Combining grey water + solar still + bio sand filter
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 1:28 am
Hey all
I'm looking for some reference links on DIY'ing an automatic grey water distillation setup for rural residential use.
I've done a 5 gallon bio sand filter at home. I have found how to build a solar still although I haven't made one yet. And I've seen a number of videos of people catching grey water from the house such as from a washing machine. I am thinking about how to connect them all together.
I envision the following setup:
I'm trying to determine how much square footage I'd need to handle typical household volume of water use. The big limitation on the solar side is the volume of water distilled per sq ft of distillery. I can't buy a piece of equipment that can handle 3 gallons per day. I am looking for what I could affordably build DIY that has the capacity.
And I am considering other alternatives such as creating a steam turbine for power, capturing the steam as clean(er) water, possibly including a stage where I could add fuel/heat to boost or even replace the solar heating of the water during winter, etc. Then there are other considerations, including how automated is it? How often does the solar still array need to be cleaned of debris (soap scum, for one). How to ensure the still array cannot overflow and contaminate downstream storage, etc.
Does anyone in this group have a system such as this? I see lots of little pieces of this on the web, but nothing integrated. Once I have the solar still part figured out, I can see what else is do-able in terms of space & what it would cost to do.
I'm looking for some reference links on DIY'ing an automatic grey water distillation setup for rural residential use.
I've done a 5 gallon bio sand filter at home. I have found how to build a solar still although I haven't made one yet. And I've seen a number of videos of people catching grey water from the house such as from a washing machine. I am thinking about how to connect them all together.
I envision the following setup:
- Grey water from the house (shower, kitchen sink, bathroom sinks, washing machine, dishwasher) but no black water nor garage/shop washout
- 55 gallon steel drums to receive the effluent (or perhaps the plastic 275-330's usually used for rainwater collection)
- Solar panel powered pump to transfer to still array set up in parallel or series
- Still array needs to be sized to handle ~320 to ~400 gallons per day (typical household volume)
- After collection from stills, pumped to bio sand in 55 gallon or another 275-330 to filter any other evaporated contaminants (alcohol, for example, but some soaps, etc too)
- Collection from bio sand filters to long term storage containers (same as huge rain harvest tanks)
I'm trying to determine how much square footage I'd need to handle typical household volume of water use. The big limitation on the solar side is the volume of water distilled per sq ft of distillery. I can't buy a piece of equipment that can handle 3 gallons per day. I am looking for what I could affordably build DIY that has the capacity.
And I am considering other alternatives such as creating a steam turbine for power, capturing the steam as clean(er) water, possibly including a stage where I could add fuel/heat to boost or even replace the solar heating of the water during winter, etc. Then there are other considerations, including how automated is it? How often does the solar still array need to be cleaned of debris (soap scum, for one). How to ensure the still array cannot overflow and contaminate downstream storage, etc.
Does anyone in this group have a system such as this? I see lots of little pieces of this on the web, but nothing integrated. Once I have the solar still part figured out, I can see what else is do-able in terms of space & what it would cost to do.