Make Your Wash Water Do Double Duty

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This system works as follows: When the second tank is full, the float is submerged, resting about two-thirds of the way up from the tank's bottom. The pressure on the lever arm shuts off the flow of clean water into the tank. But as the water level drops, the upward pressure on the float and lever arm decreases—to the point where the float drops enough to let the valve open. The lever arm reaches this point just before the tank fitting that leads to the pump would have become exposed.

IT WORKS

We're quite pleased with the way our water- system works; we've had neither break downs nor problems. And our lifestyle hasn't been turned upside down trying to keep water in the system.

In the beginning, we checked the tanks frequently to see how close they were to empty But gradually we learned that several showers, perhaps a bath, and maybe a load of wash per day will keep the tanks full enough to provide all the flush water we need. Of course, on weekends-when the whole family is home—we flush more. But we also take more showers and do more laundry then, so the system rarely has to take in clean water.

And for me there's an added benefit to recycling wash water. I love to take nice long hot showers, and with our water-reuse system working, I can luxuriate with a clear conscience, knowing that my efforts will allow someone else to flush!

But some things are different now that our water goes around twice. For instance, whenever I wash blue jeans, the whole family knows it—the flush water is a distinct shade of blue. (The newer the jeans are, the darker the color will be.) I've jokingly suggested that we hang liquid cleanser dispensers on our toilet tanks, hoping that people will think that's where the blue comes from, but we haven't gone that far yet.

Because the washer and tub water contain soaps and detergents that aren't filtered out, I don't need to use toilet bowl cleaners. Periodically I just brush away the thin layer of lint that builds up in the bowl. This job doesn't require hard scrubbing, and the material isn't harmful; it's just not particularly pleasing to look at.

Right now we're disinfecting the recycled water by pouring some chlorine bleach down the bathtub drain on a regular basis. I usually dose the system just before I take a shower, so that the bleach gets thoroughly washed down the drain. Of course, this arrangement is strictly "by guess and by golly," so we've decided to install an automatic chlorinator above the tanks. Fig. 3 shows you a simplified adaptation of the NASA design for this device. Once it's in place, our maintenance regimen will be reduced to changing one-gallon bleach bottles from time to time and cleaning the polyester shirt-sleeve filter periodically.

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