Unfortunately there is no standard definition of grey water so make sure you check what people mean by grey water.

We define grey water as water that has been used once in your house and is not that badly contaminated, so it can be used again.

In this section about grey water we are talking about water that can be used directly on the garden. If you wish to go for a more extensive system and re-use the water in the house please contact us for advice on filtration and other methods of naturally cleaning the water.

For use on the garden for watering and irrigation we recommend the following water.

• From baths and showers.
• From kitchen water used for washing vegetables
• From washing machines that have used Ecoballs.

It is best not to use the water from traditional washing detergents for irrigation as they have high amounts of phosphates and also nitrates in as well as other chemicals not suitable for introducing direct on to soil on a regular basis.

The grey water should be stored for only short periods and in hot weather should be used immediately. If possible it is best to keep rain water and grey water separately but if mixed treat all the water as grey water.

It should not be to water  vegetables that are going to be shortly harvested and never on vegetables that are eaten raw.

To "harvest" the water we have a permanent solution that can be hard plumbed into the waste pipe with the Bath and Shower Saver the grey water and can be diverted to storage or the water allowed to carry on its way.

We also have a plug and siphon to adapt up a bath.

Drip watering  is the best way of using this water but NEVER put the grey water down a rubber porous pipe, without serious filtration as it will block very fast. Either it can be used on our Water Butt Pipe, if you want to use gravity (but you may have to wash it out with water at mains pressure occasionally). Or if you have a pumped system our Sloping Drip Line, that has the ability to self flush at the start of every irrigation cycle. Both of these can also be used with fresh water or a mixture.

The grey water can also be used in our individual drippers and we mainly recommend the Adjustable Out put Drippers for grey water but it can also be used with the Hanging Garden Water Supply Drippers as they can be dismantled  if they block to be cleaned out.

If the water gets a "bacterial bloom" in storage do not put it down any drip pipes.

Storage facilities see our water butts and tanks.

NEVER use water from the toilet in the garden often known as "black water". General water from the kitchen, dishwashers and washing machines (unless Ecoballs are used) should not be used due to the contaminants.

We are now getting involved in larger schmes for flats and larger houses espically when incorporated in the build call us for details  01473 400101