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How to Reclaim and Reuse Gray Water

The average family of four can consume as much as 400 gallons of water a day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The majority of that water is from indoor uses, such as washing clothes (21.7 percent of residential use), showers (16.8 percent), and turning on faucets (15.7 percent). Much of that ends up going down the drain, but there are simple ways to capture and reuse that water.

Simple Ways to Capture Water
- The simplest way to capture water is to use a bucket. If you're waiting for the water to get hot as you use a faucet or when you have a shower running, have a bucket ready to collect it. If you're rinsing vegetables in the kitchen, do it over a bucket with a strainer on it. If you have an air conditioner unit, put out a tray to collect the water. If you boil water for cooking, allow the water to cool then use it for watering plants. If you're cleaning out a fish tank, you can also use the old water on plants.
Recycling Systems
- There are water recycling systems that you can also install, although this will cost you some cash and, if you're a do-it-yourself type person, time and effort. One such system is a toilet-top sink that pulls water for flushing your toilet through a sink mounted on top of the toilet. Those can run about $100. There are also systems you can install that take water from your washer for use in irrigation. These systems can run upward of $500 a drain. Many communities offer rebates for the installation of water reuse systems. The city of San Francisco, for example, offers a $112 subsidy toward the cost of a laundry-to-landscape graywater kit.
Ideas for Water Reuse
- The water you collect can be used to flush toilets, cutting down on the biggest water user in your household. Toilets account for 26.7 percent of household water. You also can use graywater to wash your car. Graywater is suitable for irrigating lawns, trees, ornamentals, and food crops but should not be used for root crops that are eaten uncooked. For use in gardens, you can use about a half a gallon of water on each square foot of well-drained soil.
Health Concerns
- New Mexico State University offers a number of safety and health tips for you and your plants, when using gray water in irrigation. First, apply graywater directly to the soil, not through any method that would allow contact with the above-ground portion of the plants. Use the recycled water on well-established plants, not seedlings. Rotate with fresh water to avoid buildup of sodium salts. Apply gray water only to flat areas where runoff is not likely. Graywater should not be kept for longer than one day. After that, bacteria and odors will become a problem.

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