Gray Water for Gardens

Sources

• Gray water can come from a bathroom sink, from a bathtub or shower, or from a washing machine. Water from a kitchen sink---when it contains a high level of organic matter---is considered black water.

Filtering

• Once gray water is removed from the source, it may be filtered to ensure that smell, chemicals and organic matter are removed before using it in a garden. This is especially important for food gardens. The most thorough and natural way to filter gray water is by constructing small wetland filters and planting them with wetland plants.

Considerations

• The longer the water travels through the wetland, the more pure it will be by the time it gets to the garden. Using harsh or toxic chemicals such as bleach in a gray water system and then using that water on plants will injure or kill them.