I can’t recall if you included a settling tank in your greywater system. If not, I would add this to filter out the larger debris. Of course this would have to be maintained on a regular basis (monthly?), but it should reduce the amount of clogged waste. When raising the outflow pipe make sure to install a geotextile filter fabric than a resistant large cobble in the splash zone from the source. This will #1 hold fabric in place until plants can populate the area and #2 prevent further erosion and plunge pool development from overland flow. I would most definitely plant some wetland plants in the swale you dug (at the end of the rock area housing the end of the pipe). Let the plants do the water moving for you.
Interesting update on the gray water system. You did good cleaning and research. You must have changed your introduction to your video, no music at the beginning. I prefer the old one, LOL! Oh well, I hope your family has a great Christmas and New Year.
Thanks for the reply! Yeah I'll bring back the music for the usual videos, I just figured these worm composting videos bring a different audience that wants to just cut to the information.
I think creating a dropdown for the pipe along with an L bend fitting should help with the clogging. The bottom of the dropdown area would be gravel bedding then soil on top. If you plant wetlands plants that would filter the ground faster as well.
Most people don't follow up on things like this and I really appreciate that you do. Right now we are doing bucket composting toilets and this seems like a whole lot less trouble. We are 4 people and are emptying buckets weekly which gets old fast. I saw that you said you didn't run grey water through the worm bin but why not? Certainly seems there are plenty of worms at the end of the pipe. I don't recall seeing in the other video on if you ever need to remove worm castings or liquid or is that coming out with the grey water? Thanks again for the videos you did on this system, I plan to try and make my own in the coming months.
Thanks for the kind words! I think running the greywater system through the worm tank would be too disruptive to the worms, and increase the chance of accidentally drowning them. I'd rather play it safe and prevent the large volume of water from laundry, shower, etc. going through there.
You need trench covers over the pipe to stop the dirt from getting in the hole and more fall will help. Then all so need to add a disruption tank and have 3 pipes coming out of that. Heaps of diagrams on google images mate.
Thank you for all the videos. Just venturing out on my own homestead, off grid system and this is a lifesaver. I expect one person will be fine with one 275 gallon tank? But having 2 is a great safe guard for anything going wrong! Where did you get your worms to start? I saw you already had then in 5 gallon buckets when you started but did you just start with what you could find or buy them? All suggestions appreciated❤. You guys ROCK
I think one person would be totally fine with a single tank, yes. We started bucket worm composting years ago, just by collecting some red worms. If you go out and dig around I bet you could find enough red worms to start, otherwise maybe craigslist for red wrigglers? You can do it, go for it!
Seems like you need to include a septic pump system(compressed air) to release all the particle waste from your drainage pipes. Do you spray with Bocashi or L.A.B? OR has a varied seasonal weather system. During the Fall & winter months the temperatures in the pipes can create clogging events to occur. Joop & Julia's vermicomposting toilet/gray water system is something to study cause it seems their Wendy Howard system is draining well. Thanks for posting.
On the farm we used a Lilly patch to help absorb the grey water . With the amount of worm in the ground the Lilly would overtake the area parity quick.
Awesome update - really great to see follow up videos that deal with unforeseen issues. These are gold for people designing and maintaining their own systems so keep em coming! One thing you might want to consider with your graywater is to reduce the diameter of your pipe run. Somewhat counterintuitively, this results in better flow for intermittent particulate laden discharges you get with graywater. With a larger pipe the volume of water isn't big enough fill right across the full diameter so can't stop the particulates from settling on the bottom of the pipe and you end up with islands of gunk that collect more and more waste, eventually blocking the pipe. Smaller pipe gets filled full width with a pulse of water that keeps everything moving and stops particles from settling out. As mentioned by others - Create an Oasis with Graywater by Art Ludwig is a fantastic reference for this concept and you'll also find ideas for your pipe terminations, such as mulch basins with perforated buckets.
Sorry...was typing this as I watched...you already came to the same conclusion in 2nd part. Might as well post this so you know someone is paying attention ;) Try exit water onto big pile of big rocks...lots of big spaces to keep out ward flowing water from clogging spaces downward and big spaces with air to keep roots from growing upward. And I'm sure you know...the steeper the fall, the better. Could build a willow living tunnel over the trench for aesthetics...roots take up nutrients...but make tunnel big enough you can walk in for maintenance But, per your previous videos, isn't something going wrong with the in bin filter that hair is getting out the pipe?
Thanks for your thoughts! The greywater doesn't go through the tank, so hair from the shower is expected to come straight out the other end of the greywater system.
The big tank idea, or switching often between tanks, what about the final cleanout? Sooner or later you will need to empty the tank completely and start over again. I think I would prefer a 2 tank solution that day, not filling any humanure for a good time before emptying one of the tanks. I have only experience in compsting of ordinary manure / lots of other stuff, i have not tried anything like this. Thanks for this videoseries. I really enjoyed that you had gathered video for a long period and showed the Progress over the year. Thanks!
@@bsod5608 1 aspect of vermicomposting humanure is that the intense bacterial and worm decomposition renders most of the inflows into water soluble outflows. And so the experience has been that the tank almost never fills up because the majority of the matter becomes water soluble and flows out . An advantage of using a water based sewage system. There are waterless systems that turnout full on pathogen free potting soil/compost by turning a crank if water needs to be preserved and/or leach field/trench isn't an option. This would also never need to be emptied as the inputs are automaticalky taken out as a desired product.
@@bsod5608 Thanks for the kind words. The goal is that the worms process the waste into material that is water soluble, and it slowly drains out of the tank. If this process is working correctly, I won't have to do a "final cleanout" and empty the tank. So far it's working in that way; in future years if I find I have to empty the tank, I'll say so, but that's not the plan.
Hey, Great follow up content. I just thought I'd second the idea for a below grade dry well terminus for the grey water pipe. I might have done this from the beginning in lieu of perf pipe, though it would also most likely need periodic maintenance. Also, you may want to search for grey water systems manuals from Art Ludwig who innovated multiple designs of varying complexities including to meet southern California building codes. Good luck and keep up the great work!
Have you ever done a soil analysis or some kind of checking? Does the area have some nasty bacteria from the black water? Or does the worms do all the work and its safe there?
@@Green_Heart_Family_Farm I didnt check all the videos, do you harvest the stuff from the bins? Are they close to be full? Whats the plan when you dont have enough space in them? I'd love to see a video about these plans.
Great video! This is just a thought, so take it or leave it, but what if to clear more space for your grey water output, you dug a bit of a hole and then put a "holey" bucket inside and had the pipe drain into the empty bucket. That way all of the sludge would have plenty of room to get away from the end of the pipe and will just gradually seep into the ground nearby. Then you can just cover the top with rocks like you currently have it. Thanks for your informative video on your system.
