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GBlist: re: greywater/rainwater



I've just caught up with the debate on this after coming back from holiday,
and would like to belatedly add a few points:

1. Reed bed filtration has been used sucessfully in Europe for some time now,
both for greywater treatment prior to recycling, and for secondary treatment
of sewage (ie as an improvement to the conventional  leachfield).

2. Systems for recycling grey water , eg for toilet flushing or garden use
 are  available here in the UK , and a lot of work has been done in Australia
on this.  I'd definately agree that it's more tricky than using rainwater,
and  has its main application in areas with low rainfall.  (One notable
failure was a system in a college for reusing water from student washbasins
to flush w.c.'s : insufficient treatment resulted in very smelly, black,
bubbling, water in the toilets ! )

3.  Five micron filters + UV is commonly used here for treating rainwater for
potable domestic use, although such systems are still a comparative novelty.
Rainwater pipe filters (self-cleaning)  which keep leaves,etc, out of the
tank are also available here off -the-shelf.

4. We are involved in a project here with  three new urban dwellings, where
rainwater is used for drinking and recycled greywater used for washing.
Toilets are compost type. The houses are self sufficient and not connected to
either the mains water supply or the sewers - the cost saving made from this
more or less paid for setting up  the system.

I recently read an interesting book on reed beds and alternatives to the
standard septic tank  called "Sewage Solutions"   from the Centre for
Alternative Technology in Wales
e-mail: cat@gn.apc.org.  Apart from the section on regulations, which apply
to England,  I think the information would be useful anywhere.


Matthew Hill, Leeds Environmental Design Associates



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