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Author Topic: Using Bathwater for Plants  (Read 6787 times)

Frog Pajamas

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Using Bathwater for Plants
« on: November 14, 2014, 07:05:26 PM »

Hello all,

This may be a dumb question, but is there any reason I shouldn't use bathwater to water plants? Does the type of soap or anything make a difference to the health of the plants or whether it's useable or not? I know distilled or well water is better than tap, but I use tap anyway without any negative results, so far as I've seen.

I've been trying to reduce waste and the water bill, and figured I could double up since my youngest son and I both take baths regularly, supplying enough water for all my indoor plants if we re-use.

Peace,
Frog

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Roze

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Re: Using Bathwater for Plants
« Reply #1 on: November 14, 2014, 08:47:55 PM »

The only reason not to do it is about the soap that you use, may contain some chemicals unpleasant for your plants.. the solution is to use an Eco-Friendly Soap.  There's many recipes on-line that teach you to make 100% biodegradable soap. here

Apart from this I think the bath water may even be a good fertilizer.

Check this video, he has some amazing techniques about harvesting and reuse water, We even use the water from the washing machine to water the garden trees!

 http://sharetheseeds.me/forum/index.php?topic=1052.msg6976#msg6976
 ;)
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Sunshine

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Re: Using Bathwater for Plants
« Reply #2 on: November 14, 2014, 09:14:20 PM »

You might be able to rig a filter with a two liter bottle inverted with the bottom cut off filled with some charcoal and sand...I'm not sure if it will filter out the soap though.
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fairdinkumseeds

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Re: Using Bathwater for Plants
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2014, 10:03:32 AM »

If you expose the water to sunlight, algae and bacteria will remove/break down most things really quickly, the sediment will settle, fats, oils, soap scum will float and you can syphon from the middle of the tank/bucket, if you add some worm wee, yeast, molasses, or other goodies to it you can have a great little concoction for the plants.

Got a mate that has a $10 solar pump he puts in the bath with the panel hanging out the bathroom window.
4mm Aquarium hose leads the water into a 200lt plastic drum sitting on a post in the middle of the garden.
The drum has a tap and tap timer in the middle of the drum that leads to his fruit and vegies or he just fills his watering can from there.(There is another tap on the bottom to drain any sand or sediment that occasionally builds up)

Really cheap set up, and it seems to work great for them.

I climbed under the house and have diverted all the drainage pipes from the shower, kitchen and laundry sinks, and gravity feed then store all of our greywater in several 1000lt IBC tanks.
I have a constant bloom of algae breaking down any scum and 3 stages of filtration storage, removing the sediment and aerating each tank before pumping further up the line to eventually be gravity fed. I seed the water to start/continue a bloom at each stage that way the water doesn't stagnate and it is amazing good looking. Light green tinge, no scum or smell. I use it on underground irrigation on trees and vines, (not on our annuals or vegetable crops) but our soap/chemical use is really minimal.
It is amazing how much water we use in a day, and how much of it is normally wasted.
P.S. I didn't mess with the toilet, and my modifications may not be strictly up to code.....
Without it this place would be a dustbowl.
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reds

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Re: Using Bathwater for Plants
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2014, 07:07:44 AM »

I've used aquarium water..
I'd also make sure the bio-soap is safe for crop plants, in case it drains down to your vegetable garden.. Chemical nasties or fats may build up in your tomatos and peppers...
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