A Homemade Filter For Gray Water

Gray water is composed of recycled household water.

In urban areas, watering with gray water is a way to conserve water and still water your plants and garden vegetables. Gray water is water recycled from dishes or laundry. One of the major drawbacks of watering plants with gray water is that the water contains salt and other contaminates from detergents. Over time, these contaminates can build up in the soil and can cause a decline in the health of the plants placed in the soil. One way to remove the contaminates from gray water is to pour it through a filter.

Things You'll Need

• Concrete blocks
• Rain barrel
• Clean cotton cloth
• Washed sand
• Gravel
• Activated charcoal

Instructions

1. Put a rain barrel on top of concrete blocks. Place a piece of clean cotton cloth in the bottom of a rain barrel.

2. Fill the barrel 1/3 full of clean gravel.

3. Pour washed sand over the gravel until the barrel is 2/3 full.

4. Fill the barrel to within 1 inch of the rim with activated charcoal. Cover the charcoal with another strip of clean cotton cloth.

5. Pour the gray water into the top of the barrel from a bucket. Allow the water to filter through the barrel. Open the faucet at the bottom of the barrel and allow cleaned gray water to drain into the bucket for watering.

References

• Colorado State University Extension: Graywater Reuse and Rainwater Harvesting
• Washington State University Extension: The Myth of Hot-Weather Watering
• Shared Source Initative: Building a Small Slow Sand Water Filter for Individual Use

Resources

• The Rainwater Barrel:Turning Rain Water Into Potable Water?