Grey Water Recycling Systems

£650k boost to train unemployed in low carbon jobs

Bedford College is leading on a regional push to offer free training to the unemployed so they can seek careers in one of the few growing areas - ‘green’ jobs. Recent Government initiatives have seen a real push towards promoting sustainable businesses by encouraging them to think about reducing waste, saving money and taking advantage of new business opportunities within the new low carbon economic sectors.

The project runs until December 2011 with free courses running throughout the year. If you would like further information about courses you would like to attend, or if you are a company wishing to find out how you may be able to benefit or contribute, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.greenbedfordcollege.com

The project is delivered by several training centres including Bedford College, City College Norwich, Colchester Institute, Lowestoft College, Oakland College (St Albans), Peterborough Regional College, West Suffolk College (Bury St Edmunds). Courses are free and easy to enrol on. The length of courses vary from one day to two weeks.

Courses include Awards in environmental and sustainable development, renewable electricity (photovoltaic systems, micro wind, etc), renewable heat (solar thermal, air & ground source heat pumps, wood chip burners, combined heat & power, underfloor heating, etc), water conservation (rainwater harvesting, grey water recycling), waste management, and other business related skills.

Award winning home builder for Mooresville NC, DV Wise Inc | DV Wise

According to EPA estimates, nearly 50% of the clean, potable water delivered for use inside an average home in the U.S. goes down the drain from sinks, showers, and washing machines. So finding a way to put this “lightly used” household wastewater—otherwise known as greywater—to work flushing toilets and irrigating landscaping could cut a home’s consumption in half.

Plumbers in Europe, Canada, Japan, and Australia are already as familiar with installing greywater systems as they are bathtubs and kitchen sinks. But here in the United States, the adoption of on-site water recycling has only just gotten started. And as more cities and states explore and open up to greywater systems, the technology and the technicians to install it are becoming more available and affordable. Still, we’re a long way from common practice.

SHADES OF GREY

In broad strokes, greywater recycling systems come in three categories of complexity and cost: Untreated greywater used for deep-water (i.e., root-level) ornamental landscaping; filtered greywater to water landscape including vegetable gardens; and treated greywater for most non-potable uses such as flushing toilets.

Untreated Greywater Systems. The simplest and least expensive systems separate and drain greywater from sources such as the washing machine and shower, and then, using gravity, pipe this raw greywater to deep-water ornamental shrubs and trees. In some municipalities, such as San Francisco, a homeowner can install a small, simple greywater system (single-fixture and/or clothes-washer systems) without a permit. Many homeowners concerned with water consumption simply discharge washing machine or shower drains straight into garden troughs, but there exist legitimate public health concerns with surface application of raw greywater, especially on edible plants. For one, greywater can still contain organic compounds, such as fecal matter from soiled clothing, diapers, or bathing. Greywater can also contain high levels of phosphorus, good for the garden, but not rivers and lakes.

Therefore, most jurisdictions that permit the recycling of untreated greywater require it piped and disposed of below the frost line to deep-water ornamental trees and shrubs. All jurisdictions prohibit the storage of raw greywater; after 24 to 48 hours of fermentation it becomes septic blackwater. This lack of storage limits the practical application of untreated greywater as production and consumption do not always match. But a raw greywater system can cost under $300 in materials to plumb, so consequently many thousands of simple washing-machine-to-watering-can systems exist, some legal, most not.

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