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Grey water select valve

A valve to choose the best grey water
  (+6)
(+6)
  [vote for,
against]

Some communities have a grey water system that directs rain water and water from washing clothes and bathing, to a separate sewer where it can water flower gardens. The toilets, urinals, garbage disposal etc. are plumbed to the real sewer.

If someone is running the shower waiting for the water to heat up, that means the grey water system gets a pulse of mostly clean water.

A valve that can judge the quality of water flowing by in the grey water system and divert the best to a vegetable garden or hot tub or wash the car, but let the really smelly stuff and the soapy stuff go by. Some combination the amount of light, or conductivity or acid/base ought to allow the valve to guess right most of the time.

Used to have a washer that saved soapy water for the next load of dirty clothes.

popbottle, Dec 15 2014

Ledbury museum hip bath for the poor http://www.ledburyr...ays_a_week/?ref=rss
[not_morrison_rm, Dec 15 2014]

Waiting Water Wecovery Waiting_20Water_20Wecovewy
2003 version [bungston, Dec 16 2014]

Shower Water Salvager Shower_20water_20salvager
My version takes all the shower water & uses it for the almond orchards. I think about this one often. [bungston, Dec 16 2014]

[link]






       // Used to have a washer that saved soapy water for the next load of dirty clothes. //   

       M'Lord Buchanan has that; the staff at Buchanan Towers save his bath water to use for washing the indoor servant's uniforms.
8th of 7, Dec 15 2014
  

       P'shaw, that's just the PR material, the uniforms are doused in discarded jugged kipper water and licked clean by cats.   

       On the subject of extremely grey water, that Ledbury Museum has a kind of hip bath on wheels (can't find a pic of it) which they used to wheel around the poorer parishioners, so they could have a bath.   

       Oddly, there is no mention of replacing the water between bathees. Suspect then used to make a nourishing broth.
not_morrison_rm, Dec 15 2014
  

       //Suspect then used to make a nourishing broth.//   

       Apart from the sediment, which is shoveled back to the fields from whence it came.
bs0u0155, Dec 15 2014
  

       Ahrrr, can't waste good sediment .... ahrrrr....   

       So the unfortunate paupers were boiled up in the bath to make broth, then fed to their compatriots ? Times must have been hard. Mind you, 'tis but a Modest Proposal ...   

       // the uniforms are doused in discarded jugged kipper water and licked clean by cats //   

       That's just an Urban Myth. You know perfectly well that all the discarded jugged kipper water is collected weekly by Rentisham's contractors.   

       The cat-licking is, however, true; but only for the outside staff.
8th of 7, Dec 15 2014
  

       Good lord - I'd never realized that uniforms were re- useable. This could save the Estate a small fortune!   

       As to the idea, I like the idea of smart plumbing that sorts the waste water. However, this would only work well if such a system were installed for every house, or every small group of houses. A system which was connected to tens (or more) of houses would see "average" water most of the time, not only because of the number of houses, but also because of the dead volume in the system.   

       Out of interest, does anyone know the environmental and financial costs of purifying waste water from a non-segregated system? My guess is that the cost per ton of water is not much more than the cost of purifying water taken from other sources.
MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 15 2014
  

       My first thought was that you could accomplish the same thing with a standard re-circulation system so you can get warm water to the shower head without dumping a pipe full down the drain, but [+] for thinking about the problem in a different way. Also, if you want to enjoy standing in the hot water for a minute after you're done rinsing off in the shower, that water will be quite clean and can be diverted to the garden as well...
scad mientist, Dec 15 2014
  

       I have linked some relations above. This idea has got a robot that detects how filthy the water is.   

       Re Max's comment - ideally household nonpoop nonfood greywater (shower) would be used as is for landscape / arbor irrigation. The almond trees will not mind shampoo and skin flakes. In some places recycled water ("purple pipes" in San Diego) is reserved for only this use.
bungston, Dec 16 2014
  

       I was going to write an insulting comment to this idea and the fool who wrote it. Then I looked an saw the fool was me.   

       It is rather disconcerting not to recognize your own spew, like being introduced to someone you've never seen before at a party. And then hear: "HI dad, How are you doing ? "   

       A bit scary.
popbottle, Dec 08 2015
  
      
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