Conserving water

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
I am in process of brain-storming on ideas to use my old tank water to irrigate my yard plants/grass. Does anybody do this now? If so, can you describe the setup and post pics, please. Also, I need to find a pump that will handle back pressure of running a drip or sprinkler system. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Steve

Hi Steve:

I do this for my potted plants. I find the fish water is extremely strong. The given dosage of NPK is more than those liquid ferts that are in the bottles in a garden nursery (unless, however, I have very sensitive plants). The results is wonderful. I have to dilute the fish water with fresh water in order for my plants' leaves not to burn.

hth (partially). :D I haven't tried it for the plant beds as yet (as I have tender small plants not really ready for ferts as yet).

**Angie**

[xen]

Hey there Steve,

I use waste water from my tanks to fill watering cans, and water my plants with it.

The plants just freaking love it. They've been growing like the clappers.

Fish poo is great plant fertilizer. I don't have any kind of automated system, but it seems to work well manually.

Cheers!
John

[GulfCoastDiscus]

I'm an avid gardener and I use to just let the wastewater run into the yard but with so much daily water changes, you have to make sure to move the hose in different areas of the yard to prevent flooding.
I thought about burying a pvc with lots of holes like those use on sceptic tanks but too much work to dig. I guess it'll work in the long run and illiminate puddling in one area. Just a thought.

Dan

[yogi]

I live in south Florida where it never gets cold. I have holes drilled thru the wall in two different spots. I have three tanks hooked up to each hole by hoses behind the tanks. To do a water change I just turn a valve on the back of the tank. On the outside of my house I have a removable hose on each hole. I just move it around to water my lawn in different places. My system works on gravity.

[jaydoc]

Do you have room for a large holding tank in the basement? You could plumb your water to drain into the holding tank. Plumb a pump to a hose spigot (the kind that is frost free) through the basement ceiling to the outside of the house. Hook a hose and a sprinkler to this. Put the pump on a sump type sensor so that it shuts off if the water is too low. Put an overflow pipe plumbed into the house plumbing drain so that it won't overflow and flood. Wire the switch circuit to the pump up to a switch by the outside faucet. A little expensive but should work with minimal maintainance. Jehmco probably has the sump switch, holding tank, etc.
Cary the lesser

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
Thanks for the input, guys! What I want to set up is a system such that I pump my tank waste water to a 50 gal barrel(up on a short riser pedestal) with a pump directly underneath it. I would then put a ball valve on the outflow of the pump and have it be able to hook up either a drip network hose or a hose to a sprinkler to water my lawn. I will need a pump that can handle backpressures well, though. I think this will cut down on a good portion of my watering expense, especially in summer here. We are also almost at "Drought emergency" level in Lake Mead, so I am trying to come up with some good innovations. Here is one way I will be combatting the harsh summers here ;D


http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?s=%20%201847486


Steve

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
Cary, I just saw your post and that sounds like an excellent idea, but only one small problem............What's a basement ;D I could only wish i had one, 'cause then I'd have a nice fishroom ;) I'm gonna try to do a concept such as you mentioned from the side of my garage using gravity to feed the pump and a cutoff switch. Thanks for the ideas.

Steve

[RandalB]

Steve,
I run my water out with a Delivery/Demand Pump (Aquatec 550 Series) it's designed to built pressure to 60 PSI so it would run your sprinklers no problem. It also has a built in pressure switch that shuts it down when pressure reaches 60PSI. A very powerful pump, it primes itself through 20'+ of Garden Hose and does 5 GPM @60 PSI. In your instance, you would put it inline under the storage tank and use a ball valve to shut it down.

Give me an Email or IM and I'll give you pricing/details about it. I just passed one on to Al.

RandalB

[Denny]

I have the waste line from my RO and my drain lines from the tanks dropping into my sump reservoir.There is a sump pump in there with a float switch so when it gets to a certain level, it kicks on and pumps the water out to the grass in the yard. my grass is the greenest on the block ;D.

If you have no basement you can drain into a container with a sump pump in it and run the sump hose out to the yard where you want it.

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
Now we're talkin ! Randal, you have mail. Randal & Denny, do y'all have a pic of your setups? I think it would be good to see them for ideas of DIY ;D Thanks for the input all......Keep the ideas comin!



Steve

[yogi]

Im in the same situation as you. I also don't have a basement, but my garage makes a great fishroom.