmore
Episode: 23 (6th October 2007)
Although we have enjoyed some pretty good rains in West Australia the fact remains that we are not out of the woods yet when it comes to garden water supply. When you think that ninety per cent of the water that we use in the house just ends up going down the drain and out to sea, it makes sense to find ways to recycle it.
When it comes to waterwise gardening you are not actually limited by the styles that you choose or the plants, you just need to be a little clever.
Neville had long had the dream to have a sustainable water wise garden and now ith his new home he has had the opportunity to put it into action. With six people in the family they produce around 600 litres of grey water every day. This water would normally go straight down the sewer line.
By cutting into the pipes that take the water away and running out back into settling tanks followed by a pumping tank, Nev has been able to treat the water and pump it back into the garden through purple pipe. This supplies nearly all the water needs of the garden. The waste water is used for all of the fruiting trees and vines around the garden, there is forty in the garden so far.
There is a different system used for the vegetable garden because you don’t want the grey water over the foliage and being taken up by root vegetables. Therefore the vegetable garden is watered by sub surface irrigation from rainwater which has been captured from the house roof and stored in underground tanks.
To keep the grey water away from pets and kids it is important to cover the pipes with at least 100mm of mulch. Crushed brick can be used as a textural cover which acts like a mulch to shade the soil.
Setting up a grey water system at home does require council approval of the plans. It is a lot easier to work through the rules and regulations by utilizing the expertise of a consultant will make the process so much easier.
To put a cost perspective on Neville’s garden, installing the grey water system at his home cost around five thousand dollars. This price could have been a little cheaper had he set it up with the original building contract.
You can get rebates for changing over your existing system; it is a great idea and is the way of the future.
For more information on rebates and grey water systems, visit
www.waterwisewaysforwa.com.au
Episode: 23 (6th October 2007)
Although we have enjoyed some pretty good rains in West Australia the fact remains that we are not out of the woods yet when it comes to garden water supply. When you think that ninety per cent of the water that we use in the house just ends up going down the drain and out to sea, it makes sense to find ways to recycle it.
When it comes to waterwise gardening you are not actually limited by the styles that you choose or the plants, you just need to be a little clever.
Neville had long had the dream to have a sustainable water wise garden and now ith his new home he has had the opportunity to put it into action. With six people in the family they produce around 600 litres of grey water every day. This water would normally go straight down the sewer line.
By cutting into the pipes that take the water away and running out back into settling tanks followed by a pumping tank, Nev has been able to treat the water and pump it back into the garden through purple pipe. This supplies nearly all the water needs of the garden. The waste water is used for all of the fruiting trees and vines around the garden, there is forty in the garden so far.
There is a different system used for the vegetable garden because you don’t want the grey water over the foliage and being taken up by root vegetables. Therefore the vegetable garden is watered by sub surface irrigation from rainwater which has been captured from the house roof and stored in underground tanks.
To keep the grey water away from pets and kids it is important to cover the pipes with at least 100mm of mulch. Crushed brick can be used as a textural cover which acts like a mulch to shade the soil.
Setting up a grey water system at home does require council approval of the plans. It is a lot easier to work through the rules and regulations by utilizing the expertise of a consultant will make the process so much easier.
To put a cost perspective on Neville’s garden, installing the grey water system at his home cost around five thousand dollars. This price could have been a little cheaper had he set it up with the original building contract.
You can get rebates for changing over your existing system; it is a great idea and is the way of the future.
For more information on rebates and grey water systems, visit
www.waterwisewaysforwa.com.au
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