As I was languishing in the shower today, I thought about what was going down the drain: a couple hairs, a little dirt, some soap, a couple flakes of skin, but mostly water. So why is it, that the drain of the tub couldn’t be hooked up to the World’s Largest Brita, and dumped right back into the shower again? We’re not talking about anything you’d drink here, and we’re not exactly trying to filter out poo or anything like that. What am I missing here?
Maybe impractical? You’d have to have the filter unit below the floor (otherwise you’d have to pump it somewhere)…but who knows? maybe you should check patents…
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=27543
This should explain why that is a bad idea.
Peace
LIONsob
You’re talking about graywater, so called because it’s not yet blackwater, like what drains from your toilet. It’s not a bad idea, but a water purification plant will take some engineering; it would be cheaper to use the stuff for irrigation if it’s allowed where you live. Most areas allow some type or other of graywater irrigation, though usually for laundry water.
I asked the same question (except about laundry graywater use) here.
Here’s a The University of Arizona take on graywater.
Here’s a Texas A&M take.
I’m sure that they market small scale water purification systems that you can use for your system, but I don’t know who sells them. Your mechanical contractor should, when you get ready to build. 