Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

Tip: Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

We save our bathtub water and run it through a pipe into barrels under the deck. We then hook up our pump to hoses and water our garden with the recycled water. The deer do not like the soapy water!

By denowolfes from Talbott, TN

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RE: Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

Great Job! Bet you spend many happy hours in your garden. GG Vi (06/06/2010)

By Great Granny Vi

Tip: Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

A great tip for water drought areas. When taking a bath, save the water! Plants love the soap to kill off insects and salts for the nutritional value. We drink tea, soft drinks, milk, etc. and save those containers. After your bath, emptying your kids pool, after boiling potatoes, corn, eggs etc. let the water cool down. Then water your plants. I will get about 12 gallons from one bath. Why let it go down the drain? Use it on your flowers or veggies. Reuse your dishpan water also. When you get in the habit of doing this you would be amazed on how much would have gone to waste down the drain.

By Doreen from Bartow, FL

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RE: Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

Put a bucket under the faucet when waiting for shower water to warm up. This is fresh water that would be wasted. Now you can use it anywhere. (06/06/2009)

By Mama2one

RE: Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

I also use the grey-water from baths to flush our toilet. I just fill a bucket to use later when we need it. (06/06/2009)

By susanmajp

RE: Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

I keep a bucket on the kitchen floor to dump the water I used to rinse rice, wash vegetables, etc. I probably get a bucket full of what I call green water once a day during the week, and more on the weekends. (07/31/2009)

By MarieClaire

RE: Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

We do this, too, and we've been able to siphon the bath water using a garden hose. This only works if your tub is higher than your garden area, though. Other things we do to save water:

1. Use the water from boiling/steaming veggies (plants love the nutrients and we actually drink it, too, cause it's full of minerals).

2. When I wash lettuce in my spinner, I use the rinse water for my plants as well.

3. We installed downspouts in our gutters to drain into 60 gal barrels which we use for watering flower beds. (Wish we could have gotten 200 gal barrels!)

Here in northern NM, some people build their homes to reuse the "gray water" from kitchen sinks, bathtubs, washing machines, and they save tons of well water in this way. (08/13/2009)

By emanuelli

RE: Recycle Waste Water in Your Garden

Would it be OK for my garden if I used the bath water after my kids' bath? We bathe our girls together to save on water but wondered if the soap in the water would be hard on the plants? If not, that would be a great use for the garden.

You can also reuse these types of water to help flush toilets to save water. (08/13/2009)

By emhauss