Recycling grey water



Old toy box used for catching water whilst I showered.

  Hi Everyone,

I know some of you will go on and on about pathogen and other issues, but those of us who remember previous droughts, hose pipe bans and the water being turned off for hours of the day, remember putting our bath water on our veggie patches and we didn't die!!! But then again, we ate lard, didn't use sunblock, ate red meat, rode out bikes without helmets, let the kids go anywhere and do any thing, kids amused themselves, there were no sell by or use by dates, we didn't wash so often, we didn't have glossy daily washed, we occasionally smelt a bit sweaty, we bought veggies with dirt on them, we cut the mould off the cheese and ate the cheese, the same with the bread and you know what, we didn't die!

My mother used to have a Hotpoint top loader and she used to stop it and start it on a pumping out the water cycle into an old galvanised bin, then she used to bucket the water into watering cans and water the veggie garden. Our garden grew fruit and veg and the lawn was allowed to brown and die. When we had  shared baths, one out and the next one in the same water; the water was scooped out in buckets and onto the garden. We used to have a scum on that water by the time the last one came out. We didn't bath every day, in fact weekly, with a strip wash in between. Hair was washed over the kitchen sink on a Sunday night and dried in front of the Rayburn which was lit to get the water hot. In the summer time, when it was too hot for the Rayburn to be lit, we used a Calor gas cooker in the 'back kitchen'. The 'front kitchen' was actually the dining room and 'front room' rolled into one. In the winter, we lived in there. Washing lines ran from one side of the room to the other and we would often sit down to dinner, with dad's Y-Fronts over our heads! My mum would just die if she knew I was telling you all this! Fortunately, even though she's been to the over 60's classes at the library, she can't quite fathom the internet and has no home access to it.

As my water butt is all but empty, and I'm being careful with money so haven't bought any more yet. I'm reusing all the water. I put a bowl under every tap in the house. The downstairs loo, the upstairs bathroom and the kitchen sink. Every time we run the tap, or wash out a cup, I save the water. I then allow it to cool and pour it into watering cans and water the garden. Today, we started doing that with our shower water.

The results of a five minute shower, we are far too frugal to even own a power shower, and this filled two watering cans. We both saved and reused our shower water this morning.

 I use the kids' old toy boxes to stack laundry in. Today,we stood in them as we each had out shower. We actually used two watering cans each when we had out showers. After showering, we tipped the water into the watering cans, allowed them to cool and then watered the garden. I have planted Foxgloves and have split and transplanted phormiums and they need a lot of water until the roots establish themselves. The hanging baskets also need watering every day and they too had some shower water.





I thought I would show the view through my living room window. The house is south facing, with huge picture windows on the south side and the dogs laze on the sofa at the back window to stay away from the heat. By eight this morning, the garden was already being baked and Bob and Scruff had already taken up residence in the shade.

My love and prayers to all of you this Easter, and I'll see you all again tomorrow,

Froogs xxxxx

"Jesus took my place on the cross to give me a place in heaven."