Grey water filter

You may, or may not, know that we are so off grid that we only have the supply of municipal water.  And, not the best water at that.  But, it is drinkable, so mustn't complain... :)  And that, together with our rain water tanks should stand us in good stead for our human requirements.

The ramifications though, are that our "waste water" is our responsibility.  The black water goes into a large septic tank, and, providing that I feed the tank with "good bacteria" every month, all should be well.

But we didn't want our grey water (water from our shower, bathroom basin and kitchen sink) unnecessarily filling our septic tank.

So, we have installed plumbing to take the grey water to a "pond" ( in inverted comma's as it's a work in progress...:)  )

The "pond" in the foreground - not such a pleasant
view or experience

Initially, with the chaos of builders, building, mess and confusion, the water just ran to the "pond".  But the "pond" wasn't looking so good - in fact it was not pleasing at all.  Distinctly unappealing even to the bird life.  A direct result of all the inevitable kitchen grease and minute scraps of food which were being flushed down the drain.  So I put on my thinking cap and came up with this solution...

The higher hole was inserted on the side of the
kitchen sink pipe, and the lower hole is for
the pipe to the pond 

I purchased a 20lt black box, drilled two holes - one in the top at the end for the "in pipe" and one in the lower end for the "out pipe.  Then the "in pipe" and the "out pipe" got siliconed in place and fitted to our kitchen waste pipes.

Vermin proof lid on the grey water
filter box

It comes with a secure lid, so that will also deter vermin.

Larger filter stones layer the base of
the black box

Then, with RMan's assistance, I placed a layer of larger stones in the base of the box.

Smaller filter stones were laid on top of
the larger stone

On top of that we placed a layer of smaller stones.

A couple of layers of shade cloth
to hold the sand

On top of the stone I lay some shade cloth...

A layer of clean sand

... and filled the shade cloth with sand.

Test run...

As the water enters the box from the kitchen basin in lands on the sand and it then has to filter down through the sand, and the two different layers of stone before exiting the box and continuing on it's merry way to the "pond". A couple of days later I inspected the set-up to ensure that it was working correctly.  What I found was tiny scraps of food covering the top of the sand layer.  With my fertile imagination I envisaged a thriving community of nastiness, including a nasty smelly result, developing within a short space of time.

HA!

I had another plan.  We all know that washing machines like to chew just one of a pair of socks.  And that one invariably has the odd-sock-out lingering in the hopes that it's mate will surface somewhere.

Leftover socks that the washing machine
didn't fancy...

I decided enough was enough - I mean we had schlepped these odd socks all the way from our town house, and I still couldn't find it's mate.  So, it was time to put those socks to another good use...

Yup - they were put to good use
as an additional filter

Fixing it on to the end of the inlet pipe, I now have all those scraps being caught in the sock, instead of landing on the sand in the box.  An extra filter so to speak.

It works a treat :)

Yeah, cleaning out the sock on a weekly basis entails shoving on a pair of rubber gloves, but hey, I brought two babies into this world, and a greasy slimy sock is nothing compared to what they delivered on the odd occasion in their first few months of life...LOL

But, most importantly, the water that is heading for the pond is clean (er), and it doesn't smell anymore, and that result is worth a couple of minutes every 7 - 10 days in order to complete the unpleasant task of cleaning the sock...

Clean water - it works :)

We have a saying in this country - "a Boer maak a plan" (a farmer makes a plan).  McGyver - eat your heart out - or should that be "Thanks McGyver - I did learn something from watching your programme all those years ago..." :)

The plants are loving it :)

The plants in the pond are thriving - need I say any more...?