Bucket System for bathwater | Greywater Action

Hello –

I currently pump the bathwater into a 5 gallon bucket and then take it out to 10 gallon buckets that are placed by trees in our yard. The 10 gallon buckets have a small hole in the bottom that slowly drains the water; “drip irrigation” of sorts. But as you can imagine there’s a layer of green scum that develops. (We use environmentally safe soap so it’s just from hair/skin/etc).

My thinking on the “redesign” is to install 3/4″-1/4″ compression fitting (with screen) to the 10 gallon and then run a 1/4″ irrigation tubing to a drip emitter that is ~1″ above the dirt but surrounded by mulch for retention. This way the water slowly drips out, which is partly important since our soil is VERY hard and dry and it’s very easy for the water to runoff if it pours too quickly.

My #1 question is: How do I ensure that the green scum doesn’t clog up the tubing and/or emitter? Do I need to put a layer of sand and/or gravel in the 10 gallon or would the screen in the compression fitting be enough?

Greywater reuse- general drip irrigation bathwater bucket

Joe Billick asked 2 years ago

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Answers (2)

Hi Laura – Thank you!

So basically what you’re proposing is to skip the 10 gallon bucket entirely and instead dig a comparably sized hole by the tree and fill it with mulch? If so, the basin could be more like a shallow trench around the tree or smaller hole that is deep, correct?

Finally, it sounds like the screen in the compression fitting wouldn’t do anything, right?

Thank you again!

Joe Billick answered 2 years ago

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Hi Joe,

To answer your questions:

My #1 question is: How do I ensure that the green scum doesn’t clog up the tubing and/or emitter?

The emitter will clog. I would look into an alternative redesign idea.

Do I need to put a layer of sand and/or gravel in the 10 gallon or would the screen in the compression fitting be enough?

You could do this but then the layer of sand/gravel would clog over time, which you could clean out, but it would take extra maintenance.

An alternative design would be to dig an in-ground mulch basin near the tree. ( This would help spread out the water and give it time to sink into your hard soil. The mulch will filter the greywater to prevent clogging in the soil and the organic material that is causing the green scum will decompose in the basin.