A laundry-to-landscape (L2L) greywater system is a simple, low-tech plumbing modification that diverts your washing machine's graywater directly into your yard for irrigation. It is an efficient way to reuse household water, helping to conserve fresh water, lower water bills, and nourish landscaping.
Especially in dryland climates where every drop of water is precious and limited, L2L offers the perfect solution to redirect water to areas of your yard that, otherwise, would not be vegetated or would wastefully use potable water.
To protect your plants and prevent potential health issues, it’s important to take these precautions:
- Use biodegradable detergents that are low in salts, sodium, and boron, and avoid using chlorine bleach. Many eco-friendly brands sell greywater-safe detergents.
- You can water fruit trees, nut trees, or berries, but never use greywater on root vegetables or other edible parts that grow in direct contact with the soil.
- Ensure the water disperses and soaks into the ground. Mulch basins are used to prevent greywater from sitting on the surface, which could attract mosquitoes.
- Never store greywater for more than 24 hours, as bacteria can proliferate.
- Always include a valve to route the water to your septic or municipal sewer system when using harsh chemicals or washing items with a heavy soil load.
As illustrated here, greywater that would normally flow into a septic or sewer system is, instead, used to water trees in wood mulch basins. Trees play a key role in any sustainable landscape but L2L can be used to water a large variety of native and naturalized perennials, grasses, annual flowers, succulents, shrubs, fungi as well as trees. In New Mexico, some of these include Blanketflower Gaillardia, Geranium Geranium caespitosum, Trumpet Vine Campsis radicans, Big Bluestem Andropogon gerardii, Dogwood Cornus stolonifera, Indigo Bush Amorpha fruticose, Apricot Prunus armeniaca, and Peach Prunus persica. Here is a more extensive list of plants appropriate for irrigating with greywater to help in your selection.
L2L mulch basins can water individual plants or a rich variety of edible, medicinal, ornamental and shade producing plants arranged in guilds within rain gardens and/or swales.
Using L2L greywater in your landscape is an effective strategy to conserving water through reusing water which would, otherwise, be wasted. Features like L2L mulch basins are effective long-term features for harvesting, not only graywater, but groundwater to create lush landscapes that increase in abundance and decrease in maintenance over time.
Cactus Rain designers specialize in helping homeowners, farmers, ranchers, business owners and governments design, install and maintain L2L and other water systems plus sustainable landscapes. Contact us to get started conserving water and creating the landscape of your dreams!