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Grey water hose

I recently bought a grey water hose on my quest to reduce water wastage. When I connected it to the outlet hose of my washing machine, I thought I’d done so securely and tightly. Our backyard has a natural slope so I lay out the hose to allow gravity to guide the water down to the garden. As soon as the machine started to empty and my back was turned, the hoses separated and water flooded our laundry! Is there an extra connector or something that we were supposed to get to prevent this?

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MikeTNZ

Hi csand109,

No, that isn't going to work, as it is currently installed.

All pumps work on a certain amount of back-pressure, what you've done by adding extra pipe-work to the washing machine outlet is effectively dead-ended the pump, because of the friction loss in the line out of the pump.

What you need to do, is let the washing machine pump out into the tub (as it normally does),

but take the waste off of your tub and gravity feed that into a tank or whatever.

How you have that at the moment, will kill the pump seal in the pump in no time flat and could also burn out the motor controller, as if the pump and main drive controller (they work in tandem), draw too much current (under heavy load), there is electronics(Triacs and micro-processors) in there that will eventually fail prematurely.

Jason

Hi @csand109,

Great to see you have already got some wonderful expert advice from @MikeTNZ. Welcome to the Workshop community. We're really pleased you could join us and look forward to reading more about all your projects and plans around the house and garden. Feel free to post anytime you need a hand or have something to share. And please let me know if you ever need assistance getting the most from the site.

Jason

Kermit

Hey @csand109,

I posted about this the other day. We've used these in the past to divert greywater onto a trickle house in the garden.

https://www.bunnings.com.au/deebee-grey-water-reclaimer_p3119141

Hopefully you can find a suitable spot...

Prof

Hi csand109,

I have been using this grey water setup for many years...

The hose is connected to the washing machine outlet and passed through the doggy door in the back door and out onto the back lawn..

The washing machine is nearly 20 years old and still pumps out the water..no problem..

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redracer01

Please post a photo of the connection between the hose and washing machine hose for better visual analysis! As soon as the community see's it, we should be able to give you better advice.

Mal2

Hi @csand109,

I’ve joined the workshop and noticed your post. Have you rectified your grey water system. I’ve purchased the 32mm grey water pipe and the blue mountain co diverter. My problem is the connection of the hose is too small and restricts the water flow, causing a leak.

MitchellM

@Mal2 Welcome to the Workshop Community! You may wish to start your own thread as you have a different issue than the topic at hand and will most likely get a better response.

Alternatively please post a picture of the two connections you are trying to join and I'll try to assist.

Mal2

Thanks Mitchell,

I’ll get some the pictures and post them. I actually thought the issue was the same, the problem is the washing machine pumps out a volume, in a short time. Which means any restriction in flow is a problem. I’ve purchased some new adapters today which fix the problem. I should add I’m in Sydney, with level 2 Water Restrictions. So finding ways to reuse water is a priority.

thanks

MitchellM

@Mal2 After re-reading, you have similar issues. Theirs is they either need a clamp or a rubber fitting to go between the hoses to stop it popping off. Yours I'm not sure if a clamp or rubber connector would suit without seeing that diverter and what type of size difference we are talking.

If you can take a picture of them connected and then next to each other, I'll come up with something.

Jason

Hi @Mal2,

Welcome to the Workshop community. Great to see you've already made progress with your issue. Let us know how you go with the adaptors.

Feel free to post anytime you need a hand with a project around the house and garden, or have something to share.

Jason

MitchellM

@Mal2 just remember, don't inhibit flow with those connectors, you never want to reduce the size of outlet pipe. It will put extra stress on the motor.

andarm

Be aware that grey water must be used within 24 hours (at least in Victoria) if it is stored (as suggested above). If not used in that time, it must be disposed of to the sewer/septic.

MikeTNZ

My advice to anyone taking grey water out of a washing machine or the like, is to always make the out-flow larger than the pipe that precedes it and let the water flow to "atmospheric pressure" via an unsealed tank or tub.

The moment you start to restrict things, you can end up with lint and what have you, jammed in the "adapters".

I did a job for a guy about 3 years ago here in NZ, for this very thing, to fill a tank for his garden water, I hard plumbed it in 32mm pressure pipe with glued fittings to the outside of his house, into a 1000 litre tank.

If you are going to use any sort of tank for grey water, make sure there is a sediment drain on the lowest point of the tank, as it WILL attract a lot of lint and other stuff.

A coarse filter before your outlet hose probably wouldn't go amiss either.

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