Greywater on bamboo?

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mountainbamboonut
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Greywater on bamboo?

Post by mountainbamboonut »

Has anyone here successfully grown bamboo with greywater (sinks, showers, dishwasher, laundry) ?

I am plumbing all of my non-toilet lines into a greywater line which I will run out 50 ft. from my house or so. I am curious if anyone has fed their bamboos with a similar setup. I already have one stand of p. vivix that is growing only from well water discharge that I piped over to it. I love the idea of using water that is normally not utilized to grow even more bamboo on my property.

Thanks!
dependable
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Re: Greywater on bamboo?

Post by dependable »

I have not done this, but think it would be OK if there were not too much detergents in the water.

One approach I have seen is they run the grey water though a barrel of sand, this cleans it up quite a bit, you just change the sand once in a while.
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needmore
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Re: Greywater on bamboo?

Post by needmore »

I've been keeping a 5 gal bucket in the shower for a couple of years and using it for plant water and that has been fine, it had shampoo & soap in it We put in a commercial kitchen and I was going to plumb the sink to greywater but the county prohibited it in Indiana. I'm now in Placerville looking for a new place and plan to do the same thing you're thinking. I had 4 varieties planted on top of my septic field in Indiana for 13 years and they were not an issue with that system, nor did they mind the location.
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
ShmuBamboo
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Re: Greywater on bamboo?

Post by ShmuBamboo »

It will work fine if you do not use products like Tide, Borax and chlorine bleach. Also avoid using powdered detergents and switch to liquids to avoid the cheap inert solid bulking agents that they typically add to powdered soaps and detergents. Also avoid products that contain minerals and salts like sodium, chlorine and boron. Sodium + chlorine = table salt, and salts will build up in your soil damaging it. Boron is the main ingredient in Borax. Most soaps and detergents are also high pH and will alkalize your soil more, making it harder for acid loving plants to grow in.

Much of the San Joaquin Valley soil is over-alkalized and has a high salt content from using heavily evaporated alkaline irrigation water or alkaline well water, and the worst areas there are now fallow or can only support low value crops. Most soils in CA tend to be naturally alkaline from the wet winter/dry summer climate, especially in the dryer central and southern areas of CA. You can buy a soil tester to find out what the pH of your soil is, or just plant a hydrangea. If they bloom blue, the soil is acid. If they bloom pink (as most do in CA) the soil is alkaline. You are at fairly high elevation, so I presume you are on the west slope area of the Sierras, so you may have acid or alkaline soil. If it is acid, you are better off for using a grey water system.

Myself and several people that I knew in San Diego that used grey water switched to biodegradable soaps, shampoos and detergents and had no problems. I use the same stuff here with my septic system and it keeps it from filling up with 'soapcrete' (a hard formation of soaps and detergents). The sand filter trap idea is a good one as well. That will keep the hair and lint and other crap from clogging up your grey water lines, especially if you use a drip irrigation system (which I did in Northern California). Bamboos tend to be more tolerant of grey water than some other plants, and they will suck up the NPK nutrients in there like a sponge.

This guy has a comprehensive page on his web site about hooking up a laundry grew water system. It covers things like backflow prevention, freezing, and how to layout a simple system.

http://oasisdesign.net/greywater/laundry/
Happy trails...
Alan_L
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Re: Greywater on bamboo?

Post by Alan_L »

needmore wrote:... I'm now in Placerville looking for a new place...
Somebody needs to update their user location and signature lines! :)

Looking forward to hearing about the new groves Brad!
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needmore
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Re: Greywater on bamboo?

Post by needmore »

Alan_L wrote:
needmore wrote:... I'm now in Placerville looking for a new place...
Somebody needs to update their user location and signature lines! :)

Looking forward to hearing about the new groves Brad!
I'd be updating to a hotel thus far! I ended up flying out here so stopping by to see your garden Alan is at least delayed until the real move, my bamboo is still in Indiana!
Brad Salmon, zone 12B Kea'au, HI
http://www.needmorebamboo.com
Alan_L
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Re: Greywater on bamboo?

Post by Alan_L »

needmore wrote:I'd be updating to a hotel thus far!
We've had people plant bamboos in rental properties and apartments, but I think you'd be the first to plant bamboo at a hotel! :lol:

Good luck in the search for your new home!
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