Pump It Up … And Out and Over…
By Andrea Peck
This post is way behind. I mean, way, way behind. It took me a few years to get my husband to discover it even. It sat silent and small, right in front of our eyes. I'm sure we passed it millions of times in hardware stores and nurseries. We saw parts peeking out of landscapes on long walks that meander past posh homes.
We were blind.
Until one day. I think it was because my husband was talking to my neighbor. She is lovely and soft spoken. She mentioned drought. There was no way he could miss those words spoken in such a beguiling tone. They fell into his ear canal and made it up to the decision-making portion of his brain.
That night my husband lifted five-gallon buckets of water from the bathtub in a fury. More furious than I ever did –partially that is because I tend to do things very slowly and ploddingly. Sometimes I talk to myself in a Southern voice. Other times it is Australian. Those conversations usually end with a dingo and I usually trail off at that point.
But, never mind, thanks to my neighbor, my husband was able to experience the Parade of Nightly Buckets and that must have gotten him thinking. Or, at least, I assume that is how it happened because he is not a talker, certainly he would never discuss life with himself even in his own accent. The reason I think this line of reasoning is possible is because that week he came home with our handy-dandy submersible water pump.
Now, instead of having to use a pitcher to fill a five-gallon bucket and bring this water out to say, clean my patio or driveway, I am able to attach a hose to the pump, place the hose through the bathroom window and plug in the pump.
I will admit that the setup is a bit Hillbilly with the hose running out the window and the screen slightly askew, but frankly, I don't care. In fact, the first time I used this pump, I was amazed at how much water I had coming out of that hose -so much that the patio had a nice sheen on it instead of the normal dog detritus that I find so visually exasperating.
Though we have discussed drought ad infinitum, the topic does continue to plague me. I assume that many of you relate. I'm not sure that we are going to get large amounts of rain in the near or even far-off future. Even if we do, with the rise in population, water availability is going to continue to be an issue that requires great thought and innovation. We'd better continue to play our cards right and set up systems of rain catchment and graywater reuse before desperation sets in.
Keep in mind that using graywater is an important element towards water saving, but there are certain caveats to its use. You do not want to save the water for longer than 24 hours. Personally, I try to use it up pretty quickly. Once in a while, I'll save a bucket for use the next morning, but when I do I throw in a little bit of bleach to offset any bacterial growth. If you are like us, washing up smelly kids or showering after cleaning a chicken coop, then you are guaranteed some pretty fetid stuff that may last long enough in your saved water to breed and whatever else gooey microorganisms do in water. So, use it quickly.
Also, do not water your edibles with this. Now, you can water a tree or an artichoke plant or landscape shrubs that are ornamental, but don't put it on your lettuce, broccoli or any root vegetables. Remember not to overload one area of your landscape either. Water should percolate and dry quickly. We're not creating a cesspool here. Do not connect your hose to a sprinkler, either. Because of potential bacterial contamination, graywater should not be airborne.
When using your pump, don't place a huge load on the motor by having really long hoses attached that go uphill. Try to use gravity as much as possible. Having said that, I have attached this shorter 25' hose to a longer hose that runs on a slight downhill to another tree we have further out in the yard. I always try to assess the water before using. For example, I may have my kids take a shower with shampoo and soap really quickly (I let this water go down the drain) before they settle in for a bath. This lessens the bacteria level and soap amount in the water. When the water looks really grungy, I let that go. You don't want to gunk up the pump or use questionable water. You can also simply save the clean water you use while heating your shower in a bucket and then use the pump for that; the pump is small and would easily fit in a five-gallon bucket.
Finally, these pumps are cheap. I can't give you a price on ours, because my husband bought it and he's busy now, but it was definitely in the $25.00-$30.00 range.