Create an Oasis with Greywater: Choosing, Building, and Using Greywater Systems, Includes Branched Drains

You can't be self sufficient just on the supply side. You can't say you are self sufficient until you have both sides covered.We've heard a wearying amount of haranguing about the amount of pollution we're expected to be responsible for, when in fact it is the centralized government mandated processing facilities that turns our perfectly good raw fertilizers into waterway poisons. Grey water is especially appropriate for feeding the soils that feed us, yet it's taken from us, chemically burned and dumped where it does not belong, in the limited fresh water supplies, which we are supposed to feel guilty for. We need to take this valuable resource back. How?This book "treats" the "disposal" side by showing you how to close the circle on the disposal end by converting it back into a supply.Just as composting recycles your organic solid wastes back into fertilizer, grey and black water systems do the same for liquid "waste".Grey water, everything that does not come from the toilet, is a separate, and much safer, easier "waste" water to treat and reuse at home versus the nasty black water that cannot be safely used directly on food crops. This title deals with it brilliantly, not only with technical expertise, but also in style, as it shows many stylistic ways the system can be disguised to look like an oasis garden, and even addresses the thorniest problems independence minded people face today, the meddlesome bureaucratic esthetics, health and zoning codes.You need this book, not only to reclaim your valuable nutrient laden effluent, but to reclaim some of your freedom with it!The fertilizer your new system will make is fertilizer you no longer have to buy, nor have to pay to have taken from you.

this is a really good book for many people. he has great ideas for simple and then not so simple projects. he goes into great detail so if you are a do-it-yourselfer i think you could probably use this book as a lone resource for adapting greywater usage to your home. on the flip side of that note, sometimes the detail can make for a more cumbersome read. i partnered this book with a few others - Gaia's Garden a guide to home scale permaculture by Toby Hemenway and Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond volumes 1 and 2 by Brad Lancaster. These are also great books and complement each other. Gaia's garden was an especially quick and fun read for me. If you are serious about utilizing greywater then i would strongly recommend these other books, or similar, as they really give you a good idea of what to actually do with the harvested water once you have it.

This is a really good book and a must read if you want to implement a grey water system. It's packed with good info. I implemented a grey water reuse system after reading it and I'm really happy with it. My current system uses the water from my shower and kitchen sink to irrigate my fruit trees and flower garden. In the summer it gets quite hot and the plants really need the water. I honestly feel so happy when I'm showering knowing I'm watering my plants. When I have to travel and I'm using a regular shower I feel bad because it seems so crazy to waste all that good water. I'm planning to add my washing machine, then I will feel even better. Great book and thanks to the author for sharing all the info in the book.

I borrowed several greywater books from the library and this was by far the best of the lot. I liked it so much I bought a copy for myself after having already read the borrowed copy.This is a great ideas book. It shows you many different styles of greywater systems, including real systems in use. It also gives you enough information to build most of them. It is well written and easy to understand. There are lots of pictures and diagrams. I was particularly impressed with branch drain and with radical plumbing. The one shortcoming is that if you want to build an expensive sprinkler distribution system to water your lawn with greywater the details in this book are inadequate on their own. I get the feeling the author included this type of system reluctantly because he doesn't like the design.If you are planning on adding a greywater system I highly recommend this book.

What is Greywater, you ask? It's the water from washing machines, showers, bathroom sinks. It usually goes down the drain to a septic system or sewer. What a waste of a valuable resource! Art Ludwig shows a multitude of examples with color photographs, of successful re-use of greywater. He gives everything you need to know with photographs every step of the way--piping, bends, flow splitters, etc. with approximate costs and the most common applications. For those ready to install a septic system, there is also a "Green Septic" to process greywater and blackwater (from sinks and toilets! The underground system will eventually water many trees in the landscape. Mr. Ludwig also presents the common errors to avoid duplicating when building your own system! The photos are beautiful. You can do it, too.

Lots of great information, making it relatively accessible for the layperson. A couple oversights: the book makes heavy use of "mulch basins" which is a wonderful concept. But it offers no guidelines for sizing them relative to your output... simply "large enough" which is totally unhelpful. Also it discusses only one plant zone, the one the author lives in. Plants for other climates are given nearly no consideration, nor is there much planning for areas that might freeze (much of the USA and world). Overall it really is a great resource, but could be the gold standard with a little more research (or even pointers on where to find this info).

While the author appears to be based in south-west USA and the examples are from that area, there is no reason why the principles cannot be adapted for use in other parts of the globe. This is a practical book that shows you how to do it. I expect to start using some of the ideas in my own home soon. I have not been water metered yet but it will come and I will be ready. Of course there will always be fools who don't appreciate their blessings (My neighbours fill and empty their large overground swimming pool four times per summer. Emptied straight into the drain.) but that is no excuse to not try and do something oneself. This is the book for the job.

This book is really informative because you could learn about the fundamentals of greywater treatment, the negatives of septic systems, several methods for distributing greywater, plumbing techniques and so on. It's a really good book.

Very good information on greywater systems - building, maintenance, compatible plant information! Blackwater systems construction however with limited information.Good buy!

interesting read. while i feel i may tackle my grey water with more of a passive approach, this book was still quite helpful. i do not regret the purchase.

A brilliant combination of theoretical and practical, outlines many options and suggests when to use them. Whether you are determined to be eco-friendly or just live somewhere without mains drainage, if you want to know what to do your greywater, buy this book!