With gardening season upon us, it’s time to revisit the “Easy Backyard Graywater System” by Tim Drew from MAKE Volume 13. Everyone has to do laundry, so why not use your laundry water to get a lush garden. Better for the environment and better for your pocketbook. Basically, the prerequisites are that you have to have a proper recycling system and use biodegradable detergent (and not be washing diapers). Tim was retrofitting his basement and moved the laundry machines to the back carport, which was conveniently at a slightly higher elevation than their adjacent garden.
From the article:
“The basic design involves a 2"ABS standpipe that runs down from the washer and connects to a gently sloping horizontal pipe buried under a garden path. At the other end, the water splits and travels a bit farther in 2 directions, then flows out through perforated pots and bark chip mulch, and into the soil beneath some water-loving plants and trees.”
Here’s the left branch and irrigation terminal before Tim buried it:
The irrigation outlet with the cover off:
And Tim’s lovely plants near the irrigation outlet:
Here’s the full article in our Digital Edition so you can get started. Pick up Volume 13 in the Maker Shed for tons more projects, including the Boom Stick, Toy Music Sequencer, a Smart Structure, growing giant pumpkins, raising chickens, tons of magic tricks and props, a car camera mount, internal explosion engine, analog meter clock, and more.
Keep your eyes peeled for Volume 18, due out in mid-May, our DIY Energy issue!
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