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ewwww
My kitchen reroute went great - kinda. It flows nicely into a bucket for me to re-distribute - but I now understand why it's called blackwater - it's freakin' DISGUSTING. If even a few inches sit for even a few hours - - and my work shift is 12 hours - it turns putrid. It's a mess. I'm going to need to arrange a hose of some sort so it drains right into my garden patch - i had hoped to collect it into a bucket, then water stuff - but it's just too vile. Part of that's the weather - but still. Ugh.
On a happier note, I filled every bucket i own yesterday, and now I just have to deal with a storage gig and treat the water. For now, I'm thinking a bunch of those big coolers with spigots - a big cistern just isn't feasible right now.
The goal is to not use city water until the next rain - we'll see. It will be much eaiser to achieve that if I can find a way to make my blackwater less grody, so I can store it in between waterings. I guess I could splash a little bleach in the bucket each time I empty it, but I dunno. Any ideas?
On a happier note, I filled every bucket i own yesterday, and now I just have to deal with a storage gig and treat the water. For now, I'm thinking a bunch of those big coolers with spigots - a big cistern just isn't feasible right now.
The goal is to not use city water until the next rain - we'll see. It will be much eaiser to achieve that if I can find a way to make my blackwater less grody, so I can store it in between waterings. I guess I could splash a little bleach in the bucket each time I empty it, but I dunno. Any ideas?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ericka Cero Wood on -
You really should not store grey water. Brad Lancaster has 2 fantastic books on the subject of greywater. Once you try and store greywater, it becomes a code issue. Try and put the greywater directly into a mulch pit, and keep the exit point at least 4-6 inches above the pit so no water stays in the hose.
Earth works can really become your best friend when it comes to greywater and rainwater. Have the water flow into a mulch pit, plant a tree in the pit and the tree becomes a natural pump...and storage!
That rain was awesome-I think it rained all night here. Fingers crossed if comes again tonight and this weekend!!!
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer on -
I second what Ericka said!
Also, please don't use chlorine bleach to clean clean the bucket and then either throw the bleach water on plants or collect black/grey water then throw it on the garden - that stuff is TOXIC. Bleach is BANISHED from my house. Hydrogen peroxide works well and is not toxic to anything that I know of and may even be beneficial for plants. (BTW - did you know that hydrogen peroxide is used as a whitening agent in most milk? So yes, you're probably drinking it.)
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