You know, I thought about that but any standing water is mosquito breeding grounds and we already have enough of that. I wonder if I couldn't just cover it up. I could just run a hose from the pipe directly to the garden and then just move the hose every day. I could water with enough fresh water to dilute the biodegradable soaps.
Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.
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The mosquito issue could easily be solved with some screen or lid. Of course the method Rick showed is about as "automatic" as you can get.
Oh found something perfect. http://www.reuk.co.uk/Sand-Filters-for-Greywater.htm Check out the "Slow sand filter".
Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.
Alaska, the Madness! Bloggity Stories of the North Country
"Building Codes, Alaskans don't need no stinking Building Codes." Sourdough
Yes, I have wifi in my outhouse!
I think the drawing is incorrect though probably just meant as an example. The inflow water would have to be higher than the outlet in order for the water to flow. In that drawing no water would be forced out of the outlet. Someone correct me if they think I'm wrong. What that means for you is that a filter like that would have to be lower in elevation than your drain (easy) but higher in elevation than your garden. I don't know if you have that much incline and distance to make that work.
I was thinking something simple like this for a sand trap. You could use 2X12 maybe six feet long placed on edge. Line the bottom with plastic to keep the water from soaking into the ground. It wouldn't have to be too wide. If it were 2 feet wide that would give you 12 cubic feet of sand (2X12) to filter the water.
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That looks perfect Ric. I was thinking of just using a 5 gallon bucket placed under the drain. I was going to use sticks as you suggested to soften the flow. Gravel at the bottom, 3/4 full of sand, then putting a drain coming from the bottom side and running a hose from that to the garden. There is plenty of incline for gravity feed. Also, if it over flows (not too likely) it will just run into the gravel pad as all the water does anyways.
My only problem is that I think I would prefer a bigger bucket so your idea of a box makes good sense.
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Last edited by crashdive123; 03-21-2014 at 06:50 AM.
Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.
Alaska, the Madness! Bloggity Stories of the North Country
"Building Codes, Alaskans don't need no stinking Building Codes." Sourdough
Yes, I have wifi in my outhouse!
T'Pop-
I figure you have already planted, so I am probably too late, but here a few thoughts on drip systems. You are in one of the best places to use drip because you do not have hard freezes which can tear up drip lines and fittings.
The problem with drip systems is that, although they are heavily advertized for vegetable gardens, in practice this does not work out very well unless you are using the soaker tubing with micropores. The main problem with using the emitters is that they are single point waterers and every time the vegetable garden is replanted plant locations change. Then the emitters have to be moved by pulling out the branch tubes and emitters, patching the feeder line, then plugging the emitter and its branch tube in a new spot. For this reason, drip systems tend to be more feasible when used for watering shrubs and bushes (each of which usually requires multiple emitters or a circle of soaker tube). Using soaker tubing along furrow rows avoids some of this hassle when replanting or second cropping vegetable gardens. Drip irrigation per se is not usually usable for flower beds despite manufacturers' claims to the contrary.
I understand that in your area a lot of water supplies have hard water. If you are supplying a drip irrigation system from municipal water or a well, the hard water build up will clog emitters and the micropores in soaker tubing, sometimes during a single growing season. If your hose bibbs are fed from lines coming via a water softener, then a lot of excess salt is going into the soil -- not good for vegetable gardens, especially if your soil is very alkaline.
Go with Rick's suggestions and harvest your own grey water. I'll bet you can get a lot more water to use in the garden than you might think. Couple this with hill row planting, and you can encourage plants to send down deeper root systems to where water is retained better. Also, no matter what watering system you use, pull weeds often, and use a hand tiller or rake to gently break up the soil in the watering zone around the plants to prevent a crust from forming (actually a form of soil compaction). This crust will slow down water penetration into the sub-surface root zone leading to water loss from evaporation and run-off. Compost worked into the soil before planting, no matter what the soil type, is especially good for drought conditions because it aids in making more of the limited water available to plants. Partner this with mulch as a top dressing after planting and the water needs in the garden decrease, often quite dramatically. Water very early in the morning.
As usual, I am long-winded. PM me if you have more questions on drip irrigating or gardening in arid places and I will try to answer them.
I catch rain in a couple 50 gallon plastic
drums with a hose attachment i made at the bottom
gravity fed it works pretty darn good.that and plannning ahead of time
I catch rain in a couple 50 gallon plastic
drums with a hose attachment i made at the bottom
gravity fed it works pretty darn good.that and plannning ahead of time
I know I'm chiming in a little late, but I wanted to offer up another strategy -- one I'm using now -- ollas. Just buried clay jugs. I made mine from two unglazed terra cotta pots siliconed together, with the bottom hole sealed.
IMG_5754.jpg
The concept is that the water slowly seeps through the pores of the clay, directly to the roots. It makes for an efficient delivery system. I currently have 5 of them installed in my community plot, but I am only using three. Though it's been over 100 every day for months now, I only top them off about every three days, though they could probably go almost a week, I would guess.
I made them a bit too tall. They should be full buried. I couldn't sink them any deeper, because there is hardware cloth at the bottom of the bed. So I piled a lot of dirt on them, to minimize evaporation as much as possible.
And yes, mulch heavily.
1stimestar,
Not sure what your resources are that you have available to you, but a diverter can easily be set up under a sink using PVC components. Since I'm not sure what your particular set up looks like, I can only assume you have a standard J pipe with a trap under your sink. If you're not familiar with the terms, basically you have the pipe that comes straight down from your sink, which then U turns and comes up a few inches (like a "J"), then turns and goes out the wall. Usually inside the wall the pipe will turn again and either run along the wall or straight down. Any pipe going up from there would be a vent pipe (might be a vent/drain combo, but thats against code where I am).
For your needs, you could do a couple of things depending on the space you have. Both of which would include cutting into some of that piping under the sink and installing a "T" fitting and 2 valves. Yes, you can by a single 3 way valve, but those tend to be at least twice the cost of 2 regular PVC valves. Basically, cut into the existing piping either in the first down pipe or just after the trap where the pipe is heading into the wall. Install one valve AFTER the T fitting and one valve off the newly created outlet of the T fitting. Run a new line out the wall. This new line can either feed your dry well or fill a collection barrel. All you would have to do is turn the two valves to adjust which outlet the water takes. I would add another trap to your new line for clean outs and to prevent air from back flowing.
When you want the waste water to flow normally, open the valve after the T fitting and close the grey water valve. It will flow like it does now. Close the waste water and open the gray water and it will divert to your garden/collection point.
I live in CO and its always dry. My family, and I use the Earth Boxes. Also raised beds with a water proof weed tarp all around it.
Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much anyway, is a free audio book by Steve Solomon. I got it at LibriVox. Lots of good info.
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