Home Waste Water recycling questions

[nagsbhat]

Hi,
I am in an initial stage of gathering requirements for a new home that I want to start building in next 3-4 months.
I want to know if there are any solutions for recycling waste water i.e. water from bath, syncs, kitchen and even toilets?

Regards,
Nag

[maheshv]

Not sure if this helps but I am planning to place washing machine on the top floor so that waste water can be piped to a collection tank which can then be connected to all toilet flushes in below floors. Another advantage of this plan is, proximity of the washing machine and terrace, this will reduce the labor of carrying washed clothes to drying place in terrace

[Vimal]

Good idea Actually, I have seen this done in an home that I used to live in california. Actually, there washing machine was adjacent to the toilet in the ground floor.

[ardesarchitects]

HI Mahesh
Really a brilliant and native idea , i remember my mom used to store the clothes detergent rinsed water stored in the buckets to use for flushing in Indian style .
Now with the western commodes we might have to work a routing such that rinse water from washing machine will go to flush tanks or a separate tank and use it as and when required.Again we cannot allow rinse water to stay in flush tank for long time since it will settle the detergent and lots of dust .

Regards
Ar.Praveen.n
Ardes Architects and Interior Designers
ardesarchitects@gmail.com

[nagsbhat]

Thanks Mahesh, it is great idea. One question extending Praveen's caution though is: Are you doing any filtering/treatment of the water before storing it in a tank?

I came across this site called <http://www.self-sufficiency-guide.com/Greywater.html>. I am not too sure how to implement the technique suggested there (excerpts):
--- Untreated Greywater is not recommended for toilet flushing for several reasons, making a combination of greywater and rainwater harvesting systems a very effective partnership ---
If any one can think of a solution or know someone who is using this technique will be helpful.

Regards,
Nag

[msn1270]

nagsbhat

for your need the site dimension must of atleast 60X40 dimension and above. In smaller sites it is not possilble.

I had seen a newspaper article lastyear as well in a kannada newschannel, where one of the house in Vijayanagar
built on 60X40 dimension is fully ecofriendly, which has not at all taken water & Sanitary connection from BWSSB
and living from last 16 years by adopting Rain water Harvesting and recycling of the used water & borewell water
for drinking purpose. The owner name is Shivakumar. I don't remember the contact details as of now.

You can also contact Vishwanath of rain water club in Vidyaranyapura, who gives consultancy for this kind of needs.
in you tube & other social networking sites, you get some of his video clips.

[maheshv]

Thanks Vimal, Praveen, Nag, appreciate the inputs. I will now need check PH value of rinsed water and decide.
@nagsbhat, i am thinking of square shaped sintex tank, which can be kept beside washing machine

[leelasastry]

Dear sir ,
I want to know whether all house owners have made provisions for rain water harvesting. I have been making a herculin task of doing that for the past so many days . From what I GATHER THROUGH THE SOURCES, IS , ONE RECHARGE WELL, ONE TANK FOR COLLECTION OF RAIN WATER FROM ROOF TOP AND ANOTHER TANK AT A LOWER LEVEL FOR COLLECTING THE CLEANED WATER . Is it true or possible or feasible for the old houses since we do not have any provision of space for the same .Even if we have some space it doesn't fit in to vasthu requirements. If vasthu demand is not taken in to account the very purpose of having own house and enjoying that in peace will be last . Apart from these constraints the entire gamut is prooving to be prohibitively costly. Please could somebody enlighten me on this issue?

[leelasastry]

can we get some help from the firms like Ardes Architects and InteriorDesigners , inthis respect since we can't afford to shell out huge amounts but at the same time ready to meet the reasonable and affordable expenditure.

[aries31]

I have done some research on this topic. My conclusions:

Given tight budgets we all work under,

Black water (toilet/bathroom) recycling is difficult to get right - you have to be prepared to handle the bacterial load etc. Skip.

Grey water (washing machine) - store the water as is no longer than 24 hrs. Some form of cleaning (atleast filter) is required. It is possible that the colours from clothes may stain the porcelain W/C etc.

Another alternative is to use only eco friendly soap (ie safe for garden) and channel the washing machine outlet to garden

Placing W/M on higher floors is a nice idea!

I am installing a separate sink in kitchen whose drain pipe is connected directly to garden. We will use this to wash vegetables etc and some utensils (no soap or eco-friendly soap) hence recovering about 30-50ltr per day