How to build a greywater system | Page 2 | Construction and DIY projects | Forums

I won't quote anyone because I didn't ask for their permission in the email but...

I used 90mm PVC storm-water pipe for all the connections inside the settling tank.

The surge tank used a 40mm rural poly pipe for the output.

 

The discharge pipe height controls the capacity of the settling tank. It need to be a little lower than the inlet level.

 

The surge tank ensures the level in the settling tank stays stable.

 

The exact levels of the open top and bottom of the inlet and outlet Ts are not critical as long as they are always above, and below the water levels respectively. Their purpose is to make sure the water enters the settling tank with the minimum disturbance and exits without taking any floating mater.

 

good luck with your project.... let me know how it goes. I hope this helps

 

That all looks good to me...  make sure you don't go under 2"s from that wall.. as you do not want to increase the speed of the flow by creating a restriction (creating disturbance)

We used the totes at my last company and i believe that they are only 2". with that said, it would likely be restrictive for the flow and unless you had access to the valve or left it open for another valve downstream, toggling it would be difficult. It would be nice for the annual flush that they mentioned but mine will be buried.

I feel that the best thing to do would be to put it in an open container and wait for the water to evaporate off. After that, the solids could probably be bagged up and trashed or perhaps around the base of a tree. I'm uncertain of the contents to be honest. Soap scum, grease, oil, dead skin, dirt, etc. I don't know if they would be useful for plants.

Thank you KVR! I will admit that I am mainly skimming it but I would like to provide my example here for any future readers:

Shower: 1 shower/day/person * 10 minutes (I take 5, she takes 15) * 2 people * 7 days * 2 gpm = 280 gpw (gallons per week)

Bathroom sink: 2 gal/day/person * 2 people * 7 days = 28 gpw

Total load per week: 308 gpw

The IBC totes around me come in 275 and 330 gallon tanks and I will get a used 55 gallon drum for surge tank. These numbers aren't critical as what we need to maintain is a flow balance. However, you have to keep in mind the frequency of watering to avoid overflow of your surge tank.

If I produce 308 gallons per week of water, I need plants that will consume that much water. In order to avoid overflow of the surge tank I need to distribute roughly 44 gallons per day. As I don't want to water trees or plants daily to allow the soil to dry out in between waterings, I will either need 7 zones or a larger surge tank in order to provide at least 1 week between waterings.  This is easily accomplished with two 55 gallon drums. To simplify things, I will likely set up a small solar system on the surge tank (PV, battery, 5 valves, to be researched later) that will drain 88 gallons every two days to one of 4 zones. This will allow for 8 days between waterings for the individual zones.