Why I just had my head in the giant tamale pot

[K8-EEE]

Because I'm going out to dinner tonight. I was washing my hair!

What I found is: if I wash my hair in the sink instead of the shower it's way easier to keep the water off during most of the process -- and, if I put the tamale pot in the sink I can "steal" a lot of the shampoo water for my agapanthas (they don't mind the shampoo at all!) Between the rinse water and the "warm up" water (I'm a baby about cold water!) I can water about 25% of my back yard beds without even turning on the hose.

In fact, now that I keep 5 gallon buckets in the showers and hand water all my veggies, I find myself turning on the hose really infrequently. Which is good because here in L.A. we have a water crisis.

But even if they don't have mandatory conservation where you live, it's easy to cut your water bill way down buy just stealing some of your household water for the garden!

[patrice]

1. Love! that subject-line!! nt

[lame54]

6. it definitely begs explanation

[BlooInBloo]

2. Not sure I'd be comfortable mixing food prep stuff with my personal hygiene tasks...

But in water crisis, I suppose something's gotta give.

[K8-EEE]

5. A little shampoo isn't going to hurt the kitchen sink....

A lot has got to live in L.A. and I'm actually really glad for the twice-weekly sprinkler rationing & hoping it will get people OFF THE GRASS! Lawns are nice in some places, but here in LA they're a little ridiculous. In the summer they need to be practically FLOODED once if not twice a day - ridiculous when there are so many nice heat & drought tolerant alternatives.

[MADem]

3. I wish more homes had french sinks--they're common in old farmhouses.

Where the waste water goes out to the yard via a hose, and you can put the water where it's needed.

[K8-EEE]

7. I want to plumb my washing machine out to a rain barrel in the back yard

If you don't use bleach or chems in the wash (we don't) you could have a great kitchen garden just watering that way.

[MADem]

11. They're coming out with affordable soap products that aren't bad for plants, too.

I don't understand why so many towns make it hard to do the "gray water" thing.

[K8-EEE]

14. Trader Joe's laundry soap is fine for the yard

I sometimes dunk some watering cans into the rinse cycle!

[pipi_k]

20. I had that setup before putting in a new bedroom with laundry room

My washer/dryer were down in the dirt cellar, where I would stick the hose out and drain all the wash water into the yard. It went downhill a little bit, then went into my rose garden.

In spite of bleach and detergent...or maybe because of them...my roses were beautiful. After I moved some of them to the front of the house (sunnier location) they just never were the same again...

[K8-EEE]

21. Really, bleach?

I would think that would be really bad for them, but I guess if it's deluted enough?

What I was thinking, is run the wash into a rain barrel, the kind that have a spigot on them? Then run soaker/drip lines from the spigot.

[Warpy]

4. I don't use the tamale pot for my hair

because it's also a dyepot and besides, the arrangement is too tall to be comfortable.

I do use the rather nice scoopable kitty litter pails to good advantage, popping the drainage hose from the washer into them in succession to save greywater for my yard. Yes, there's a little splashing, but this is the desert and things dry long before they get a chance to mildew or rust.

I also use the water from washing dishes on my plants. The really scuzzy stuff goes outside, the only slightly soiled stuff goes on house plants.

Every bit of water from sinks, washer and dishwasher could be saved and reused to water the yard. Only what goes down the toilet needs to go to the sewage treatment plant.

Maybe someday plumbing to salvage greywater will be both legal and standard out here in the desert. It makes no sense to send it down the drain while using clean potable water out in the yard.

[K8-EEE]

13. I hear out in Irvine they build office buildings to grey-water the landscape

I think all new construction should be grey water plumbed!! I don't even think it's that expensive if you do it when you're starting from scratch, it's having the money to RE-plumb that is stopping me from doing my washer.

[Warpy]

16. That's why I'm using plastic kitty litter bukets

and only filling them half full because the handles are so wimpy.

My plants seem to appreciate the soap, sweat, dirt and lint, though.

[K8-EEE]

23. My Korean friend drains his sink right into the veg garden and claims

the plants LOVE "dirty" water! He never uses fertilizer

another poster ref'd "French sinks" but I think of that as Korean idea cuz of my friend Sung!

[Jazzgirl]

8. Excellent idea!

Wish I had hair..... :evilgrin: :evilgrin:

[onethatcares]

9. yes, yes, yes You are one that gets it.

here on the West coast of Floriduh, we're in a 7 yr drought and just starting to get some rains. I've been saving water in rain barrels, 5 gal buckets and 1 gal milk jugs for the past 5 years and using it on every plant I own. My wife was just saying that our water bill dropped $8.00 this month. Win for us.

We're also under severe water restrictions and some folks think that two days of rain made up for the 7 years of drought and want to water their st augustine green lawns every day even when it rains. They must not be reading the tampa tribune where they're talking about allowing us to drink reclaimed sewer water (yuck) in the near future. Of course the reclaimed will be treated with chlorine and other great cancer causing chemicals to kill the taste and smell. Hmmmmmmm, yummy.

BTW, if you use a rain barrel make sure you put a drop of cooking oil or mineral oil on the surface of the water, it keeps the mosquitos from flying.

Aren't cisterns legal in the desert areas? I know if I had 10 acres and a backhoe, I'd dig one, screw what the county or city would have to say.

[K8-EEE]

10. I still see water running down the street from broken sprinklers

That makes me nuts!

Every single living thing depends on water, a finite resource -- and people just throw it away routinely without thinking twice.

[omega minimo]

12. Thank you for a great post and thanks for being water conscious in LA (from your friends up North)

:yourock: and by "North" I don't mean Santa Barbara :spray:

[K8-EEE]

15. My daughter goes to UCSC so I'm up in NoCA a lot!

Love it up there!!

[omega minimo]

17. Sorry, don't tell San Luis Obispo but Santa Cruz is CENTRAL California

You ain't hit NoCA until the Bay Area. There's a whole half a state above SF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :hi:

[K8-EEE]

LOL, it's northern enough for her cuz

She's always freezing!

[omega minimo]

19. That's cuz it's summertime!!

:crazy:

[K8-EEE]

18. oops, dupe

n/t

[omega minimo]

22. Where's the 5th REC for this great post?

:kick: