My cousin’s building a new home and we were discussing recycling his greywater. I’ve done a little research but haven’t been able to find 1) Anyone that offerers an all-in-one filtering and holding-tank system, or 2) an accounting of the cost of the extra piping that would be required. Does anyone here have any useful information to share?
- Well, as a starting point, you could google something like “graywater filtering system” and turn up this or this. And if you wanted a bigger selection, you could google something like “Greywater recycling kits”, see what else is out there.
How big a tank did you have in mind? The the first one doesn’t say (that I can see) what size tank it is, but the second one comes with a 55 gallon tank.
And P.S. you never store graywater in a holding tank because it’s loaded with bacteria and other single-celled creepy-crawlies, and it’ll turn nasty in a big hurry. That wasn’t the kind of “holding tank” you had in mind, was it? The kits come with a “settling” tank, but it’s not really meant to be a “holding” storage tank.
Depending on the climate, an outdoor gravel bed with cattails growing in it can be a very effective way to process gray water.
Graywater recycling requires a bit of disipline from the residents and guests. Garbage disposals are a no-no, as well as avoiding some things that many people wouldn’t think twice about dumping down the sink. (half a gallon of sour milk for example)
Here’s/ a greywater system, and it suggests only hooking up regularly-used showers and washing machines up to the system. They say that 95 of the reusable water comes from these sources. The “Genereal Overview” section breaks down what parts are needed. A cost analysis could be done by that, I think.
StG
Sorry for ignoring the OP in my first post. I really don’t know any specifics about the cost, but I can make one suggestion:
Your brother can have the plumbing done now such that it will be easier to add the gray water system later. Run seperate drainage from the gray water sources, tied in to the sewer at a single, accesable, point near where he thinks he wants the gray water treatment to happen.
Plumbing is pretty easy to do when the house is being built. The additonal pipe and fittings are cheap, and since the plumber is on site, the additonal labor isn’t bad.
Finances always end up tight in a construction project. In many cases, making “provisions for” that gas fireplace, gray water system, attic fan, air conditioning, extra bathroom, etc. won’t cost a lot at construction time, but will save a lot of money when finances allow these things to happen.
Hate to be the bummer,but has he verified the possibilities with local codes? Some places won’t allow greywater usage,period,though a certified system could be approved.
If it is allowed,a by-pass could be put in to the run to allow later addition or diversion to municipal sewer/septic use.Use only full port valves and either valve or provide a trap for downstream.
I second Duck Duck Goose’s warning about the holding tank.Tanks require a pump at the least and will require possibly unpleasant maintenance and expense.