Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 01, 2011 10:11 pm Hi, This is a question for the guys who seem to know their stuff (Fu Manchu and Dynomite69 to name a few). I plan to build this year in a rural area in NSW where I will be on tank water and septic system (HSTP). While I plan to have a 100,000L tank the area where I will be living is notorious for sometimes not getting much rain so water conservation is key. One way I thought of conserving water was to put in a greywater treatment system to divert water back to toilet and washing machine and external taps. So water would go tank > shower > greywater treatment system > washing machine > HSTP > irrigated onto horse paddocks. While I was looking at this, I noted on the YourHome webiste that is said to ensure no discolouration of clothing when washing with reused grey water, a carbon filtration system is needed. However all of the systems that I have seen that are capable of being used for washing machines use UV sterilisation. My question is would this do the same thing as carbon filtration to prevent discolouration of clothes when washing with the recycled greywater? Big outlay to put in dual systems and if can only use extra water for garden (will get there anyway through HSTP and garden does not need a lot of irrigation as have alternate water sources) and toilets (using water efficient toilets) then not much bang for buck. Knowledge would be appreciated. P.S. for people who will suggest a waterless composting toilet, DW vetoed this a while ago. Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: Greywater reuse for washing machines and filtration 2Mar 02, 2011 4:05 pm UV only sterilises the water it doesn't remove any dirt in the grey water that may stain your clothes. also with grey water (rather than Tank Water) the dirt thats in the water reduces the effectiveness of the treatment. If you really want to run your grey water through the washing machine I would say that an ordinary filter such as used for pools might be the go rather than carbon filters. Carbon filters are more about removing taste and odour if you are going to drink the water rather than just removing the dirt. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Greywater reuse for washing machines and filtration 3Mar 02, 2011 5:37 pm Thanks bashworth. Have not found any integrated greywater systems approved by NSW health (such as Nubian, etc) that does not use a UV filter. If I would then need another filter (more cost and plumbing), I am doubting whether it would be worth it. It is not like it will reduce my water bill as I won't have one anyway (cept for maybe needing to by water... Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: Greywater reuse for washing machines and filtration 4Mar 02, 2011 9:27 pm A UV Filter is a combination unit of a filter + a UV steriliser and should be Ok for treating greywater. If you have one of these combination units rather than a UV steriliser plus a separate filter it should be doing the same job The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Greywater reuse for washing machines and filtration 5Mar 05, 2011 9:17 am Hi, I would suggest possibly a whole house big blue system with a pleated 20micron sediment filter (this can be soaked in caustic soda) and followed by a 5 Micron Carbon Filter. Should do the trick. If you wanted to get rid of any bacteria in the water you would need UV or a very fine carbon filter, which would most likely block if using grey water. Re: Greywater reuse for washing machines and filtration 6Mar 05, 2011 6:54 pm Hi yogi, Am getting a whole house filter for the tank water but grey water needs to be a NSW health approved treatment system to be able to store and use grey water so a big blue would not apply. Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Hey all Currently renovating our laundry, bought a new washing machine but have found that the drainage hose is alot shorter than the old machine (which I used to get the… 0 17508 I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 9755 OK it's been a little while! I've been busy getting time where I can to work on this. I started by grading a pad (borrowing a… 26 19952 |