[permaculture-oceania] RE: Grey water reticulation

[Cameron Little]

Hi Dick & list,
Most of the smaller diameter pipes pipes require a pump to pressurise them
otherwise the emitters - we have been experimenting using drums and
different styles and brands of weeper & dripper hoses with drums as a surge
tank as a project this session here at the Uni of NSW.

We have also been experimenting with them in relation to effectiveness of
watering and distribution patterns of water etc with varying warter loads ie
comparing equivalent volumes of an water efficient front loader, a 'water
efficient' toploader and also the old standard toploader energy/water
monster.

Apparently Netafim produces one of those brown poly pipes with the inbuilt
emitters specifically for greywater and it has a much greater flow through
the emitters than does the standard irrigation piping.  We had been trying
to source all componentry from Bunnings as it would mean that if we could
get it there so could anyone else.  The brown hose they have there is
standard irrigation hose not greywater specific and needless to say none of
the staff we discussed it with at Bunnings knew much about it at all.  Less
than us anyway!

This all becomes particularly important of course when you factor in the
time it takes a wash cylce to go around and dump the next load of water down
the hoses - if the surge tank is not yet empty then it can't take the surge
...

You might like to check out these guys:
http://www.ecomanage.com.au/water_saving_ecopipe.php

They say that their system has a built in root inhibitor which I have not
quite got my head around the implications of that though.  Has anybody else
looked into root inhibitors and things like that?

Regards,
Cameron

Cameron Little
Ecoliving Program Manager
UNSW Ecoliving Centre
14 Arthur St
Randwick  NSW  2031

cameron.little at unsw.edu.au
ecoliving at unsw.edu.au

www.ecoliving.unsw.edu.au

ph.  02 9398 8838
fx.  02 9398 2416
mob. 0414 385 644

CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G