The Greywater Guerrillas

Other Projects

Direct Greywater:

Outdoor pedal-powered washer in Oakland, CA.

Constructed Wetlands:

Desert pond -- greywater passed through three wetlands, in Austin, TX.

Bathtub wetlands -- to treat shower water, in Oakland, CA.

Kitchen sink wetland -- to treat a kitchen sink, in Los Angeles, CA.

Shower water -- another shower system in Seattle, WA with a surge tank.

Composting Toilets:

The prettiest composting toilet in Oakland, CA.

Rainwater Harvesting:

Goals: To be able to use the greywater from a shower that's plumbing is burried in a cement slab.
Site description: The bathroom is on the first floor, built on a concrete slab. The bathtub had to be replaced for a clawfoot tub, the clawfoot was raised about 1.5 inches to gain enough elevation to get the drain pipe out of the house.
Fixtures and output: One shower, used by two people. It has a low flow showerhead with a shut-off button, producing about 30 gallons a week.
Cost: Clawfoot- $350 (used on craigslist), plumbing fixtures for it $200, pipes, surge tank- free from local brewery, pump $80, irrigation line and parts $30 (pipe was bought used) Total: $660

The shower drains into a copper pipe that runs out across the room and through a pipe sized hole drilled through the wall of the house.
This is the plumbing of the tub.
The copper pipe is transitioned to PVC (1 1/2") as it leaves the house with a no-hub coupling. The PVC pipe is buried and slopes 1/4 per foot as it travels alongside the house.
A large hole was dug for the surge tank, a 55 gallon food-grade drum. The tank had two bung holes, on was enlarged to be able to reach two arms into the drum and seal the pipe fitting.
The surge tank is buried and is secured with a heavy granite cover (to prevent the tank from floating in times of heavy rain). A hand drum-pump is attached and manually pumps out the greywater. It takes about 5 minutes to pump out a short shower. This hand pump is being replaced with a solar electric pump for convenience.
The greywater pipe enters the drum and flows through a sock filter. The filter catches hair and larger particle of gunk.
The pump sends the greywater through polyethlyne irrigation line (no emitters). The line spits once. The line is flexible enough to move to a few locations.

Specifications and Notes: There is no way to switch back to the sewer with this system. It would have made the installation much more difficult. The house has another shower upstairs (that is greywatered, but has a diverter to the sewer) if anyone needs to dye their hair or wash off anything bad for the plants.
Maintenance and trouble shooting: The sock filter needs to be changed every few weeks. The irrigation line doesn't work well in watering a large area. There are plans to change it to burried perferated pipes so more of the garden bed can be irrigated with greywater.