Cohousing-L Mailing List: Greywater Reuse

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Joel Plotkin <joel.plotkin [at] sunyit.edu>
is the author of the message below.
It was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
since it was in html format only.
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Listfriends:

Hundredfold Farm, in Orrtanna, PA, is recycling our blackwater (what comes
out of the house through all orifices), sending it through grinder pumps
to collection tanks where it is then filtered through an artificial
wetland (in a greenhouse) and returned to the house as flush water
(separate plumbing system). Any recycled water that is not used by the 14
households can be sent out to a drip irrigation system that will feed some
permaculture patches, some Christmas trees, and perhaps perennial gardens.

Once we have a record of dependability for the system, we hope that Pennsy
Dept. of Environmental Protection will allow us to use the water for
landscape irrigation.. This technology is well-established; Sidwell
Friends School in Wash, DC, for example, is using a similar system, but
with an outdoor filtration garden. Our Water Engineer is Mike Savoda from
Pittsburgh area.

Joel Plotkin

Hundredfold Farm

Orrtanna, PA