Is it safe to use grey water for a food garden?
Question:grey water being water from the sink or tub
Answers:
It depends on how "grey" your water is. If it is directly from the sink or tub then NO! You would simply be putting all the chemicals in to your garden, like detergent, soaps, bleaches and other horrible things, you would likely kill your garden, but if it survived the food would be tainted.
If you mean use grey water after it has been through filtration, like an inground filtration tank system then really the answer is still NO, if it is a vegetable garden. The bacteria level is generally very high in grey water - unless it is properly filtered and immediately distributed to your plants then bacteria will grow very quickly in it.
So, in conclusion if your grey water is filtered you can use it on plants (non food plants) and if it is not filtered I wouldn't even use it on your lawn. If your grey water is treated (using in ground treatment systems) then you can use it on vegetables that will be cooked before they are eaten. Unless you spend tens of thousands on a system that will treat it enough to allow you to even drink it yourself, then I wouldn't risk it on a veggie patch.
Absolutely. This is often done in areas where water shortage is an issue, and probably not something you would want on a permanent basis.
Most municipalities have restrictions for the disposal of grey water, so you could not make the diversion of the grey water a permanent fixture. But ... a few sections of PVC pipe and a little ingenuity can make a temporary diversion possible. Add in a switching valve and you could instantly change where the grey water is going ... to the sewer or to the lawn.
It also has to be noted that you will have to be more careful about what you are placing in your sink / tub / washing machine when you intent to dump the water to your garden.
The only thought would be waht harm the shampoo and soaps would do. My Grandma in Texas did it but that was close to 50 years ago.
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