Grey Water

[RGG]

Each day, the water from a couple of baths goes down the drain.

I'd quite like to get that into the garden.

The bath is on the second floor, and there's a window available.

I'm thinking of some kind of simple, quick siphoning process (a hosepipe through the window), but I'm unsure how to tackle this.

Has anyone done this successfully, or does anyone have any theoretical ideas?

Logical or lateral?

[Simpo Two]

You can't use a hose if there's a hosepipe ban. Even for that. Yes, the law is an ass.

[alangla]

If your downpipes are external and separate from the soil pipe then cut into it and add a diverter and one or more water butts?

[Condi]

It's not unusual among countries with less rainfall, unfortunately we in the UK are blessed (?) with lots of water and so are very lazy with how we use it. Other countries collect their rainwater and then use that for grey water uses (ie showers, toilets etc), and the water from the bath or shower is sometimes collected again for use on the garden or in plant pots. You could use a bucket, or syphon it off into a tank downstairs via hosepipe.

If I was ever to build my own house it would have 2 water systems - a drinking water system from the mains and a rainwater collection system for gardening and flushing toilets. Never makes sense that we store water, clean it to drinking water standards, pay for it and then use it to flush turds away. Water falls free from the sky most days in this country!

[Magic919]

Simpo Two said:

You can't use a hose if there's a hosepipe ban. Even for that. Yes, the law is an ass.

Thames Water disagrees https://www.thameswater.co.uk/help/temporary-hosep...

I have a non-mains water source – can I use a hose from that? 
Yes – you can still use water that is not sourced from the mains. This includes:

Grey water

[juice]

Condi said:

It's not unusual among countries with less rainfall, unfortunately we in the UK are blessed (?) with lots of water and so are very lazy with how we use it. Other countries collect their rainwater and then use that for grey water uses (ie showers, toilets etc), and the water from the bath or shower is sometimes collected again for use on the garden or in plant pots. You could use a bucket, or syphon it off into a tank downstairs via hosepipe.

If I was ever to build my own house it would have 2 water systems - a drinking water system from the mains and a rainwater collection system for gardening and flushing toilets. Never makes sense that we store water, clean it to drinking water standards, pay for it and then use it to flush turds away. Water falls free from the sky most days in this country!

Having lived there for 15 years, I would go with the Bermuda roof system / Tank if I were building my own house.

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/03/how-bermudas...

[RGG]

OP

We're in Severn Trent catchment area - no hosepipe ban - but still, I would prefer not to waste the bath water.

[Condi]

juice said:

Having lived there for 15 years, I would go with the Bermuda roof system / Tank if I were building my own house.

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/03/how-bermudas...

Same in some Balkan countries, collect rain water in large underground tanks and then use that for everything.

[juice]

Condi said:

Same in some Balkan countries, collect rain water in large underground tanks and then use that for everything.

Oh christ no, I wouldn't drink it ! There used to be a sizeable cockroach population living in our tank, plus dead geckos etc

[LooneyTunes]

Condi said:

juice said:

Having lived there for 15 years, I would go with the Bermuda roof system / Tank if I were building my own house.

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/03/how-bermudas...

Same in some Balkan countries, collect rain water in large underground tanks and then use that for everything.

Not unheard of in this country either. We have a 20,000l brick cistern/tank under our stable block, kindly installed by the Victorians. It collects water from the roof of another outbuilding and seems to have been used to supplement/replace the supply from the well.

[biggiles]

RGG said:

The bath is on the second floor, and there's a window available.

I'm thinking of some kind of simple, quick siphoning process (a hosepipe through the window), but I'm unsure how to tackle this.

Has anyone done this successfully, or does anyone have any theoretical ideas?

Pretty common a few decades ago to do this. Not difficult: bring hose in window, jiggle it underwater, watch as the water syphons through it to your water butt/garden.

What are you waiting for?

[RGG]

biggiles said:

RGG said:

The bath is on the second floor, and there's a window available.

I'm thinking of some kind of simple, quick siphoning process (a hosepipe through the window), but I'm unsure how to tackle this.

Has anyone done this successfully, or does anyone have any theoretical ideas?

Pretty common a few decades ago to do this. Not difficult: bring hose in window, jiggle it underwater, watch as the water syphons through it to your water butt/garden.

What are you waiting for?

I'll get a spare wheelie bin ready at the bottom. It's probably going to be a temporary thing so Heath Robinson would approve .

[geeks]

From memory with grey water for gardens you want to use it before the bacteria growth becomes an issue and it smells etc

[Condi]

juice said:

Oh christ no, I wouldn't drink it ! There used to be a sizeable cockroach population living in our tank, plus dead geckos etc

Different places have different rules, in Montenegro they use that water for everything, in Aus we had to drink rainwater because the bore-water wasn't very good, in NZ we drank bore-water because it was super clean.