Water Conservation Question

fill pet water bowls
fill watering cans for plants
turn off the water while brushing your teeth

fill pet water bowls
fill watering cans for plants
turn off the water while brushing your teeth

agreed, i have three juice pitchers that move between my shower and my plants. if you get a backlog of water, you could always add it to these
when there's been a dry spell. whatever you do, don't let that paid for water go down the drain.

Thanks for the suggestions. I am the water nazi around here, definitely no water running during teeth brushing. I wish there were a way to divert the clean water. It will be interesting to see how many jugs I can fill in a week while waiting for hot water.

BMR,

We had a problem with it taking so long to get hot water for our dishwasher that the dishes didn't seem to get clean enough. (The water heater is on the opposite side of the house - too far away) We gave up some space in the pantry and installed a 6 gallon hot water heater. No more waiting! Works great!



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You can set up a gray water reclamation tank on sinks and probably showers also. www.watersavertech.com shows the Aqus water saver works. They cost $295 or so.

Get an On Demand water heater gas or electric. They only heat water when the hot water is turned on. So you don't have a water heater wasting away 24-7. They make small ones for individual sinks etc. Oh yea, you never run out of hot water. I have even put them on a toilet if you can believe that. This crazy lady wanted hot water to run through the toilet to sanitize it.I have an out door shower and the water is directed into the plants. Save water and shower with a friend!

Blessed are all of you for caring about water! Save Lake Lanier...

NoHall you should get one of these. when the lake is full or dried up ya can still use it.View attachment 8817

NoHall you should get one of these. when the lake is full or dried up ya can still use it.View attachment 8817

Not funny.

I hope that all of our lake water that is being wasted down there brings a plague of mosquitoes to your yard.

I was going to suggest the on-demand heater, they're awesome!
Isn't grey-water reclamation illegal in some areas? Just wondering, I think it's a great thing, but I remember a friend whose husband worked for a city water dept, saying that reclaiming grey water was illegal in their town.

eta: I might be thinking of a different kind of grey water reclamation...

Sorry Nohall. I will however take Mosquito's over Yellow Flies any day of the week. It's all Mrs. Greenrooms brothers fault. He bought this big ars obnoxious boat and since then Lake Lanier has been going down. First time out on that lake he ran hard aground a screwed it up big time.

I was going to suggest the on-demand heater, they're awesome!
Isn't grey-water reclamation illegal in some areas? Just wondering, I think it's a great thing, but I remember a friend whose husband worked for a city water dept, saying that reclaiming grey water was illegal in their town.

Totally illegal but the phosphates are like steroids for plants!!!!

So... why is it illegal. I mean, it makes perfect sense from a layman perspective, but what would be so scary about it that it would be proposed as illegal? I'm all for doing illegal stuff if it makes sense though

So... why is it illegal. I mean, it makes perfect sense from a layman perspective, but what would be so scary about it that it would be proposed as illegal? I'm all for doing illegal stuff if it makes sense though

If you let it sit and collect for any length of time, it becomes a nasty bacterial soup.

But if, for instance, your washing machine hose runs out into a place where it can soak into the ground and water your plants, it would not collect and stagnate.

You don't want to use it to water lawns, though. The soap residue on the blades of grass does more harm than good.

Ah, makes sense. We don't use many scary chems and soaps in this house (no SLS's, no bleach, no phosphates, etc...) so sometimes I forget how dangerous semi-used water can be. But using it to flush my toilets makes total sense, watering the plants, maybe not.

So... why is it illegal. I mean, it makes perfect sense from a layman perspective, but what would be so scary about it that it would be proposed as illegal? I'm all for doing illegal stuff if it makes sense though

The current public health laws are largely based on levels of fecal coliforms & e. coli present in gray water, particularly a problem with waste water from bathtubs & washing machines. The laws are in place to reduce exposure to these harmful bacteria.

Get an On Demand water heater gas or electric. I have even put them on a toilet if you can believe that. This crazy lady wanted hot water to run through the toilet to sanitize it.

Greenroomsurfer, be careful with hot water in a toilet. Do you know what seals the toilet to the floor? A wax ring that hot water will melt.
And yes, I did learn this the hard way many years ago when I had frozen pipes back in MN. Poured scalding hot water down the toilets hoping to warm up the pipes headed to the septic system and ended up making a quick trip to town for three new wax rings.

Great ideas on catching the water and using on plants. We are implementing this one today. Thanks

I grew up with an artesian well in the yard so we never ever wasted water! If you google "how to save water in your house" you will come up with several ideas, like these:

1. Don?t leave the tap running while you brush your teeth (or shave, wash your face, etc). Turning off the water during teeth-brushing can save up to two gallons of water every time you brush.
3. Fix leaks ? this can save up to 10 gallons of water a day from one faucet. Fixing a leaky toilet can save about 200 gallons of water daily.
5. Install low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators. This can save both hot and cold water (aerators can save up to 40%).
7. Take showers instead of baths. A bath typically requires 70 gallons of water, while a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons.
9. When you need to run the washing machine or dishwasher, make sure the machines are full (and when you need to replace them, go for high efficiency).
11. When you need to water your lawn or garden, do not water between 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. Some estimates say that more than 50 percent of landscape water is wasted through evaporation or runoff caused by over-watering.
13. If you pour yourself a glass of water and don?t finish it, instead of pouring it down the drain, find another use for it such as watering a plant.
15. Avoid flushing the toilet when you don?t have to ? throw tissues, insects, and dental floss away in the trash instead of the toilet.
17. When you wash dishes by hand, fill one sink/basin with soapy water followed by a quick rinse under a mild drip from the faucet.
18. 
19. Don?t wait for the water from the faucet get warm before you wash your hands.
21. Instead of waiting for the tap to run cold when you want a glass of water, store a pitcher of drinking water in the refrigerator.
23. Don?t use running water to thaw frozen food. Defrost food overnight in the refrigerator or use your microwave?s defrost setting.
25. Don?t pre-wash dishes before you put them into the dishwasher. Scrape off residual food but then load them directly into the washer.

I didn't make that mistake, I surf and we use wax for traction. Not all toilets have wax rings. Some work on vacuum systems and the big money ones have totally different connections like bodays ( spelling ?) and they have hot and cold running water. I lived over seas till I was 16 and the US is way behind when it comes to house hold engineering ( France, Germany and Japan made it an art form) They have had on demand water heaters for 30+ years. Believe it or not in Seville Spain there is an Old Roman archaeologist site called Italica they had flushing toilets and running water 3000 years ago and the town there now doesn't even have that. Oh yea and paved roads an aqueducts. maybe we should learn from the past Romans.

Hey mermaid ya forgot one. Don't spill your Cosmo.

Hey mermaid ya forgot one. Don't spill your Cosmo.

You think there's any chance of that happening?

The on-demand (aka - tankless) water heaters will do the trick, but only if you install it close to the faucet. If you simply replace your existing water heater, the water will still be wasted as you wait for the hot water, and you will be wasting the energy used to heat the water which remains in the pipe when you turn off the water. A well-designed, energy efficient home would be designed with location of water heaters in mind -- a rare find in our over-sized homes being built, today.

Ah, makes sense. We don't use many scary chems and soaps in this house (no SLS's, no bleach, no phosphates, etc...) so sometimes I forget how dangerous semi-used water can be. But using it to flush my toilets makes total sense, watering the plants, maybe not.

Last summer when the lake was almost empty and my well was getting low, I started using the water out of the tub for toilet flushing. My lavender bubble bath kept the bowl nice and clean.

I ran the washing machine into a rain barrel (we don't have a law against gray water in Georgia) and the water went out a spigot onto my trees. I filled up milk jugs with water and put them in the bottom of the barrel to force most of the water out, and it didn't get too icky in there. I don't use fabric softener, though.

I'm thinking of doing it again. My stupid septic system likes it better without the washing machine, anyway--it floods out too much water too quickly.

Up North, I routed my water conditioner and wash machine to a separate drain field to help the situation of overfilling a septic tank.
Four kids were very tough on the old system until I did this.

I didn't make that mistake, I surf and we use wax for traction. Not all toilets have wax rings. Some work on vacuum systems and the big money ones have totally different connections like bodays ( spelling ?) and they have hot and cold running water. I lived over seas till I was 16 and the US is way behind when it comes to house hold engineering ( France, Germany and Japan made it an art form) They have had on demand water heaters for 30+ years. Believe it or not in Seville Spain there is an Old Roman archaeologist site called Italica they had flushing toilets and running water 3000 years ago and the town there now doesn't even have that. Oh yea and paved roads an aqueducts. maybe we should learn from the past Romans.

I don't think the Romans are the best example. Those flushing toilets were like the urinals in large arenas. Long tub with constantly running water.