We have started saving water that we'd normally throw away. I've always saved "mystery" bottled water for water plants. We had a party recently and I was left with about 7 half-empty water bottles. So, we used that to water the existing garden plants.
Something new: we started saving sink water. So, when washing plates instead of letting water go down the drain we'd save it. We save the water from soaking pots. We are storing the sink water in a bowl near the sink, then it is transferred to a wheeled cooler. What I learned: graywater is not just water from the sink, it is water from the bathtub, and water that drains from the washing machine. It is called graywater because of the coloring. How I learned: from library books, blogs, websites. Answered questions: I learned what graywater is and we've collected it in bowls, a cooler, and a large storage container by the bathtub. New questions: can I keep hauling water out of the tub with a big 7-11 cup? This is gonna get old quick. For more info, click on link https://www.diigo.com/user/teachersheila/20Time Jana 7/6/2015 08:07:12 I love this idea. Looking forward to seeing your trial and errors and success so I can duplicate it. At present we are piping out the dishwasher and washing machine to the back area but we want to capture the water to water my big trees. Sheila L. Davis 7/24/2015 01:41:48 You're my hero. I hadn't even considered doing that. Maybe I'll save that for an August project. Greywater Defined & Greywater Tips According to greywateraction.org ... What? It is gently used water from your home. It may contain dirt, food, hair, grease, cleaning products, which makes it look grey - hence the name. Where? Water from sinks, showers, tubs, and washing machines When? Anytime, but don't store it more than 24 hours. Why? It is a safe and beneficial source of irrigation water AND saves on water bill P.S. It cannot be water that has contacted feces.. in case you were wondering. So, no toilet water. Basic Greywater Guidelines Greywater is different from fresh water and requires different guidelines for it to be reused.
Resource www.greywateraction.org What I learned : What graywater really is and isn't. It's one word, spelled: graywater or greywater. It's not just water from water bottles or clean water from the sink. It stinks if it sits too long. How I learned: through websites, blogs, YouTube, and library books. What I decided/answered questions: I need to do more research and find ways to keep costs low. New questions: Am I gonna be able to keep this up? I save the water from every shower and use a big 7-11 cup to scoop it into a storage container. There are too many steps. Nona Richard ([email protected]) Grey water! I love this post because it is right inline with what my family is doing to both save water and better use water in innovative ways. My dad connected the washing machine to a big blue plastic trash can so that the grey water, that is, the water that is normally sent to a storm drain after being used to wash clothes, can now be used to water our garden areas. He has this large blue trash can tub attached to a dolly so that no matter how heavy it is, he can transport the grey water to an area of the yard for its better second life as plant nurturer. It is wonderful that you are also including your family in this project. Keep us posted! Jessica Love( [email protected] ) 7/22/2015 01:14:01 Wow this is such a fascinating topic! I love it! Did you have some prior knowledge about greywater or is all of these new? Because I certainly didn't know about these options before! What inspired your interest in this topic? The drought? I'm super interested to see how it impacts your water bill. I just came from back from vacation in Pennsylvania and I stayed with a friend who lives on this huge river and they have the opposite of our situation. They have so much water they are scared it will flood. And get this- in their little town you have a set water bill. Everyone just pays the same amount! Isn't that crazy!? If only CA could get some of their water? Andrea Jacobs( [email protected] ) 7/22/2015 07:56:59 What a great idea. I've talked to my students about water conservation in science and some of them have shared that they re-use their water to help conserve. Do you have a lot of gardening that you can use this water on? The last couple of days of rain hopefully helped with adding to your collection! Jana( [email protected] ) 7/30/2015 15:01:00 Looks like you are doing all the right research. Like how you are including the whole family.
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Title: Rejuvenating a family garden, using recycled water.
Subtitle: Can a garden flourish during a time of San Diego drought? Team Members: Sheila Davis and my four children: Johnny Jones (18), Lina Davis (13), Zahi Davis (11), Olivia Davis (7) Needs/Opportunities: My garden was wilting even before we were in a drought. Can it be brought back to life with water conservation techniques and proper gardening care? Audience: Directly the audience and beneficiaries (if I’m successful) will be my family who will learn alongside me about water conservation and gardening. But, my wider audience will be my blog readers, Twitter Followers, gardeners, and fellow graduate students. Timeline: This project will cover a 5 week time scope. Week 1 – Take “before” footage to compare/contrast. Research water collection ideas and find a place to store collected water. Begin watering plants on a schedule. Week 2 – Research general good gardening practices, buy any tools/materials needed. Fertilize the soil. Plant new vegetables in garden alongside the existing vegetables. Week 3 – Field trip to the Water Conservation Park at Cuyamaca College. Interview “experts”. Week 4 – Continue gardening practices. Week 5 – Document plant/soil conditions. What PRODUCT will you have to show at the end of the five weeks? I will have a visibly growing, healthy vegetable garden. Reality Check - What expenses will be involved in your project, and how will you cover them? Miracle Grow, gardening tools, perhaps worms, container(s) to hold recycled water, watering can. I will buy them with my own funds. Wrap Up: I’m excited about this project because when we first bought our house I had a vision for my little garden. But, neglect and the drought killed the garden. I have a chance to bring it back to life with a family project which will also teach my kids about water conservation, gardening, and healthy eating. After much contemplation and feedback from Prof. Heil, I dumped my first two 20Time Project ideas and selected another.
Here is my brainstorm for Idea #3 (Rejuvenate my garden responsibly during a drought.) 1. What exactly is gray water? 2. How can I collect gray water and use it in my garden? 3. Will I compost for this project? 4. How labor intensive is composting? 5. Do I need special soil? 6. Will I need to fertilize? 7. Do I need to buy worms? 8. What will the cost be for supplies and equipment? 9. Do I need to buy or build containers? 10. What resources will I use - twitter, websites, books, people? 11. Is there a possibility of failure?
I read what others are thinking of doing. I've jumped from home improvement, to fitness, to technology related. There are my ideas: Idea #1 Help Hubby set up a Weebly site My husband, Rafael Deon Davis, is a Professor of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He teaches at two locations. He has a couple sponsors and an impending government contract to train the US Special Forces. Pretty cool, huh? The problem is he is not heavily into technology. He has talked about setting up a website, but has neither the time or patience to do it. Questions: 1. How much time would this take to set up? 2. Once it is set up, will my husband maintain it himself ? 3. Will we pay the additional money to have the extra features or use the free one? 4. I'm already sleep deprived, will this cause me to lose more sleep? 5. Will doing this project bring us closer together or cause friction? 6. Does he have final say over what goes on it or do I? 7. Can I teach him to set it up himself? 8. Should I take the extra time to teach him? 9. Do students featured on the website need to sign some kind of release form? 10. If so, do all the training contract agreements need to be modified? Idea #2 Set up a Website for our ESL Instructors Grossmont Adult School, where I teach, has a website. Some individual teachers have websites. But, we as the ESL Department do not have one. If we did, we could: post our calendar in one place, share our PLC materials/lesson plans/documents, have links to other Professional Development sources, and it would be ALL IN ONE PLACE. I am a fan of Google Drive, but sometimes it is really hard to find something in there. Questions: 1. How much time will this take to set up? 2. What internal tech resource people are available to me? 3. After it is set up, will I be the one to maintain it? 4. If others have access to it, will it become flooded like my Google Drive? 5. Do we need to set up "guidelines" as to what is permitted to be added? 6. Would this be a Weebly or would it be a part of the existing Adult School website? 7. Which teachers could participate in this project with me? 8. Are there outside sources I should consider? 9. Should I ask our administrator for her input or will this be mostly teacher driven? 10. Can I incorporate animation? Comments Sheila( [email protected] ) 6/16/2015 Can you do both? They both sound so beneficial. I guess I pick the hubbies website since I am now fascinated with his story and want to see pictures. How do you become a Professor of Jiu-Jitzu? Jacob Dominguez( [email protected] ) 6/16/2015 I would say since you already know how to set up a weebly and this is your own individual project for yourself. I would go with the second one. I still think the first one is a great idea but just looking at your weebly you seem to already know how to do it and I think you would finish to quickly to really get the 5 weeks you need out of the project I just find the second one can benefit the community as a whole and help you in the long run. Jaime Gonzalezlink( [email protected] ) 6/16/2015 I would definitely go with #2 just because it will directly affect your school and could be a nice team building project as well. You can involve and get everyone on the teams input. #1 is great but I think you can finish that in a few hours. Kelly Urena( [email protected] ) 6/24/2015 Sheila, way to go with technology!!! I agree with the others that I think the second project would have a greater global influence. Think of all of the teachers, and students that will benefit from having information in a central location. Good luck with which ever one you decide! 2 Comments
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AuthorGraduate student, wife, mother, and aspiring gardener. Archives
August 2015
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