Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – The Watering Edition

Reducing freshwater usage around the home can not only decrease your household water bill and also impact the wider community.

On average, around 40% of household water is used for outdoor purposes, so it is vital that we all play a part in reusing and recycling our domestic water. Reducing freshwater usage around the home can significantly decrease household water bills and also has a broader community benefit by reducing demands on public water supply.

The Black and White on Greywater

Greywater is household wastewater that comes from any indoor application like baths, showers, sinks. Recycling your household greywater is a brilliant way to impact the environment and reduce your water bill. Greywater may contain traces of dirt, food, grease or household cleaning products but are a safe option and great source of irrigation water for your garden.

The easiest way to use greywater is to divert it outside directly from the source. Nylex has a range of products that can help with these simple greywater diversion systems and they are very easy to install.

The most common device for diverting greywater is the trusty washing machine. Using your washing machine outlet tap, you just need a diversion hose, an adapter to connect it to the washing machine outlet pipe and a dispersion hose. These hoses and adapters come in different sizes to suit your specific laundry set up.

Once you’ve connected the diversion hoses to your washing machine, add a dispersion hose and position it in your garden. The small holes in the dispersion hose help to distribute the water out evenly and prevent pools of greywater forming. You can put the dispersion hose on lawns, around fruit trees, or in garden beds, and move it around depending on your plants water needs.

Do’s and Don’ts of using greywater:

Don’t store greywater for longer than 24 hours otherwise harmful bacteria may form.

• Do cover the dispersion hose with mulch in the garden
• Do be conscious of selecting ‘green’ household products and detergents
• Do use greywater on water vegetable gardens, just make sure it doesn’t touch the edible parts of the plants.

See our range of greywater hoses and accessories for more information.

Think Lilac for your Recycled Water

Australians have embraced water sustainability around the home and each year recycled water practices are increasing, becoming part of everyday domestic life.

If recycled water is available from your local water authority, it will be connected through separate plumbing. Australian standards are in place that require all recycled water taps must be lilac in colour and have a ‘DO NOT DRINK: RECYCLED WATER’ warning sign. Recycled water is not safe to drink BUT it is perfect for watering lawns and gardens including fruit and vegetable plants.

Nylex has introduced a range of watering accessories in the recycled water lilac colour to be used with recycled water outlets to indicate recycled water is in use. Using lilac watering accessories for your recycled water helps avoid confusion from family members and visitors about which water points are safe for drinking and outdoor water play. The range of watering accessories includes hoses, sprinklers and spray guns that can also be used with mains water.

See our range of recycled watering accessories for more information.