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Grey Water Retention

 Simplifies plumbing for a choice of retaining or disposing of grey water
  (+5, -3)
(+5, -3) 		  [vote for,
against]

Manufacture sinks, bathtubs, etc. in the ordinary fashion but with two drains each. One drain goes to the usual sewer system. The other drain gets piped to your grey water holding tank, backyard wetland, or whatever. Just open the appropriate drain to choose. No expensive diverter system or complicated piping.
—nobodyspecial, Jun 03 2006

Similar Waiting_20Water_20Wecovewy
[squeak, Jun 06 2006]

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       Reasonably certain we did this before, and that it turned out to be Widely Baked in the real world.
—DrCurry, Jun 03 2006
   

       two drain thing may be new but, it seems kind of pointless as you either produce grey water(bath, shower, laundry) or sewage(food, toilet) but not both.   

       Besides i think plumbing would be much more complicated as you would need 2 complete drainage systems to serve all drains in home and completely redesigned fixtures.   

       There would also be serious potential for contamination of greywater system with sewage which could have dire consequenses.
—jhomrighaus, Jun 04 2006
   

       I was particularly thinking of the kitchen, bathroom, or utility sink where depending on what you were washing and with what cleanser, you might choose to store the water or send it down the sewer. I think you are right about this idea being unnecessary for the shower.
—nobodyspecial, Jun 04 2006
   

       I have a Real Grey Area - would be happy to see it equipped with a collection reservoir for this water.
—xenzag, Jun 05 2006
   

       Would it not make sense to have two taps, one for community greywater and the other for purified water? Homeowner initiatives are great, but the larger picture is most important. The most effective system would be community-wide, with the public utility providing two water streams and in support of use guidelines for individual consumers. Commode flush mechanisms, and irrigation rigs should be exclusively sized to handle greywater. Other water dispensing taps could be served by modified versions of current appliances so that dual use is possible; for example, clothes washers pull grey water for the wash cycle, purified water for the rinse cycle and so on.
—reensure, Jun 05 2006
   

       Personally, I suspect this to be Widely Baked, but until someone proves otherwise I'm going to bun it just to balance out all those little fishies, since it is a sensible idea. Boring, but sensible.
—moomintroll, Jun 05 2006
   

       Two drain tub vs diverter. Given that the plumbing must all be the same for either option, it seems to me cheaper to install an off-the-shelf valve with a lever on it (probably $20 tops) compared to changing the manufacturing process for an immense array of different basins, tubes and showers.
—bungston, Jun 06 2006
   

       definately useful, washing machine cycles including dashwashers have a suds wash and a rinse wash, send the suds down the sewer and put the rinse on the wetland.
—greyfiend, Jun 06 2006
   


 

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