And shock horror! News just in .... according to the Guardian 39 million tonnes of "sewage" goes into the river Thames, in London, every year! Now that's gross! The fact remains is that many EU countries pay fines rather than fixing the problem of pumping sewage into rivers or the sea. Most rivers in the UK are over abstracted -i.e. the water companies are regularly taking too much water out of the river and this harms the river ecology.
Any greywater you can divert directly onto your garden, rather than down the drain, cuts out this long cycle of man made treatment and delivery. Water that goes into the ground will be filtered naturally and eventually end up in the sea and evapourate and return as RAIN. Likewise any water you can collect as rain also interrupts this cycle. In areas where acid rain is not a problem and air pollution is closely regulated, rain can be a relatively clean source. Obviously, you must be careful what kind of water you use like this -see my diagram of the WATER USE HIERACHY
Next time -I'll be blogging about water butts and rain water in preparation for world water day...

COMMENTS ( 2 )
posted on 06 June at 22:13
Wow Wallace! Your graywater reduction system sound amazing. I have a rather large garden that I would love to use a system like yours on. Can you provide any additional information on your system . . .details on how it works, plans, what shurflow pumps are, etc?
posted on 06 June at 22:08
The best information that this article includes (in my opinion) is the information regarding reducing greywater by diverting it into your garden - thus taking advantage of the earths natural filtration capabilities. For years I have been implementing a system involving barrels, drainage tiles, and shurflo pumps; retrofitted so that I can regulate the irrigation via the pumps. My garden always stays watered, and I get the satisfaction of knowing I am helping the environment as well.