I recently saw a home improvement show where they had to replace the sewer line that ran from the basement to the street. They hired a plumbing company that shoved a camera down the line and there were roots all through the entire length of the thing. That would cause both leaking and blockage all by itself.
Other areas, like where I live, have expansive clay soil that moves and heaves and shrinks with the varying rain amounts and hotter weather at different times throughout the year. This expansion and contraction causes problems with both water lines and sewer lines. The pipes here have to be redone every few years in certain areas. It seems almost futile to build our sewers and water lines the way we are. This past summer, a main water line valve snapped apart and caused an entire neighborhood to flood. It snapped because the ground had shifted so much that it broke off right at a 90 degree bend that was above ground. The underground part of the pipe had moved 8" or more.
Unless you have disconnected all your sinks, showers and the toilet there is little chance that your plumbing problem is caused by using too little water. There is a small chance that the sewer drain pipe may be too small (it may not even meet code, I've seen contractors do some stupid sh*t to save a penny or two). I'd place my bets on either roots or ground movement.
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To the larger point about a gray water system, go for it. If you have gutters on your house then you should start with rain water collection. For every 1000 sq ft of roof area, each 1 inch of rain will allow you to collect over 600 gallons of water.
This site has the mathematical calculation for getting the sq footage of your roof (it's larger than your home's listed sq ft):
How Much Water Can You Collect in Rain Barrels During a Rainfall
Believe it or not,
for every inch of rain that falls on a catchment area of 1,000 square feet, you can expect to collect approximately 600 gallons of rainwater. Ten inches of rain falling on a 1,000 square foot catchment area will generate about 6,000 gallons of rainwater! That’s right, 6,000 gallons! More than you were expecting?
Your roof catchment area is equal to the total square feet of your house plus the extension of your eaves. You don’t need to consider the angle of your roof, like you would if you were buying roofing material, because rain falls evenly on every part of the roof.
To calculate the square feet of your house’s catchment area, measure the area of the outside walls and then include the overhang of any eaves. For example, let’s say you have an oblong house with outside dimensions of 36 feet by 46 feet. You’ve calculated the overhang of your eaves as 2 feet. So, add the 4 feet of the eaves to each wall length (2 eaves of 2 feet equals an additional 4 feet for each wall) to get the total length of the walls plus the eaves (40 by 50 feet).
Now multiply 40 times 50 (length times width) to get your total roof catchment area.
(36 + 4) x (46 + 4) = 2,000 sq ft
(Remember that your numbers will vary, measure for yourself and then do the math)Your roof catchment area is thus 2,000 square feet.
Since one inch of rainfall provides approximately 600 gallons of water for a 1,000 square foot catchment area, and our theoretical house has a 2,000 square foot catchment area (twice the area), you will multiply 600 gallons by 2.
600 gal x 2 = 1,200 gallons
If you have an average rainfall of say 20 inches per year, you have the potential to collect 24,000 gallons of water in one year. (You can use the following website to get a good idea of the average rainfall in your area:
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/weather/) 1,200 gal x 20 inches of rain = 24,000 gal
http://www.rainbarrelguide.com/how-much-water-can-you-collect-in-rain-barrels-during-a-rainfall/Just as an example, if I take that 2000sq ft roof area (which is about right) and calculate for my area here in Dallas, along with the weather info link, I can calculate how much rain I could collect per month and, with a little math, for the entire year.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Avg. High 52° 57° 66° 74° 81° 88° 94° 94° 87° 77° 66° 56°
Avg. Low 30° 34° 44° 54° 61° 68° 72° 71° 65° 54° 44° 34°
Mean 41° 46° 55° 64° 72° 78° 84° 84° 76° 66° 55° 45°
Avg. Precip. 2.0 in 2.7 in 3.4 in 3.9 in 5.6 in 3.7 in 2.4 in 1.8 in 4.4 in 3.7 in 2.8 in 2.5 in
Gallons collected per month
----------------------------
Jan 2,400
Feb 3,240
Mar 4,080
Apr 4,680
May 6,720
Jun 4,440
Jul 2,880
Aug 2,160
Sep 5,280
Oct 4,440
Nov 3,360
Dec 3,000
Annual Total 46,680 gallons
I could reduce my water bill by 46,680 gallons a year! And since my sewer bill is tied to my water consumption I could put the rainwater through a particulate filter for use in flushing toilets and maybe even showers (rainwater is better for showers than most city water anyway!). 46,680 gallons is around 40% of my annual water usage in the years we feel like watering the lawn, it's about double my annual usage if I let the lawn fend for itself. And since most of my water bill goes to watering the landscaping, it makes sense to get as much of that from the rain, for free.
It seems like a good idea but my HOA is hard to deal with so I'm still in paperwork limbo. Just one more reason I wish I'd moved a little farther out in the country, or one of the older neighborhoods with no HOA. 20/20 hindsight is kicking my arse again!
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Gray water from your bathroom sinks can be used to flush the toilets.
WaterSaver Technologies Aqus Uses Sink Greywater for Toilet
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 10. 7.06
DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE (bathroom)
The Aqus(TM) is the epitomy of American ingenuity. Bothered from a young age by the tragic waste of water flowing down the sink drain, Mark Sanders repeatedly dreamed of a system to collect that water and reuse it. Dreams led to sketches, which led to the hot-glue gun of home remodeler Matt Ridge, who created a prototype to store the greywater from the sink for reuse when toilet flushing. The idea caught the attention of investors, and won the Vogt Invention and Innovation Fund Award, on its way to its public debut at the American Water Works Association’s 2006 Water Sources Conference and Exposition. Nice to see that the device passed the introduction to professionals before appearing at West Coast Green, presumably to a less technically critical audience. Our own Nick Aster met the WaterSaver folks at West Coast Green, where the brochures for this interesting, potentially D-I-Y, product were walking out faster than they could keep reprinting them.
The Aqua catches the water flowing down your sink drain, filters and disinfects it, and stores it ready for the next toilet flush. It is designed to be easily retrofit into existing fixtures and boasts low maintenance. Gravity and a small electric pump transport the water from the 5.5 gallon (21 L) holding tank installed under the sink. A device in the toilet tank prevents fresh water inflow as long as sufficient water is available in the Aqus to do the job; in case the Aqus runs low, the normal toilet valve for incoming water will serve the demand. Unfortunately, this mechanism is not yet developed to the point where it can work with two-flush systems designed to reduce water use at the toilet. Most TreeHuggers will wrestle with another demon in this system: the disinfection system is chlorine based, relying on three tablets that must be replaced during the annual maintenance and filter cleaning. The disinfection is essential to protect pets drinking the toilet water and probably benefits human health as well. Since most public water systems are chlorinated in the process of ensuring safe drinking water, this is probably a small price to pay to reduce household water discharge to the sewer by 25 - 40%. If you discharge to a septic field or potentially sensitive environments, you should talk to the WaterSaver Technologies experts when making your decision about an Aqus.
The system
retails for about $200, and has a lifespan of 10-12 years, with a payback of about 4 years, depending on local water and sewage costs. The Aqus system is patented; the UPC product listing of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials and the UL seal of approval are pending. The system has been tested in households in Colorado, Kentucky and New Mexico and proven itself market ready. If used by every household, this could represent a savings of 4.8 billion gallons of water flushed down U.S. toilets each day, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water. Sanders said WaterSavers also plans to design systems for shower and tub, complete in-home systems, and systems to serve multi-family and other commercial structures. The primary market will be home building professionals, but the company will also sell the units over their website WaterSaver Technologies --
http://www.watersavertech.com/.http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/watersaver_tech.phpNew Mexico published some good info on gray water and how to use it safely, a DIYer could rig their own system using the tables on what type of filtration to use, here's an excerpt:
Filtration Food particles, Oil and grease,
Organic matter, Soaps, Suspended
solids, and Turbidity
Flotation Oil and grease
Hydrogen peroxide Bacteria, and Odor
Lime Bacteria, Odor, and Sodium
Settling Foam, Food particles, Hot water,
Organic matter, Oxygen demand,
and Suspended solids
Soil filtration Bacteria, Bleach, Chlorine, Foam,
Food particles, Organic matter, Oxygen
demand, Suspended solids, and Turbidity
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_m/m-106.htmlHere's a low tech solution, modify your toilet to be a sink as well:
Hack a Toilet for free water.
This Instructable is a step by step description of the process of adding a sink to the top of a toilet allowing the use of the clean water before it goes into the bowl.
Motivation Water is a precious resource and our everyday lives are immersed in consuming it. The average toilet uses excessive amounts of water. This hack allows you to minimize some of that water consumption.
I wanted this instructable to be simple enough that anyone could build it with basic tools and materials. I also tried to be material conscious with this project in that: many of the materials are recycled from other things (sheet wood and copper tubing) or second hand (metal bowl), and that it is put together using screws and friction fittings so when the sink has finished serving its purpose it can easily be taken apart and the parts can be recycled.
Read the step by step instructions (lots of pictures!)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-a-Toilet-for-free-water./Note that it is sometimes spelled "GREYwater" instead:
Greywater
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
...
Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, which can be recycled on-site for uses such as landscape irrigation and constructed wetlands.
Greywater differs from water from the toilets which is designated sewage or blackwater to indicate it contains human waste.Greywater composes 50–80% of residential wastewater generated from all of the house's sanitation equipment (except toilets).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GreywaterHere's a resourced that you might want to check out:
http://www.wateriq.org./apps/wateriq/default.aspx -- Put in your zip code to see pertinent advice for your area