Well, I'm venturing into unknown territory with the gray water stuff. I know enough to get in trouble, so along with my internet reading, I'm posting here. I've seen teh rewater and brac systems, as well as taken a look at a very good informative website which is http://www.graywater.net/ I got that link off here somewhere and wanted to pass it along. Now my question(s) is, which is the best overall route? I will be on well water, and with a septic system. I don't want to have to be cleaning this out every week, or even every month to be honest. The systems like BRAC and what not are simple, but are they too new? The other systems that don't use gray water for fluching are more complicated, but not that big of a deal I don't think. Basically I'd like to get some feedback and any real world experience with gray water (good and bad). Thanks in advance for any info or opinions.

anybody use the rewater system?

I'm also looking at graywater and will be on well and septic. I was looking at using it for irrigation (subsurface). Where are you located? It seems the regulations really vary from location to location. I'm in central florida. I have my kitchen and toilets tied into a separate drain pipe than everything else which could be directed to a graywater system later.

We have decided to install a brac system to flush toilets with grey water from a shower and a bath drain. I live in Ontario, and the installation has to be modified to include an air barrier between the domestic water and the grey water. It looks pretty simple, but I think you have to clean the filter and install a chemical disinfecting puck once a month. We will move in the new house in May, so I will be better able to "review" the system then.

Review:We have a Brac greywater system and it has been more than a disappointment. Requires chlorine (the manufacturer says it is optional but the filter becomes clogged without chlorine) causing a very strong chlorine smell in each toilet. The recommended chlorine tables clog the unit. Motor is very loud. Currently the system cannot fill toilet tanks thus we are now reduced to bucket flushing. This system has been more than frustrating and we are nearly ready to disconnect. We cannot get a company rep to visit the site. Opinion: Do Not Recommend Brac greywater unit.

Hi, I'm Paul, and we manufacture graywater irrigation systems.

If you want to see some comparisons about re-use efficiencies, particularly re-use in the garden, go to http://www.besthomewatersavers.com/pages/Graywater-Guide.html

There is also a free 100+ page eBook that goes into much detail about the various methods. If you are in a cool climate area, then treatment for re-use within the house is the way to go, although it is still not economical for a typical residential house.

If you have a garden that requires irrigation / watering for at least 5 motnhs of the year, then re-using the graywater in the garden is a better proposition. In most areas payback is within 3-4 years, and the savings continue after that. Solutions range from a simple gravity system from about $250 (DIY Install), up to a fully integrated pumped system at around $1,000 + plumber install + diy dripperline install.

You dont have to buy our products, we just want people to understand that simply draining your graywater out to the yard doesnt really save a lot of water.

Best wishes for your plans.

Paul James
Just Water Savers USA Inc.

We have had our brac greywater recycling system in service for about three months. There are special chlorine pucks that need to be bought from the distributer, and there is an automatic controller that flushes water periodically through the puck receptacle to chlorinate. They are not pool pucks, which I think would be too strong for such a small amount of water. My toilets do not smell like chlorine, but the water is a little cloudy. The pucks treat the water that is already in the tank (after the filter). So chlorine treatment does not affect the filters being plugged or not. The filters do get dirty and require cleaning about once a week to avoid them being plugged. If they become plugged, the shower/bath water bypasses the tank and goes to our septic system. The unit was installed with automatic switchover to town domestic water if there is not enough water in the tank to flush the toilets. I don't think that we would have been allowed to intall it without this provision.

I know that this is saving some water, but the jury is out on how much it saves. I use a lot of water when I am cleaning the filter. BRAC recommends it be soaked in a vinegar/water solution, which I do, but there is a lot of rinsing required after that.

All our plants are drought tolerent, except for the veggie garden that we want to have next year. We have rainbarrels to catch the water for the veggie garden.