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Greywater System - Phase 2

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To be usable through an underground leachfield, the greywater must be filtered. The filtering process will be accomplished by a series of miniature reed beds made in planters. Then gravity will drain the filtered greywater to an undergroud pipe in between two 50FT rows where I grow corn in the summer, and green manure in the winter.

The first Reed Bed is on its way, see pics below. It is 2.5FT*6FT, made of plywood and some recycled wood, with a pong liner. Cedar siding is used for the exterior.

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  [ ReedBed, mock-up (liner not cut yet) ]        [ ReedBed, inlet and outlet ]   Note that the outlet was too low, and was replaced by a higher outlet.

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I am still figuring out the plumbing. Once this is done, the reed bed will be filled with river rocks and perlite, and bog plants will be added. There is room along my South wall for 3 reed beds.

Through-wall connection is now going underground:     [ New Through wall connection ]

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[ ReedBed, with plant ]        [ ReedBed, close-up near inlet ]        [ ReedBed, close-up near outlet ]

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We used the following plants:

• Marsh Marigold
• Rose Queen Iris
• Chameleon
• Lobelia Pacific Beauty
• Corkscrew grass

We will see which ones will survive, and which will thrive, if any.

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Update 1 month later:

• The Irises are OK
• The Corkscrew grass is OK
• The Bamboo I added later is struggling
• The Marsh Marigold completely chocked (lost all leaves) but is coming back
• The Chameleon is doing good
• The Lobelia is doing TERRIFIC!

[ ReedBed in Mid July 2007 ]    [ ReedBed in Mid August2008 ]

The clarity of the greywater is good, with no visible particules:

[ Greywater from Reedbed ]

The water is clear enough to go through an underground perforated pipe. Since I don't have the pipe set yet, the greywater system has being disabled again, and the reedbed is now fed by rainwater.

Disabling the greywater system is easy. The overflow outlet hose is removed, and the black hose from the washing machine is disconnected from the surge tank, and reconnected to the normal connection to the sceptic system.