Is CC Waste water suitable for water my lawn and plants?

Papa John

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It Smells like "Fertilizer" so I would think as long as the 40 volume is minimal It would be ok.?

Due to the Drought-- Im going to experiment with recycling some of our waste water to clean rugs as well-- I've ordered filters and some RO Units to build a "water treatment plant"-- ill be sure to do testing on the water quality.
 
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Your lawn sounds fine as long as it's not poop water...

As for recycled water for rug cleaning I wouldn't do it... Eddie uses rain water then a final rinse with fresh water I believe... That's just nasty to wash rugs in reclaimed water..
 

Old Coastie

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I pump lake water onto my yard. Nothing BUT poop. Fish poop, turtle poop, bird poop and I suspect more than one tourist of contributing.
Lawn loves it. Carpets, well, I wouldn't think so.
 
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Dolly Llama

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It Smells like "Fertilizer" so I would think as long as the 40 volume is minimal It would be ok.?
.

donno what chems you use, John.
i use "normal" ones..Prochem Ultrapac, Powerburst, Dry Slurry and BP Flex
where i drain at home , it's the healthiest, richest, thickest, fullest grass in the lawn

the 40vol used in prespray is miniscule when sucked up and added to the waste water.
It's likely already nearly inert too (all the oxygen released) by the time you're dumping

..L.T.A.
 

Zee

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I dump regularly on my lawn and it grows beautifully... Some nosey (sp?) neighbors need to be told that in fact it's my lawn and none of the water goes into our storm system that drains right downhill into the Pacific Ocean. The waste water even helps my shrubs and flowers..
 
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Papa John

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Thanks Larry for your input.. I use Pro's Choice Ultra TLC, power gel, pro zyme n Last step---So should be ok.
 

Louis

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As long as you don't shop at auto zone for your cleaning supplies your good to go.
 

Wing It

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I too spent years dumping in my yard until I was able to build a system to get it into the sewer. I never saw anything unusual with where I dumped other than $20 once. However, I do feel it's important we do our part and dump conscientiously. I'm not sold on the idea that just because you don't use harsh chemicals it okay for the environment.
 

steve_64

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I wouldnt dump around anything I plan on eating or if I have animals that may eat the grass where I dump.

Long time exposure of dumping in the same spot can contaminate underground springs in some areas. I forget who I contacted now but at my other home I had permission to dump in my yard. The township was giving me a hard time about it even though I had recently tied into city water.
 
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Papa John

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Last time I looked into it, around here that is the law - Ok to dump on ornamentals (lawns, flowers, etc. that are not to eat), but not on food crops.

Dan- I'm going to run some waste water through sediment filters and RO units. Should I put the Pump before are after the Sediment filters? I plan on putting the before the RO units. I May also use sediment tanks to hold bulk waste water before possessing.
 

dgardner

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I think I would put the pump before the filters. If you put it after, as the filters load up they will restrict the pump inlet and possibly cavitate and hurt pump performance.

If you're doing the RO thing, what do you plan to do with the permeate? The membrane will produce as much permeate (waste water) as it makes RO water (or perhaps more depending on the nembrane).
 

Papa John

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I think I would put the pump before the filters. If you put it after, as the filters load up they will restrict the pump inlet and possibly cavitate and hurt pump performance.

If you're doing the RO thing, what do you plan to do with the permeate? The membrane will produce as much permeate (waste water) as it makes RO water (or perhaps more depending on the nembrane).

I also bought a Zero waste RO unit, which feeds the water to either our water heater or other container.. Can the Permeate be reprocessed through the RO unit?
 

dgardner

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You're going to foul the RO membrane pretty often as it is I would think. Recycling the permeate means feeding it water that is more and more contaminated each time it is run through again. I'm not an RO expert but I think your membrane cost would quickly outstrip the small gain from what little extra water you would get.
 

dgardner

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And you're not going to send the permeate from used cleaning solution through your water heater, right? :eekk:
 

jcooper

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If you dump in the yard everyday, at some point it's going to stink even when dry... Mine did.
 
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suitable?, I can't say with my right hand up. But I've been dumping on my lawn since the end of April. Only smells if I've left it in the tank til after dark. My dry ground just soaks it up long before it hits my curb.
 

Spurlington

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You could hook up your pump out to a sprinkler !! Just keep the kiddies out of it !!
 

Papa John

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And you're not going to send the permeate from used cleaning solution through your water heater, right? :eekk:

Hum-- Now that I think about it-- That would be a bad Idea-- thanks Dan for your input.
I think I'll put the Permeate and RO water in different containers because Ill want to do a lot of quality testing.. The RO water will go in our fresh water tanks in the vans.

Do you think I could use the Permeate in our rug wash tub?-- The rugs would be cleaned again with fresh water-- we generally wash rugs 2-4 times anyway. I would think the Permeate is ok to use to water plants.?.

A bush that I watered with waste water yesterday is now Yellow! I think it was green before hand!? But may be it was yellow from lack of water.?- I forget.
I took photos today and I'll be watching to see if the green plants also turn yellow..
 
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The golf course my parents live on used to use recycled water..... They always wondered why the grass was brown and didn't look as lush.... I do see the difference with our waste water and feeding/making the grass/weeds grow faster....
 

dgardner

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Do you think I could use the Permeate in our rug wash tub?-- The rugs would be cleaned again with fresh water-- we generally wash rugs 2-4 times anyway. I would think the Permeate is ok to use to water plants.?.
John I don't think you will want to use the waste water on rugs. On plants? maybe, but you're in uncharted territory, as I know of no one that has tried this. You are basically taking recovered solution and dirt out of your waste tank, then removing half of the water. You still have all the bad stuff (less the really coarse stuff the prefilter gets) - just less water. Think of leaving a full cup of coffee on the counter until half has evaporated. None of the coffee goes away, you just have really strong coffee.

Would the concentrated cleaning agents/scum/who-knows-what help or hurt the plants? No clue....
 

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