Protecting the Environment in Small Ways: Tips for Everyone

Recycling your home's wastewater may not seem like a good idea, as of course you don't want to be drinking or bathing with unclean water. However, a wastewater recycling system for your home doesn't just circulate all the water that comes out of the taps or that is used for the toilets, but ensures you have clean, fresh water for drinking and bathing and then reuses water from certain areas for other applications.

If you're unsure of how a home wastewater recycling system works, note the following. This can help you to decide if such a system is the right choice for you:

1. Understanding greywater

When you turn on your faucets or showers in your home, you are getting fresh water from your city or from your private well. Once this water goes down the drain, it is then called greywater. Greywater will have residue from the soaps and shampoo you might use when washing dishes or bathing, and so of course it's not safe to drink.

However, this greywater is fine for use in flushing your home's toilet. Consider the fact that you actually use fresh water for the home's toilets, and this is a waste of this natural resource. A home's recycling system will work to funnel this greywater from the sinks and shower into a reserve for filling the toilet tank. In turn, you are not using fresh water every time you flush the toilet, saving this natural resource and also saving you on the cost of bringing fresh water into the home with each flush.

2. Filtering greywater

Most home wastewater recycling systems will work as mentioned above, being attached to drains so that greywater is directed to the toilets. Some, however, are even more sophisticated than this, and they will work to filter greywater so that it can be used for other applications. While these filters are not typically strong enough to create clean water for bathing and drinking, they can filter greywater enough so that it can be used for watering lawns and gardens, for washing your car, and so on.

Without this filtration system, greywater would have too much residue for these uses and it would be unhealthy for vegetation and leave a residue on your car, or not be clean enough to use for washing your home or outside deck. After being filtered it can be used for these types of applications; this too can reduce the amount of fresh water you use for miscellaneous tasks where fresh water is not needed, but true greywater may not be clean enough.

To learn more, contact a company like Econocycle with any questions you have.