accessing pipes in a slab to save water

not sure if you can help .... looking for ideas
i have water tanks (12 thousand ltrs) wind, solar, and a few other things that save the eviro.
BUT i`m on a dam concrete slab and cant get to any pipes to divert shower/grey water out so i can save/use it
any ideas on how to acces the water that comes from the shower pipies in the slab?
I thought of a raised container in the shower and a small dc pump and run small tubing back down through the pipes and feed it out the other end (sewer) end and pump the shower water when showering

sorry this email is scratchy (it`s 2am)
Regards, Richard

This is a time for good old Aussie ingenuity to come to the fore mate. I have a buddy who is in the same situation as you, he has done the following to save his water.

He hunted around and found a large fairly shallow 'tub' to put into the shower to catch the water in, he managed to find one almost the size of his shower cubical. Under this he put a piece of rubber matting to help guard against slipping. In it he put one of those 'granny' mats that you get for the bath tub for the same reason.

His family showers and then he simply drops in one of those submersible pond pumps connected to some inch pipe. Plug it in and away it goes, it won't push the water up a great slope but if you need to I am sure that stronger pumps are available.

If you can point the hose out through the bathroom winow it would be much easier otherwise just get enough pipe to reach through the house to the area you want to water. Bear in mind the pumps won't handle much back pressure so a sprinkler might not be the go.

Good luck with it.

Pete

Richard,
what Pete said, or you could try digging around the slab perimeter near the bathroom to find the pipe before it goes into the main line. If you can access your house plans it should show the pipe layout and rough location but this can be miles out in some cases. You could fit a diverter valve and if you have sufficient fall just run a pipe/large hose out to where you want to water. If you don't have sufficient fall then you need something like a "Sani Vite" (I think) which is a self contained holding tank with macerator pump and float switch. If you do a search on these forums you should find a couple of posts about them including a link to the manufacturer. If you have no joy I'll see if I can look it up.

Mick

How much land are you on?

I ask as I went to an open garden out behind Eltham, they were on 5 acres. They piped the grey water through a natural filtration system that used rocks, gravel and plants in a trench. Water went into a dam once it ran through the system. I went in late spring when it had been warm for a while and there was no stink.

Clinton, what you describe is an underground wetland. They are very popular in the States but our narrow minded councils wont approve them.
In the States they even use the technology in some of their sewerage treatment plants.

In a normal wetland the macrophyte plants don't do any filtering - its the surface area that micro organisms can cling to which is the vital thing - heaps of plant stems = heaps of surface area.

Below ground heaps of gravel = same thing. The plants on top just pull out the nutrients after the biomass has done its job.
From memory a trench 8 m x 5 m can process the waste from about 4 homes!

All of the concerns that local authorities have about this method such as flooding and leaching have been addressed but they don't want to try new things:((

Good stuff Bleedin.

Couldn't have been an underground wetland then, if councils don't allow them, must have been part of a septic system. :p

Hi Clinton,

When I whinge about councils I'm just complaining about the ones I have to deal with, I'm sure there are some enlightened ones around, maybe Eltham?

There is a difference between the underground wetland and a septic system.

The septic system hold the waste and lets it slowly break down whilst the other system works by the waste traveling through a bed of gravel and coming out the other side clean.

Well that's my take on it anyway, I admit I don't know BA about septic systems and what I know about the underground wetland was gleaned from a seminar I attended many years ago.

I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Yes, its out behind Eltham, and that council is pretty reasonable. Sewage wouldn't be on the block, so it would have to go into a septic anyway. I am pretty sure it is, as you describe, an underground wetland.

Its a well designed block, done by a landscape gardener that specialises in native revegetation and wetland regeneration. I think he's regenerated some Melbourne creeks that were concreted over for stormwater surges in the 40 - 60's, and looked after some multi-million $ regenerations.

Its all good stuff, and if Richard has the space on his block I think I could find the contact details??

Hi once again Clinton,
Don't go to too much trouble but if you come across that info send it my way as well.
Sounds like John from Streetscapes?