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Graywater is household water—used once—that has not come in contact with sanitary or food waste. In other words, it is water that goes down the drain from the shower, bathroom sink, and clothes washer, but not from the toilet or kitchen sink. In the summer-dry season, graywater can be a good source of water for lawns and landscapes. It actually contains some nutrients that plants use to grow and can reduce the need for fertilizers.

Siphoning Bathtub Water to Irrigate Our Yard
Submitted By: Renee Emerson (rmkemerson@aol.com)

Challenge

We have always been interested in recycling everything possible. A little over three years ago we looked into using our gray water to water the yard, but found the plumbing changes necessary to make a permanent system cost prohibitive.   Meanwhile, we had three teenage girls who all loved to take long, hot baths in our jucuzzi type tub, which seemed wasteful. Then it occurred to us that it would be perfect if we could figure out how to reuse the water from our daughter’s baths.


Solution Details

I work in a research lab and a few years ago came across a box of tubing being thrown out. I grabbed it and brought it home. I tried siphoning the bath water from our upstairs bathtub directly to the side yard where I have a couple of vines, trees and ground cover that needed regular watering to get well established.  I ran the tubing (100 feet of 3/8” tygon tubing) from the tub, through the window, across the roof and then down to the side yard. I got the water flowing by pushing it into the tube at the bath with a turkey baster.  Once the tubing filled, gravity took over, and like a magic trick, all of the water in the tub drained into the side yard!.  We’ve now been doing this from one of our upstairs bedrooms for three summers, handling 7-9 baths a week, from around the end of May until the rain starts in October.

Friends often wonder if the water needs to be filtered or treated in some way. Since we try to use natural and biodegradeable soaps like the ones you find from Burt’s Bees, there is nothing in the bath water that is harmful to plants. I’ve noticed that even with regular soap the concentration is so low that it doesn’t seem to bother the plants.

This simple practice, showed me that you don’t always need the latest gadget or technology to conserve water. Just a little old-fashioned ingenuity can do the trick!

Next on my list is to figure out a way to pump the water from our downstairs bath to the vegetable garden where our water use is highest in the summer.   I have looked at sump pumps and peristaltic pumps but haven't found anything that looks like it would do the job on a regular basis without too much hassle.  


Benefits & Payback

Without much difficulty and no cost, we are supplying about 20% of the total water needed in our yard during the summer. A few tubs of water may not seem like a big deal at first but 50 gallons of tub water eight times a week for about 18 weeks adds up to 7200 gallons of water saved per year and a lower water bill!



Informational Links

EBMUD Info on Graywater

While I found the tubing at work, similar tubing could be purchased on eBay, or at OSH or Home Depot for about $75. Any type of flexible tubing would probably work fine. Tygon Tubing - Web Site

The Greywater Alliance

Greywater Action - FAQs

About.com - Water Conservation Tips for Bay Area Residents

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