Here are photos of hosta grown with my grey water, the first is a bog fed by our shower with soap, shampoo and a little peterlizer. The photo is about 3yrs old, you can't jump over these plants now.

The second is a second bog fed by our kitchen sink and laundry washer that go together or rather they both end up in the same bog. We use Tide, Clorox and Dawn. That is Wide Brim about 5ft wide next to Stripetease.

Esther,

Your hostas look great. I am also glad to hear that you were able to use regular laundry detergent. I was wondering if I needed to buy something special. How old were your hostas when you started using grey water on them? Were they in their first year or where they established?

The bog out front or the straight line bog in the first photo is easy to get to and I put everything and anything in that one because they just jump out making lots of roots in a hurry. I can dig a plant with my hands.

Search my name and bog, I've talked about it many times. They are just like a constructed pond with the pond liner then I dumped compost from my compost plant and planted and walked away. They never missed a beat. Any product that the big boxes sell as humus, top soil, etc will be fine. Wait until they start to close down the garden center and buy it for .50 or a 1.00 a bag.

It is sinful to not use greywater.

Hey Butch,
Does the "Peterlizer" come from the shower too? LOL!
Denny

Of course, I need to save water any time I can, one less flush.

I used a 5 bucket with holes drilled about 5" up the side to hold water that I used for kitchen scraps, any thing that would decompose plus occasional fresh source of nitrogen. Mixed this about the strength one would use for Miracle Grow and watered my potted plants, they responded really well. You know me, I kept increasing the concentrations to determine the outer limits, proper concentration seemed to be 1-3 ounces per gal or a little more.

I call this compost water with added nitrogen "Peterlizer" and recommend its use.

Pump sump-pump water to the outside with the ability to change course when water is high.

Run an aquarium from your tub or sink out a window, once it started disconnect the pump and allow gravity to do the work.

Put in a little bog or one sized to use the condensate from an air conditioner or just capture the water and use it on the plants.

Use barrels to capture rainwater, use a barrel that can be turned off at the top then run a soaker hose from the bottom when needed, sort of carefree use.

As many ways as an inventive mind can devise, yet waste is simply sinful. These words ring in my ears from my grandfather; "Waste Not Want Not". We have wasted ourselves into the damnedest economic condition one could imagine only efficient use of resources will extricate us from our condition.

IÂve designed a system in my mind to take sink water run to outdoor plants, the plants will clean this water then pipe it back in to use for a toilet. It would require a shutoff valve in the winter, this whole apparatus is gravity fed. IÂve talked to several engineers and architects, they all poo po me. What would be more respectful of God than to use our bounty and leave the system unchanged or harmed.

The only water used in our home that goes to sewage is the toilet and that isnÂt hard to do, it is just against the law in our state.

Butch,
I guess that means "Pooperlizer" is out of the question in Indiana!

Denny

Kentucky allows bog septic systems but Indiana does not, sick politics. The septic tank people used lobbyist to block the use of bog septic systems which are much safer health-wise and very efficient. You can poop in one end of a properly sized bog septic system and drink out the other.

Bogs, wet lands, marshes are wonderful natural ways to clean water.

IÂm doing some research right now using sewage sludge

Here is a photo taken of the same bog today. You should be able to see the size change. The little bog on the left was the first, when it worked so well I put in the larger one to the right.

OK, You've got me convinced! I have some really dry areas in the yard and I'm putting in a bog! Now all I have to do is convince the rest of the family to help!! I'm thinking if I can find a pre-formed pond that would be easier than using the pond liner plastic? There was a huge Silver Maple tree next to the area I'm thinking about but the city took it down last fall (Hooray!) I'm going to have to see about using the grey water, all my plumbing is on the west side of the house, which is only a foot from the property line and the gardens are all on the east. Our house was built before there were rules about how close you can buld to the line. Any suggestions how to snake the water all the way over? There isn't too much grade but the yard is a bit higher on the east side.

I have started watering with laundry water so hopefully my hostas will make it through the drought. Unfortunately, I do not have any sort of pumping system. I am filling buckets from the washer and hauling them to the hosta bed. At least I get some exercise!

Get an aquarium pump and a length of hose, start the pump to prime the line then let it siphon out. That is what I do to the tub then move the water to the shower that is plumbed outside. Maybe run the hose out the dryer vent, hang it out a window.

Please donÂt get a prefab pond, they break and no easy way to fix them and it is hard to seat them. A pond liner will give a bit if the ground changes.

You donÂt have to go very deep (9-10"), no deeper than you would plant then use treated lumber for the wall then build up above like a mound or berm.

Email me and IÂll walk you thru, maybe take photos of the project to show us all. I didnÂt have a camera when I did mine.

Wilddog_202@yahoo.com

or call 502-594-8363

In the end however you water will reduce the amount needed.

Just remembered I had a photo of the front bog with washer water showing the suds from the clothes washer.

I like how you've got the rocks there, it looks great. I wonder if evergreen shrubs would do OK with the grey water. I have them under a big walnut tree and it's very dry. They are so much closer to the laundry and we have a sump pump hole close to the washer and I could drain the washer into the sump hole and let the pump bring it out. I wonder if detergent would do anything to the pump? My problem with getting the water to where I want to make the bog is that it has to travel over 100 feet and cross the driveway to get to the corner of the yard! Now you've got me thinking I should rip out the evergreens, build a bog, and then have another big hosta garden that I'd have to get hosta for!

As soon as you start to try to utilize grey water you will find ways to do it.

I have convinced my husband to help me rig the washing machine so it runs out the window into a garbage can. The garbage can is on wheels so I can roll it around the yard and water with a bucket. This is a huge improvement over my previous scooping out of the washer. Maybe over the winter I can talk him into building me a bog. Thanks so much for the detailed instructions.

Thanks so much for the detailed instructions."
coralb

Good luck you will never be sorry and be proud to use the gray water. I've wondered if the combination of soap and peterlizer is pretty good food.

My grandfathers words ring in my ears, "waste not want not".