so good luck and happy wastewater
harvesting
[Music]
plants and biologically active soil can
clean dirty water it's as simple as that
people are dying and ecosystems are
being ruined by poor sanitation and lack
of water treatment yet this is just one
of the easiest things to fix when we
collaborate with nature
we're talking about gray water which is
the slightly dirty water from showers
laundry and sinks
and we're talking about black water
which is water from toilets and other
really dirty uses so
let's start by looking at wetland plants
so the root systems of wetland plants
are like giant
festivals of microorganisms like
bacteria and fungi
this massive microorganism party can
actually biodegrade most minor
pollutants breaking them down into
harmless elements the microorganisms are
partying on the roots and the roots form
this map it becomes a living filter
trapping sediment and supplying food and
drink
for the festival of life so in addition
to this root filter
some wetland plants can actually absorb
heavy metals from the water up into
their tissues so the goal of any wetland
water treatment system is to create the
maximum amount of contact between the
dirty water
and the roots of a diversity of plant
species so the very simplest version of
how this concept is used in wastewater
treatment is the constructed wetlands so
in this example
wastewater flows into this gravel filled
basin that's planted with
wetland plant species and is lined on
the bottom with either plastic or cement
or some other material so the water
doesn't seep into the ground but stays
in this container here
so the water flows underneath the gravel
level so dirty water is never exposed to
the air
now you can also place some sort of
baffles in the system so the water is
forced to move
up and down through the system
ensuring maximum contact with the plant
roots and then at the end of the system
much cleaner water emerges after its
time flowing through this big plant
filter
so it's super basic just a liner gravel
pipes and plants
and it's all about maximizing the
contact between the water
and the plant roots
to get the effect of this awesome party
that goes on with the microorganisms on
the plant roots now another really cool
system is known as a living machine or
an eco machine which is used to treat
black water in this version of wetland
water treatment the water flows through
a series of tanks so for black water it
would start in a septic tank to settle
out the solids
now this is an opportunity to collect
biogas to fuel your kitchen as well but
then from here the water would go into
another anaerobic tank meaning a tank
with no oxygen which helps to further
digest the sludge material
so from the anaerobic environment we
would then radically change the
environment of the water and flow it
into a tank full of plants where oxygen
is actually pumped in so there's lots of
biological activity in the water and the
water would get to filter through all of
those awesome plant roots like we were
talking about here with the party
so the water flows
into the bottom and then out the top of
each successive tank where oxygen is
pumped in and where all sorts of aquatic
plants and animals live
so essentially the water is being forced
through
a super biologically active filter and
is cleaned along the way now
the size of the system depends on how
much water is being treated and how many
days of treatment it needs to clean the
water
so if each of these tanks equals the
quantity of water that goes into the
system each day then the day would
receive one two three four
five days of treatment as the water
moves through the entire system from
beginning to end so
it's really this simple
biological activity breaks down wastes
and absorbs excess nutrients there are
many many different configurations of
these types of systems so please see the
resources provided in the video
description down below for lots lots
more here is some footage of a gorgeous
living wastewater treatment wetland i've
visited in india and this system handles
all of the water from a hotel complex
including toilets
so the dirtiest household waste can be
treated with plants and oxygen
but it's even simpler when we're
treating the barely dirty water coming
from showers and laundry so let's check
out some gray water systems
[Music]
so all we need to treat most gray water
is for the water to contact biologically
active soil now the cleanest and most
diluted gray water in our homes with the
highest volume typically comes from the
shower bath and laundry
the kitchen and bathroom sinks actually
have pretty concentrated pollutants and
may require a grease trap so they're not
really the easiest sources of gray water
to recycle and may be better categorized
as black water now you need to consider
what products you're using that are
going down your drain and into your gray
water system
there are biodegradable cleaning
products and bath products and there are
also
bio-compatible products this means that
there are products that will break down
biodegradable
but aren't necessarily good for plant
growth like those containing a lot of
sodium which is salt
now biocompatible products actually
break down into elements that are
beneficial for plant growth
check the video description for a link
to a suggested brand
here's my laundry system thriving with
luscious plants and you can see on the
back of my laundry detergent it
specifies that it's gray water safe
there are so many different variations
on gray water systems but my very
favorite is the branch drain gray water
system that was created by a guy named
art ludwig and check the description
below for a link now the gray water is
split from its source into various
outlet points and each outlet pipe flows
into a bucket
with the bottom cut out and holes
drilled into it so the bucket is
surrounded by wood chips or other coarse
mulch and has a tile on top so all this
is happening underground
the water spills out of the pipe and has
a free fall to the bottom of the bucket
so there's no contact between the pipe
and the soil
this is super important because one of
the main risks for your system is having
roots clog your pipe up so the water
spills into this chamber and then it
soaks into the wood chips which act as a
sponge now around the wood chips are
planted perennial plants like trees
whose roots find their way into the wood
chip sponge and have a continual supply
of water every time you take a bath now
the wood chips buffer the hot water and
the whole area becomes super
biologically active with the gray water
soil and wood chips now eventually these
wood chips will break down into soil and
all that biology cleans and feeds on the
dirt from your shower and an oasis of
luxuriant perennial plants grow as a
result and it all stays underground so
there's no possible contact between
people or animals and the dirty water
and you can remove the tile to check on
the system and make sure it's all
flowing nicely
so that is just one super simple example
and like i said there are hundreds of
variants but the basic principles are
the same
clean the water with biologically active
soil and plants
moderate what you put down the drain
use woody perennials around the system
avoid root infiltration by having air
gaps and keep it all underground so
there's no human contact and here's one
more
don't do this in the ground if you have
a shallow water table you need good soil
drainage to keep the gray water below
the surface so good luck and happy waste
water harvesting
[Music]