Art Ludwig, author
"What This Book Is About"
"How to Use This Book" and "What This Book Is About" introduce the subject matter. The book is geared toward helping the reader zero in on their personal goals, make an assessment specific to their property, and then design and implement a system that will best fit their situation.
Chapter 1: Greywater Basics. This chapter begins by defining
greywater. Explains the differences between blackwater, dark greywater,
clearwater, wastewater, and reclaimed water. It discusses what you can do
with it and why it should be used, but also lists a substantial number of
reasons when it shouldn't be used. The last section of the chapter
introduces the reader to the elements of a greywater system.
Chapter 2: Goals and Context. This chapter helps the reader deal with
the massive amount of information out there about greywater systems,
especially, whether or not a greywater system is right for you. It offers
clear-cut steps for analyzing one's goals, context (site, sources, needs,
percolation rates, climate, etc.), and proposed site. A "site assessment
form" worksheet in the appendix (and online
here) helps the reader make a very thorough analysis.
Chapter 3: Design a Greywater System for Your Context. In
chapter 3, the reader learns how to integrate a greywater system with their
landscape plus other systems, how to address health considerations, and how
to match greywater sources with irrigation and treatment or disposal areas.
Includes general landscape design points and six factors for good natural
purification of greywater or wastewater.
Chapter 4: Greywater Collection Plumbing. Discusses general greywater
plumbing principles, planning for future flexibility, traps, vents, diverter
and shutoff valves, surge capacity, easy maintenance and troubleshooting.
Includes advice on choosing and finding parts, inspections, and when to get
professional help. Lots of pictures, charts, and diagrams in this chapter.
Chapter 5: Greywater in the Landscape. This chapter details how to
put greywater to work and how to handle it in the landscape. Discusses
calculating the treatment/disposal area, greywater efficiency,
coordinating greywater with freshwater irrigation, and how to handle
greywater when it rains. Discusses how to preserve soil quality, with a
chart of key elements found in household cleaners. Also how to monitor and
repair soil, and what to do about toxic waste. The section on plants lists
possibilities for greywater reuse, as well as greywater treatment and
disposal. Shows the reader how to build a mulch basin for greywater
irrigation, with lots of illustrations.
Chapter 6: System Selection Chart. A 2-page easy reference chart for
comparing simple, easy greywater systems, or complex systems.
Chapter 7: Simple, Easy Greywater Systems. Lots of ideas and
illustrations in this chapter. Discusses direct landscape systems (such as a
bathing garden), garden hoses, dishpan dumping, mulch basins, movable
drains, greywater furrow irrigation, and laundry drums. It introduces the
laundry to landscape system (which is detailed in Art Ludwig's
Laundry to Landscape book or DVD).
Chapter 8: More Complex Greywater Systems. Covers effluent
pumps, mini-leachfields, subsoil infiltration galleys, constructed wetlands,
an automated sand filter system, a solar greywater greenhouse, green septic
systems, and septic tank to subsurface drip. Lots of pictures, diagrams, and
illustrations clarify the concepts.
Chapter 9: Branched Drain Design. How to improve the time-honored
"drain out back" system with ways to split the flow (including a discussion
and chart on parts), branching geometry options, cleanouts, inspection
access, and rainwater inlets. The section on branched drain outlet design
discusses free flow outlets, sub-mulch and subsoil infiltration, how to
design for surge capacity, and outlet positioning.
Chapter 10: Branched Drain Installation gets down to the nitty-gritty
of installing a branched drain system. Covers checking the design, checking
for buried utilities, digging trenches, connecting pipes and fittings,
dealing with slope, and installing outlet shields. Final steps include
testing the system, mapping it, and burying it. Also included are sections
on branched drain maintenance, troubleshooting, and possible
variations.
Chapter 11: Common Greywater Errors. This very important chapter
contains 20 common misconceptions about greywater and mistakes people
routinely make. Each one explains problems that can result, preferred
practices, and specific conditions for exceptions.
Chapter 12: Real World Examples. Features six examples that are
currently in use. Takes an interesting look at each user's goals, design and
installation issues, costs and benefits, and opinion of the system after it
had been in use for awhile. Pictures and diagrams help clarify the examples.
Appendices. Lots of helpful information in the eight appendices,
including how to measure elevation and slope, cold climate adaptations,
non-industrialized area considerations, plus pumps, filters, and
disinfection.
As you can see from scanning the chapter summaries, there are a lot of variables and a lot of options. So far, this is the best book I have found to explain them all. Dan and I have both this book and also the Laundry to Landscape DVD
I mentioned. I
trust the information because the author isn't trying to sell a pre-packaged
greywater system. You can find some of the hard-to-find hardware at
his website, but he
isn't trying to guide the reader to buy what he prefers. He lays out all the
options along with their pros, cons, and guidelines for choosing the best
system for your circumstances.
Create an Oasis with Greywater is available
at the author's website
or at Amazon. Or, if you aren't
sure that it deserves a place on your homestead bookshelf, request that your
public library obtain a copy! That's the best way to get a hands-on look at
a book, plus it becomes available for others to benefit from it too.