When we bought a new washer and dryer earlier this year, I was curious to see how many gallons of water were used per wash. I did this by letting the washer empty in to a five gallon bucket at the end of each wash cycle. The end result was about 17 gallons per 'normal' load. As usual, one thing leads to another, and I'm on the internet researching water recycling. Step one was finding a 'tank'. I found two, free, clean 'Roughneck' 30 gallon trashcans on craigslist, and here's what happened next:

First, I drilled a ¾ ″ hole about four inches from the bottom of the can.

I needed the hole to be free of burrs for a nice clean seal.

I went through my box of PVC and ABS leftovers and found almost everything I needed. The two neoprene and steel washers I had to pick up at Home Depot.

Here's the sequence of parts: OUTSIDE: union, washer, gasket, nipple. INSIDE: gasket, washer, union.

Attached.

The most expensive part. I think it was $3.88 at Home Depot. I chose the 'boiler' style of valve rather than a standard outside hose bib because the valve turned smoother and I didn't want to put too much stress on the flexible plastic can.

Here it is, the final product. I chose to elevate it for three reasons:

In the last few weeks since I've this set-up working, my plants seem to be reacting pretty well. My Rosemary is in bloom again as well as my Fortnight Lillies.

Greywater links:

The Greywater Guerrillas

Grey Water Central

Safe Use of Household Greywater

Grey water - recycling water at home

If you want to re-use your greywater, you need to be careful of the washing agents used.

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