Portable washing machine in the backyard and waste water to irrigate

[PandaBear]

Read what it takes to get a reliable grey water system from washing machine, and decided it is a bunch of useless regulation. There is no law that said you cannot keep a washing machine outdoor and dump your laundry discharge into lawn or flower patch as long as the soap is ECO, and you are not growing food.

So what if I get a $100 portable washing machine, plug it into 120V outdoor, fill with a garden hose, and let it wash then drain into the garden?

No politics, this is strictly a US West drought thing, and I have saved enough water that I cannot reduce any further without killing something that's alive. It might break even with the water reduction but it would probably make my wife happier to see her plants not dying.

Anyone done it?

 

[vw7674]

I would pay good money for your eco-friendly detergent just to watch you get taken down by your local gray-water discharge compliance Nazi. : )
And that's probably going to be your next door neighbor.

 

[dlundblad]

Not sure how your garden would do with soapy water or what it could do to the taste.

If you must, Id keep it inside and run a hose outside. Less suspicious.

 

[BISCUT]

When I built my home in 2004, grey water discharge here in New Yorkistan was a no no!! The common individual is of course not to be trusted. What I did was to forgo the other no no I wanted (drain in garage for snow melt) and focused on grey water. Besides a washing machine, I also have a water softener and acid neutralizer system. Lots more grey water. Basement houses the water system and directly above is the washing machine.

I used simple 4" PCV and created a stack with the washing machine water emptying into the stack. Branched off for a port to the softener, and a port to the acid neutralizer. Connected the stack to my curtain drain, which runs about 60 feet from my home into the back yard. 17 years later the grass grows a ok there and none of the wild shrubs or trees have been affected. We mostly use Tide so it is not eco neutral.

My BOH inspector was an engineer. He was tough but fair. On final inspection he noticed it and said "I'm not supposed to allow your grey water system but I agree with keeping the grey water from your septic system." He had me disconnect the pipes for the inspection and gave me the approval. Re-connect pipes and haven't touched it since. I do wish I was able to connect the dishwasher, but oh well.

 

[Motu]

In New Zealand, if you live rural you have a rain water tank and a septic tank. So water conservation is paramount (if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down), and with 4 kids and washing everyday, you don't want to flush that much through your septic. So everyone had a bath at night, me last, and I had a pump that ran under the house to the laundry and into the washing machine...it had a fresh water rinse. Then the grey water went into a separate holding tank....which in summer went onto my garden, and in winter just down the bottom of my property, into a creek, then a swamp, which ultimately drained to the sea.

Not a lot different to going through the septic tank really...it traveled the same path in the end. But, my lush vege garden got less productive - washing powder turned my acid soil alkaline over time.

 

[Leo99]

Back when I was growing up in the 60s, my father rigged the washing machine to drain into a utility sink. There was some setting that you could reuse the soapy water or something. Seems strange to do that today but wasn't as strange back then. The rinse water went into our sump pump and was discharged into the backyard. Some guy, think it was Bell telephone guy ratted us out. Bell tel guy also ratted my father out for doing his own telephone wiring in the house. I remember my mother being very leery when I bought a telephone at BestBuy and hooked it up. She thought they were coming to arrest us.

 

[JohnnyG]

There are parts of the US that use sewage discharge for irrigation. It's treated, of course, but it's not chlorinated. In LA (not the city) you can install special purple sprinkler heads that take the effluent from your areated septic, and discharges to the lawn.

Here in Florida, huge piping projects take the water from holding ponds of the sewage treatment plants and distribute it on the roadway right of ways and medial strips. This allows bacteria to further treat the water.

It certainly beats discharging that water to any waterway or lake where the phosphates will cause algea blooms, and the subsequent fish kills.
I think it's a great idea, and there is never any smell.
The key here is areation for treatment of course.

Using grey water on gardens is part of the Amish religeon. A recent lawsuit by a city was defeated by that fact. (Google news)

 

[JohnnyG]

Back when I was growing up in the 60s, my father rigged the washing machine to drain into a utility sink. There was some setting that you could reuse the soapy water or something. Seems strange to do that today but wasn't as strange back then. The rinse water went into our sump pump and was discharged into the backyard.

I had one of those washing machines when we were first married. (1976) It was a Maytag, and it would reuse the first wash water if you wished. It was a great idea, but everyone was more economical back then.

 

[JustinH]

No wonder all the cars on my street have license plates from California.

What's next, bathing in the river?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Im in NH. We have our discharge going in to a "dry well"
its just a pit bout 3 ft deep filled with about 1 ft sand and 6" gravel.
It about 5 ft long and 3 ft wide. We us no bleach and use phosphate free powdered washing soda in a small GM/Frigidaire front loader. plants nearby love it.

Maybe you could put discharge into a shallow pit in the sun with a poly dome over it and reclaim the water through distillation.

 

[MNgopher]

Just going to state that it likely would be the portable appliance being outside that would be the giveway and the "redneck" issue that would land you in trouble with your neighbor.

At a seasonal cabin, we also have our discharge going to a dry well. As much as I'd like to say that greywater is pretty trouble free, remember it is washing you clothing that has been exposed to well, everything... along with the salts and nutrients in most detergents, and I'm leery of just irrigating willy nilly with it...

 

[JeffKeryk]

I did this for years when I lived in the Cambrian area of San Jose.
The washer was in the garage; just ran a hose out to the side lawn.
I lived on a corner lot with a lotta grass. I just moved the hose around.

I hate lawns, as I have been cutting grass since I was little. I have trees and chips now.
I hate lawns and we are in draught again.
Did I say I hate lawns?

 

[jrvn]

Read what it takes to get a reliable grey water system from washing machine, and decided it is a bunch of useless regulation. There is no law that said you cannot keep a washing machine outdoor and dump your laundry discharge into lawn or flower patch as long as the soap is ECO, and you are not growing food.

So what if I get a $100 portable washing machine, plug it into 120V outdoor, fill with a garden hose, and let it wash then drain into the garden?

No politics, this is strictly a US West drought thing, and I have saved enough water that I cannot reduce any further without killing something that's alive. It might break even with the water reduction but it would probably make my wife happier to see her plants not dying.

Anyone done it?

i would, especially now with water restriction every ounce of water no matter if it has Clothes detergent should be used if it does'nt bother plants or the lawn, i dump my car wash bucket and my floor mop buckets into a flower bed area instead of dumping it back into the sewer system to be processed, so far the Daisys are alive and well and not thirsty

 

[PimTac]

In New Zealand, if you live rural you have a rain water tank and a septic tank. So water conservation is paramount (if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down), and with 4 kids and washing everyday, you don't want to flush that much through your septic. So everyone had a bath at night, me last, and I had a pump that ran under the house to the laundry and into the washing machine...it had a fresh water rinse. Then the grey water went into a separate holding tank....which in summer went onto my garden, and in winter just down the bottom of my property, into a creek, then a swamp, which ultimately drained to the sea.

Not a lot different to going through the septic tank really...it traveled the same path in the end. But, my lush vege garden got less productive - washing powder turned my acid soil alkaline over time.

We had a rain water harvesting system in SE Asia. The monsoons would keep our 8000 gallon tank topped off. That water did get used for washing clothes. Drying was done under a open veranda that was specific for the task.

Obviously California has a different climate and rainwater may not be an option. Desalination is something I wonder why they haven’t tried. They cannot depend on other states for their water , power and such any longer.

 

[bluesmokertdi]

Read what it takes to get a reliable grey water system from washing machine, and decided it is a bunch of useless regulation. There is no law that said you cannot keep a washing machine outdoor and dump your laundry discharge into lawn or flower patch as long as the soap is ECO, and you are not growing food.

So what if I get a $100 portable washing machine, plug it into 120V outdoor, fill with a garden hose, and let it wash then drain into the garden?

No politics, this is strictly a US West drought thing, and I have saved enough water that I cannot reduce any further without killing something that's alive. It might break even with the water reduction but it would probably make my wife happier to see her plants not dying.

Anyone done it?

it is legal in California, here are the regulations, and it is EASY to comply

California Regulations - Greywater Action

California Greywater Regulations California’s greywater code is found in Chapter 15 of the California Plumbing Code (CPC) (as of 2017, previously it was in Chapter 16) . Under the current code washing machine systems can be constructed without a permit in single family homes (1 or 2 units), so...

greywateraction.org

 

[UncleDave]

Im with Jeff, Im done watering and cutting grass.
Im down to a tiny patch in the back that Ill eventually cover up with a larger deck.

Everything green here is on a timed drip system.

 

[JeffKeryk]

There are 11 desalination plants in CA with more planned.
The best known is the Carlsbad plant that serves San Diego. It is a model for the state.

The goal for the new plants is renewably powered deslanation.

Desalination is expensive. But with water prices increasing, the gap is closing.
California's climate has been oscillating between periods of drought and deluge, which is making the water supply hard to predict.
And we are back in draught.
California knows the solution is a combination of conservation (water saving appliances, draught tolerant plants), fixing ageing (leaking) infrastructure and desal.

There is so much more to consider...

 

[PandaBear]

No wonder all the cars on my street have license plates from California.

What's next, bathing in the river?

Maybe your vegetables? Seriously, as I said I try to avoid politics in this post, but if you insist maybe I will tell the farmers they should pull up all the alfalfa and almond so us city dwellers can use all we want, then you can pay 20% more for your vegetables.

 

[PandaBear]

We had a rain water harvesting system in SE Asia. The monsoons would keep our 8000 gallon tank topped off. That water did get used for washing clothes. Drying was done under a open veranda that was specific for the task.

Obviously California has a different climate and rainwater may not be an option. Desalination is something I wonder why they haven’t tried. They cannot depend on other states for their water , power and such any longer.

Back in SE Asia we have different kind of water problem (monsoon, typhoon, flash flood) but here we were told this is a once in 100 year drought, and most of the water are used for farming (80% last I heard). They are giving restriction soon and I think for us city people who already were using very little water (i.e. 1.6 GPF toilet, 2.0 GPM shower head and faucet, etc) there isn't much we can cut water on. Our lawn is already brown, a bit annoying but I am ok with it.

You will never desalinate enough to grow food, maybe enough for city water supply near the coast, but never enough to pump up across the mountains to the Central Valley to grow stuff there.

To be honest the almond has to go, they are not vital for food source locally like fruits and vegetables and they are mainly for export to China, they know this area is in drought when they planted it and they shouldn't just keep pumping ground water (takes tens of thousands of years to replenish) for that. Saudi did it with alfalfa to feed dairy cows and now they are out of ground water. I am also not a fan of alfalfa there either but at least it is food people really eat not just a luxury snack.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Seriously, as I said I try to avoid politics in this post, but if you insist maybe I will tell the farmers they should pull up all the alfalfa and almond so us city dwellers can use all we want, then you can pay 20% more for your vegetables.

Yup. California is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world.

The huge ($20B) CA agriculture industry sucks a ton of water that we don't have. 80% of water usage is by agriculture.
Given that, even small improvements can yield big results.