PEEPERS
An acid spring choked with long, slimy, green algae flows past
my house from an abandoned surface coal mine. I introduced baby
ducks to the algae-choked water, and quite by accident, I found that
the algae disappeared as long as I had ducks swimming in the water.
Whether the ducks were eating the algae or just breaking it up pad-
dling their feet, I don’t know. In any case, the water changed from
ugly to beautiful, almost overnight, by the simple addition of anoth-
er lifeform to the wetland system. This indicated to me that profound
changes could occur in ecological systems with proper — even acci-
dental — management. Unfortunately, constructed wetland systems
are still new and there isn’t a whole lot of concrete information about
them that is applicable to single family dwellings. Therefore, I was
forced, as usual, to engage in experimentation.
I built a clay-lined pond near my house about the size of a
large swimming pool, then diverted some of the acid mine water to
fill the pond. I directed my graywater into this “modified lagoon”
wastewater system via a six inch diameter drain pipe with an outlet
discharging the graywater below the surface of the pond water. I
installed a large drainpipe assuming it would act as a pre-digestion
chamber where organic material could collect and break down by
anaerobic bacteria en route to the lagoon, like a mini septic tank. I
add septic tank bacteria to the system annually by dumping it down
the household drains.
Bear in mind that we use a compost toilet and we compost all
other organic material. What goes down the household drains is bath
water, sink water and laundry water. We do use biodegradable soaps,
but do not use an in-sink garbage disposal. Scientific research shows
that such source-separated graywater has the same or better quality
than municipal wastewater effluent after purification. In other words,
source separated graywater is arguably environmentally cleaner than
what’s discharged from wastewater treatment plants.25
I assumed that the small amount of organic matter that
entered the pond from the graywater drain would be consumed by the
organisms in the water, thereby helping to biologically remediate the
extensively damaged acid mine water. The organic material settles
into the bottom of the pond, which is about five feet at the deepest
point, thereby being retained in the constructed system indefinitely.
I also lined the bottom of the pond with limestone to help neutralize
the incoming acid mine water.
222 The Humanure Handbook — Chapter 9: Graywater Systems
An acid spring choked with long, slimy, green algae flows past
my house from an abandoned surface coal mine. I introduced baby
ducks to the algae-choked water, and quite by accident, I found that
the algae disappeared as long as I had ducks swimming in the water.
Whether the ducks were eating the algae or just breaking it up pad-
dling their feet, I don’t know. In any case, the water changed from
ugly to beautiful, almost overnight, by the simple addition of anoth-
er lifeform to the wetland system. This indicated to me that profound
changes could occur in ecological systems with proper — even acci-
dental — management. Unfortunately, constructed wetland systems
are still new and there isn’t a whole lot of concrete information about
them that is applicable to single family dwellings. Therefore, I was
forced, as usual, to engage in experimentation.
I built a clay-lined pond near my house about the size of a
large swimming pool, then diverted some of the acid mine water to
fill the pond. I directed my graywater into this “modified lagoon”
wastewater system via a six inch diameter drain pipe with an outlet
discharging the graywater below the surface of the pond water. I
installed a large drainpipe assuming it would act as a pre-digestion
chamber where organic material could collect and break down by
anaerobic bacteria en route to the lagoon, like a mini septic tank. I
add septic tank bacteria to the system annually by dumping it down
the household drains.
Bear in mind that we use a compost toilet and we compost all
other organic material. What goes down the household drains is bath
water, sink water and laundry water. We do use biodegradable soaps,
but do not use an in-sink garbage disposal. Scientific research shows
that such source-separated graywater has the same or better quality
than municipal wastewater effluent after purification. In other words,
source separated graywater is arguably environmentally cleaner than
what’s discharged from wastewater treatment plants.25
I assumed that the small amount of organic matter that
entered the pond from the graywater drain would be consumed by the
organisms in the water, thereby helping to biologically remediate the
extensively damaged acid mine water. The organic material settles
into the bottom of the pond, which is about five feet at the deepest
point, thereby being retained in the constructed system indefinitely.
I also lined the bottom of the pond with limestone to help neutralize
the incoming acid mine water.
222 The Humanure Handbook — Chapter 9: Graywater Systems
