Kitchen water recycling for the garden. Grey water, aquatic plant, home, natural water cleaning.

[@devanshsharma7305]

I am a water professional. We design wastewater treatment plants for whole cities. Huge civil structure, extensive engineering, huge capital and maintenance costs to the municipalities, energy consumption, sludge handling etc. etc.. But when I see this, this is what will save the world the most water. And energy! Individual care and responsibility. Decentralized treatment. At the household level!

[@benjamaya5199]

Thanks : ) Do you use aquatic plants in those systems you design? Or mainly mechanical and chemical means? Yes, onsite treatment makes sense but some room is needed and maintenance also.

[@devanshsharma7305]

@@benjamaya5199 Mostly mechanical/chemical means traditionally. Plants are used. They're called constructed wetland systems. But they're quite uncommon. They need like 10-50 times more area. When there's a lot of space available, or aesthetics are important, or there are issues of accessibility/electricity, they can be used. But honestly, they should be more common.

[@annemiekevaneijkeren4486]

Are you on facebook maybe? I would like to share the systems you use with groups and people, because many want to do this but don't know how or where to start.

[@hadjarmeftah1676]

By far the most filtered water system with all its stages I've come across. Amazing

[@benjamaya5199]

Thank you for your comment. Appreciate it : )

[@Animaniafreak]

This is an amazing setup! Australia is very dry and constantly low level in our dam reserve, we'll need all the help we can get. Thank you for sharing these fantastic ideas!

[@benjamaya5199]

Thanks : )

[@denesdolor975]

you are so humble vlogger. with that i instantly become a follower..

[@benjamaya5199]

👍thank you.

[@cbell2904]

Your set up is amazing! Thanks for sharing.

[@realexperienc]

Thank you for posting this video....I am going to try to use some elements of what you have demonstrated here in our home and garden in Cape Town, South Africa. Much appreciated!

[@benjamaya5199]

Thanks, you may want to use an open pipe of some kind-much easier to maintain. I used a closed pipe with slots cut in it. This is harder to cut the roots when they grow and sometimes become so dense they can block the flow. Something like a deep gutter so you can easily lift the plant mass and cut out sections when it gets too dense. Pennyworts are great because they have a hollow root and the weight is not going to cause a problem with sagging etc. Also their waxy leaf is very water efficient. Vietnamese mint is another good one. Cheers and good luck maybe do a video to show.

[@darinredding]

Impressive system. Appreciate you posting this. Definitely going to borrow some ideas here.

[@nagaarjunreddymooli4735]

Super idea and great job bro, ur a real eco friendly person

[@barrybr1]

You've done incredibly well mate. Saving this for when I develop my own farm garden system. Thank you

[@benjamaya5199]

Thanks : ) good luck with your project👍

[@ajutom9275]

Very good effort. 👌🏼

[@AmericanDrinker]

Thanks for sharing and making this easily accessible!

[@benjamaya5199]

👍

[@ShaneAnnConnell]

Wow this is 👍well thought out

[@benjamaya5199]

Cheers 👍

[@matthewmeuleman3369]

Hey Ben, thanks for posting this. I quit my job and went on long service leave last year, during my time off I watched about every grey water treatment system on KZbin. I believe your system is the best I have seen, so emulated bits of it into a system of my own. Main differences with my system is I use plastic tubs with bulk heads for my aquatic filters. I have used fish, but given my system has less volume, and I want it to be frog friendly, I have used guppies, sword tails, cherry shrimp and ram's horn snails that all live nicely together and reproduce on their own. You also sound Australian, where abouts are you from?

[@benjamaya5199]

Hi Matthew, sounds like a good set up you have there. The system attracted frogs. I think they just know where water is. I don't mind them croaking in summertime. Thank you : ) for your comment too. I'm on east coast NSW

[@vancamerawoman7399]

Awesome 👏 Thank you so much for sharing. It’s a big system and a wee bit daunting at the moment but definitely a video to save to watch again and again

[@benjamaya5199]

No probs, thank you for your comment. You can scale it down of course. : )

[@Nadeemkhan-rr1gf]

Great work I really love that system you built. Keep doing the good work.

[@benjamaya5199]

thanks..cool comment, there's a part 2 also..

[@Babycheezes]

That looks so awesome. Thanks for sharing,

[@benjamaya5199]

👍Thanks.

[@kushandileep2005]

This is the most inspiring video for my research.Thanks, mate for share this.

[@benjamaya5199]

Kushan, no worries. Happy you got something out of it. Cheers.

[@teebarbarino]

What a great system. Thanks for sharing

[@benjamaya5199]

thank you : )

[@Pinkybum]

This is the most amazing grey water treatment system I have seen on KZbin. I am looking to set one up for our household seeing as we live in drought-stricken California. What was the thinking behind having so many stages? Why were the 4 drums necessary after the holding tank with the fish in it?

[@benjamaya5199]

Not necessary but good to have more treatment than less if there is room for it. The more plant roots the water goes through and dwells around I think the water will be cleaner at other end. Thanks for your encouraging comment.👍

[@benjamaya5199]

Kitchen water goes in at wash up only. About 80L per day. The water out is clean even though the water going in has some detergent and oil in it. The coco fibre in the column does a good job of catching that. We use the final water on vegies, they grow great. Hasn't been lab tested but i have some aquarium fish in the open tank. One thing I didn't mention was a circulation pump comes on 4 times a day for a few minutes to oxygenate/ move the water in the open top tank where the fish are. They are breeding so I think that's a good indicator. Cheers

[@mandyNdave]

I have a few questions. 1) have you seen any issues with oil in your mulch column? Sounds like you don't have much oil, which shouldn't' be going down any drain anyway ;), but just wondering. 2) How long do you cycle water through your final holding tank and is there any stagnation issues with that? Your system is great and the video does it justice!

[@benjamaya5199]

Hi Mandy, thank for your q's. The mulch column does develop a crust of fat on the very top only if you're using alot of oil but I've found that simply churning it through the rest of the column occasionally freshens it back up. It is surprisingly oil free just below the crust and the coco fibre works well for oil. I have a circulation pump on the open top tank that comes on 4 times a day for a few minutes each. It airates and circulates the water at the same time at the waters surface-just a cheap 12v bilge pump. We use detergent for dishes and there's no sudsing when the circulation pump comes on -to me , that indicated the plants have dealt with it. So no stagnation issues-the water is quite clean by then. What helps clean the water is dwell time around the roots of plants, sunlight, some movement and oxygen, I believe. The water goes one way through the whole system -not sure what you mean by 'cycle' - and so the time is dependent on how much water is put in at the start. Generally about 80 percent is captured. Hope this helps. I have ideas for improvements. Its better to use an open top square section pipe rather than a closed round one with slots cut in it like I did- much easier to trim root masses if thy get out of hand.Cheers.

[@petergilfillan8340]

This is brilliant. Well done. Obviously very well thought out & planned. Well done, Im inspired to do something similar : )

[@benjamaya5199]

Thanks, appreciate that. Really glad..hope it goes well with what you do, Cheers.

[@laribimourad412]

Amazing job, greetings from algeria

[@oliverpage7538]

Thats a serious project mate good work

[@sideways_fun]

omg. you could take a dump in the start of that system & it would still be drinkable water by the end. Extensive, but very good.

[@wazowski6709]

Amazing stuff mate, currently planning out a grey water system & might use a couple of your ideas. Cheers from VIC 😊👍

[@benjamaya5199]

Good on you ! and thanks hope your project goes well 👍, cheers Ben.

[@anitaloyd9999]

Sharing the information and thank you

[@darrenmanser2847]

Amazing inspiring work mate.

[@benjamaya5199]

Thank you : 👍

[@TwoForFlinchin1]

Insane work here

[@stellac.04]

This is amazing!!!!! Could you do a step by step series of how you set everything up and built this system?

[@benjamaya5199]

Hi Stella, sorry I didn't take any footage while building. It took a long time. I hoped to share the basic concepts which aren't new but can be adapted to your situation.

[@oilspeculatorhater]

Really impressive, great stuff to know, thank you for sharing.

[@benjamaya5199]

Thank you.

[@michaelfelder2640]

Well done. Duckweed is #1 chicken feed. 🐔

[@chanquama]

excellent work my friend😉

[@nickush7512]

Wow.... great work Dude :)

[@paulhorn6233]

Great concept. Looks also very beautyful. Two questions for me: 1. I live near a big lake. Mosquitoes are alway an issue. Calm water is ideal for their larvae. how to avoid without covering the gallons? Some neighbors use small fishes but they do not look very happy as they are dying quite fast. 2. you use quite a lot of pipes. how do you avoid that they are freezing during wintertime or get too hot in summer? hot water tends to build a big amount of brown/green algeas.

[@benjamaya5199]

Hi Paul, I live in a climate where freezing doesn't happen. Not sure how to prevent - may have to shutdown over winter. I have noticed mosquitoes like stagnant polluted water and dislike moving water which is more oxygenated. So having a pump to circulate the water around may help. The algae may happen if you're using a phosphate based detergent in the kitchen. I use minimal a grey water safe detergent called 'Down to Earth'. Thanks for your comment and q's.

[@Ashdoesstreaming]

Learning about this in school, thank you for this video

[@benjamaya5199]

That's great ! ..best wishes with your studies.

[@benjamaya5199]

Thanks for your comment. At the moment just this one. If someone would like more detail about a certain part of the system I can explain more in another video. Cheers , are you working on a similar system?

[@freedomer342]

After it goes threw all the filtering, can you drink it? Ive seen many videos of people saying you can give it to your plants but can a human drink it? What would be need for someone to drink it?

[@benjamaya5199]

Because it's kitchen water it would have traces of detergent in it plus some bacteria from contact with soil and plants so it's not drinkable. But it could be filtered with a portable reverse osmosis unit or an electric or solar still, that may make it purer to drink. Cheers.

[@eddyogeisia4626]

very well thought and ingenious self sustaining habitation. Thanks for the inspirations

[@avinashpandey923]

Keep it up guys superb😆😆

[@darkloom]

I was very glad to see recent comments; and congratulations on the longevity of your channel. Beautifully done original video. I haven't seen too many comments about the amount of water that you process through your system; two huge holding tanks and drums. Do your water levels ever fall off? And, do you have anything that combats mosquito propagation? Anyway, thanks for the enlightenment.

[@darkloom]

Sorry, I guess maybe the circulation pump works against mosquitos...

[@benjamaya5199]

Hi Darren, at the moment we've had alot of rain so the tanks are full but in the past hot dry summers will drain them because might use 100L in one watering. It can handle about 60-80L a day down the sink. Mosquitos tend to like stagnant water so yes moving the water deters them and also floating pond weed will keep them out too and they don't like water that is too clean either. Thanks for your encouraging comments, cheers.

[@jb65270]

First off, One of the best videos I have seen for this sort of thing... but from other commenters, you already knew that! :) Second, I am interested in how you built your water tanks and what the expected life span is? Lastly, I am in an environment where water freezes for a few months a year... is that something that is a problem for your system?

[@benjamaya5199]

Thank you. 👍The tanks are galv sheet held together with steel pop rivets. Unfortunately I dont have video of the construction. I etch primed the outside and then two coats of epoxy based paint. The inside is painted with water safe bitumen and there's seam tape on all joints. I expect long life it's about 10 years now and no leaks or rust. Yes water freezing may be a problem. Not sure if there's some way to stop that in winter ?

[@robynperdieu3434]

@@benjamaya5199 burying the pipeline? Or wrapped with heat tape?

[@mrguzman4G]

Wow that's amazing!

[@BS-Fact-checker]

Great setup, I live in east Victoria on rural property and had to buy water a few times because we're on tank water. I've been keen to do a greywater setup like yours but larger volume. Did you intend to use kitchen water only, what about shower and washing machine?

[@benjamaya5199]

It's possible but the pipes are hard to get to, they're buried in slabs. Not sure about the laundry water, the detergent is a bit harsh. But the showers would be great to hook up. Good luck and thanks for the comment. : )

[@scrippslarry]

Amazing - very impressive! Thanks!

[@benjamaya5199]

Thank you!

[@benjamaya5199]

Thank you very much. If anyone has questions please ask. I'll do my best to answer.

[@krishnachandra2487]

What's the quality of the water? Is it drinkable?

[@matthewmeuleman3369]

@@krishnachandra2487 you would want to pass it through a carbon filter before you drink it. I made a similar style system there's no smell to the water by the time it gets to the fish. You wouldn't exactly want to drink fish waste, but the fish can act like canaries for the system. I use guppies, sword tails cherry shrimp and ram's horn snails.

[@andraetkula6044]

Very nice homemade water treatment system. May i ask what size your solar panel is?

[@benjamaya5199]

I have a bigger panel charging the battery now it's 120 x 53 cm. The smaller one couldn't quite keep up.

[@Roots-Of-Knowledge]

bravo dud.. very impressive

[@lynkonline5997]

Hi from the future. Whats it look like now

[@jodywho6696]

Thank You✨

[@peterpiper5300]

what are the fish used for filtering?

[@AutoNomades]

While i'm doing my own researches also about altnernative coolers, i came with the idea tha you could actually pass an air pipe true all the cold part of the system (better off course if it is underground...) to valorise the evaporation process that naturally evacuate heat (in place of using clean, drinkable water to cool like many does..) _D'une pierre deux couille !_ ^^

[@DavidSandel]

Why do you have so many treatment tanks? Are all of them really needed? Mostly it seems like the 4 blue barrels add a lot of "length" to the system, are a lot smaller than the open air holding tank, and seem relatively unnecessary. I'm not judging or criticizing, just trying to learn. Thanks for the walk through! Very informative and inspiring!

[@benjamaya5199]

Thanks David. It adds volume to the system so more plants can be used and the plants do the work of cleaning. I have gone a bit overboard I guess because I had the room to experiment but it's not necessary really. Generally the more water going in means the system would need more volume and plants to treat the water. Also the more plant root mass in contact with the water helps and aerating the water helps too.

[@davidoff59]

That is some effort put into this system. I've seen grey water used straight on garden lawns in Australia. The problem with not having enough storage is that it will overflow at some point and with the long dry spells, it's possible that the water could run low. This appears to have fixed both possibilities. What is impressive is the self built water storage tanks. You know they are well built to hold that much water

[@raydelbosque8369]

With the wetland setup do you worry about the alkalinity of the water produced that could adversely ruin the soil? Do you use standard wash detergents? Is it just for the kitchen water or is it also tied to like a laundry and shower water?

[@benjamaya5199]

I checked the ph it's around 7.2 for the treated water. It's only kitchen water going in and we use a grey water safe detergent called 'down to earth'. But use it sparingly. I think laundry water and shower water would be too harsh for this system depending on what detergent/shampoo is used. Been using the water for 6 years without a problem.

[@shellypinheiro6354]

Nice design and idea,but i have only 3cent plot. Is this possible in a small area? Please give a reply for me and who is in the same condition.

[@benjamaya5199]

Yes it can be scaled. One important things is have lots of plants and may to need use vertical solutions.

[@tamasaii]

Where do you live? I'm guessing some place where it doesn't snow. I live in Reno, NV and plan on buying a house where we will have to pay for water so I'm looking to learn a way to recycle the kitchen water and maybe the laundry water too to use for the yard and garden.

[@benjamaya5199]

I'm on the east coast of Australia where it's fairly warm. We have some mango trees and papaya. Sounds like a good plan. Hopefully you can find a house that has pipes you can get to and modify. : )

[@usorganicfarm1827]

How did you make those water tanks?

[@benjamaya5199]

I have some sheet metal skills that I used. It's a bit technical I don't have footage. Basically it's galvanised sheet held together with steel pop rivets. This inside is coated with water potable bitumen.

[@cyane6958]

Hello thank you for the video I’ve watched it a million times. I’m creating a similar system for my home with kitchen sink and washing machine, it’s my first one but I haven’t got it right it’s so stinky I’m not sure what I’m missing but the water gets stinkier as it passes through each part :(

[@cyane6958]

Do you consult with projects ? :)

[@benjamaya5199]

You may find that laundry water -if you're using a commercial detergent, is too harsh for this kind of system. It would probably kill the plants. Laundry water is like black water should go down the sewer pipe. Plus washing machines tend to put out alot of water in a short time so you'd have to deal with that surge somehow. I'd leave out the laundry water I think.

[@AutoNomades]

@@benjamaya5199 ..or maybe adding some kind of bokashi bacterial stamp tank in parallel for moment you have bigger flows, guests etc?

[@dafnarechter]

beautiful work. thank you

[@crisolitoporras8602]

Thank you for your post

[@saktisaliyeshuha5584]

Those leaves will mold or compost?

[@benjamaya5199]

The leaves break down into silt they haven't gone mouldy. But I use coco fibre now in the blue barrel.

[@janfrederiksen1539]

how about the mulch? does it become smelly?

[@benjamaya5199]

No if it's free draining. I put the mulch column on a platform.

[@AutoNomades]

@@benjamaya5199 I saw in an other nice video the guy was putting a grease/debris trap and worms into the mulch to help the process..

[@andresatrio4462]

Hi Ben, I am an engeneering student and I was thinking about building something similar but simpler for my garden, the thing is I don't have the budget for that. Do you think a simple container with some aquatic plants and time enough could clean the water? If not, what else do I need for it to work and use that water for cleaning over and over?

[@benjamaya5199]

Hi Andres, you could try a series of containers linked together with as many plants as possible placed in the sunlight.

[@andresatrio4462]

@@benjamaya5199 Thank you very much Ben. I am trying to filter batches of 50 L at a time, from a washing machine. So should the containers be deep like yours or swallow like wetlands could work? Also for the water to be oxygenated, like you said on the video, there should be some microorganisms, could I bring some from a nearby river? Again, thanks for the help.

[@benjamaya5199]

You may find that laundry detergent is too harsh for this idea to work. It may kill the plants. Laundry water is considered black water. My system is connected to kitchen sink and we use sparingly grey water safe detergent.

[@darkloom]

@@benjamaya5199 Actually in California, kitchen water is considered black and laundry grey. I figure if you use mild enough detergent, and divert loads that use bleach, they are both recyclable. Also, being vegan/vegetarian would be necessary.

[@saktisaliyeshuha5584]

Why unfiltered water in the giant tank .... for fertiliser?

[@benjamaya5199]

Not quite sure what you mean. There's mechanical filtering just what the plants and micro flora can do plus sunshine and some aeration. Fish can add some nitrogen to the water also. Frogs have moved in also.

[@LatinDanceVideos]

Can you do a diagram to show the flow from one tank to another. Need clarity to make sense

[@benjamaya5199]

In the part 2 video there's a basic diagram from minute 19 onwards. Hope that helps and thanks for your comment. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2asYZKwmpyBiqM

[@fredrikaspestrand2121]

What kind of fish species do you keep? Do you have any algal growth in the large home made tank?

[@benjamaya5199]

Hi Fredrik, I had silver perch and some aquarium species at one time in the open top tank. The little white stripe aquarium fish were actually increasing in number.. Then my mum, who has dementia, overused the detergent in the kitchen when the plants in the fence pipe were out for a change I was making, I'd let it slide a few days- I didn't notice that a heap of suds went through and guess what? No more fish. Just shows how reeds in the sun can take up that detergent. I haven't replaced the fish but they were doing well. Algae- have not noticed any significant algae in the big tank. (just an interest point. I've read in some places in Europe they use fish as water quality barometers esp the elephant nosed fish which emits RF signals from it's tail that they can read with a meter.) With this kind of system you do need to minimize the amount of detergent that goes down the sink. Cheers

[@aleenaprasannan2146]

We are in a land starved city which has no derth of rain. We are currently renovating and thought of getting the city's sewage connection instead of old individual septic tank and I'm getting a good look into how rampant corruption has a big impact in destroying out water resources. They are demanding exhorbant bribes on top of additional labor charges and pressuring my dad to connect both the grey and black water to the connection so that we will also be pushed into doing something wrong just so we won't try to get receipts. I thought if we could atleast treat our grey water to an extent where it can be clean enough for the rain water drain, given the extremely small space we have left, we wouldn't have to put up with these guys armtwisting us into this ridiculous situation. Would the mulch pit, Reed pipes and a Wetland terrarium be enough for that? I was also wondering if using charcoal in the mulch pit itself would take care of the dish soap?

[@benjamaya5199]

Aleena, sorry about your difficult situation there. The mulch is coconut fibre(can use leaf matter too) and helps take cooking oil out but its better to prevent as much oil and minimize detergent going down the drain. The plants can take up a certain amount of phosphate in detergent if you can find a 'grey water safe' detergent is better. If you've got a small area maybe a vertical solution may be an idea like a much taller mulch column with plants growing out the sides and top through holes. Maybe keep recycling the water by putting it through the column several times before letting it down the drain. Charcoal I don't think will remove dishsoap but you could try it. It's more used to absorb chemical residues in water. Generally the more plant roots the water can dwell around as it flows through the system the cleaner the water should become. Hope something here helps.

[@hussienallayla1825]

Isn't it too complicated? Wear does the greas filtering ?

[@benjamaya5199]

The coco fibre in the blue column traps oil. But have take care not to put too much oil down the drain.Yes, it seems complex but there's no need to do it that way. It can be as simple as a pipe or barrel full of plants.

[@hussienallayla1825]

@@benjamaya5199 thanks for answering, and does sope also traps their?

[@benjamaya5199]

@@hussienallayla1825 yes but make sure detergent ( soap) is grey water safe type. Plants should be okay with that.

[@sweeyong7756]

just out of curiosty how clean is the end product after the grey water has gone through the entire system. how many litres of water can this process per hour? cheers. i would like to do something similar

[@VinylUnboxings]

Why not use all edible plants instead of the reeds and stuff? Like that PVC pipe around the halfway point could make a ton of produce.

[@Elric509]

There are things in greywater the plants will absorb you wouldn't want to consume, also weeds and reeds grow faster meaning they absorb more waste in the same amount of time

[@VinylUnboxings]

@@Elric509 makes sense, thank you

[@ananyaynana]

How much settling time does it require in first tank?

[@benjamaya5199]

The water is moving slowly through depending on how much water goes into the system from the kitchen sink. So there's no set settling time but the fine silt in the water will settle out over longer periods of years. Cheers , thanks for your question. : )