Читать книгу The Self-Sufficiency Handbook - Alan Bridgewater - Страница 47

Gray water is all of the domestic water from the bath, shower, kitchen, and laundry—in fact, just about any water that is free from feces, urine, or decomposing food matter. Gray water makes up about 50 percent of the total water that we put down the drain. There is no denying that we need to flush the toilet, but we don’t need to do it with top-quality drinking water. If we used gray water to flush our toilets, we would save water and energy on at least two counts: 50 percent of our water costs and 50 percent of our total consumption.

One of the problems with gray water is that it is mostly polluted to some degree with soaps and detergents, which is fine for flushing the toilet, but not so good for putting on the garden. The other difficulty is that gray water soon starts to smell bad.

A simple system for collecting rainwater.

One good, low-cost option is a little bathroom-sink arrangement that fits on top of a low-level toilet system and allows handwashing water to be used to flush the toilet. You use the toilet, flush, and then wash your hands. The next person uses the toilet, uses your washing water to make a flush, and so on. It is a very clever, low-tech solution.