new permaculturalist :)

hey folks

i have been on here for awhile and love it!

i'm a carpenter thats out of work

so i have done a PDC and have 2.5 hectares. I have dropped a 10' X 36' mobile on the land. I have done a donkey care course and plan to have them work the land(instead of a tractor... very permaculture!) but have to build a stable for them first... a green building is the plan
I have some of the raw materials for a polytunnel, Thermal mass rocket stove, reed bed grey water treatment system.
I have built some raised beds beside mobile home and picked up a load of bio-mass willow to plant in the coming weeks.
the reed bed system i find hard to get plans/ideas on the interweb for
but have put up a post explaining the containers i have for the job so any advise would be great!

other then that i'd just like to say howaya from north county dublin! and i'm only 10minutes from dublin airport so if anyone is making a visit to ireland... let me know.. pic up from the airport for a visit to my farm(well the beginins of one!) is no problem and sure theres always a spot to sleep!

again this site is class!

stuie

The reed bed system might not be the easiest or best system for greywater, you might want to consider a mulch pit system.

Here's a good resource for greywater information:  http://oasisdesign.net/greywater/index.htm

The most important thing to remember about greywater is that it must never be stored in a container, because if it is, it turns into blackwater. 

Stuie,  it sounds like you are off to a good start.  Just watched Quiet Man with John Wayne last night, I would love to visit Ireland!

Post some pics of your donkeys sometime, they are wonderful animals.

ah right i was thinkin of goin the container route as i didnt want to have the grey water goin into a pit/into the water table until it was treated a least... il check that website out ludi thanks... well it'll be a while before i get pics of donkeys as i have to build the stable before they are delivered!

but shawn il get pics up as soon as i get them!

and yes ireland is beautiful

H Ludi Tyler wrote:
The most important thing to remember about greywater is that it must never be stored in a container, because if it is, it turns into blackwater. 

Yep, unless the container is a pond or tub with a small wetland ecosystem. 

A container for a reed bed is  fine, but storing greywater in a tank is a bad idea, as I learned the hard way.  

You might have more success finding information about reed bed systems if you search "constructed wetland"

http://www.constructedwetland.co.uk/

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/DD7671.html

well i was planning to have purple loosestrife, sedge, rush, yellow iris and cattail in the containers... so the containers are 600mm deep, 600mm wide and 1600mm long... i was thinking that stones and then organic matter coulped with the plant life would do the job...  then have a flow from the bottom of container 1 to container 2 and fingers crossed clean water from the end of container 2... but yup more research needed!

I love the idea of marsh/reedbed water treatment.  My climate is quite dry so I have used the mulch pit and still did not produce enough water to grow plants well (I hope eventually to add the shower water to the bed, so far it is only laundry water).

Here's a website and book which has lots of interesting ideas about wastewater treatment including flush composting toilet with worm box:  http://www.solviva.com/wastewater.htm

Worm farm wastewater system:  http://poormanguides.blogspot.com/2009/06/update-on-worm-farm-composter_10.html

  in regards to standing enclosed grey water becoming blackwater....

What if you wanted it for directed watering, so storing it was more desirable... do you think that oxygenating the water would work? like with aquarium pump? atleast enough to give you a day or two to get out and use the water where you want?

jaysis! its a whole degree i'll need ta get me head around all this reed bed systems!

think if i just go make one up and trail it... the big question(amoung loads of other questions!) is if i keep the level of water below the gravel but high enough so the roots of the plants can still get at the water... how far below the level of gravel should i keep the water level!?

but thanks folks for all yer help... plenty more research before i go making a mess of it me thinks!

but this site is top of the pops!

SILVERSEEDS wrote:
  in regards to standing enclosed grey water becoming blackwater....

What if you wanted it for directed watering, so storing it was more desirable... do you think that oxygenating the water would work? like with aquarium pump? atleast enough to give you a day or two to get out and use the water where you want?

I think that might help., because as far as I know it is the anaerobic bacteria which turn it into a black smelly mess.  Might be worth a try.

Stuie welcome mate. I miss Ireland, great permaculture land. You are blessed with abundant, gentle rainfall.  Ive never been around Dublin but I have been north from Shannon along the Donnegal-Galway coastline. Good people there and damn good pubs!!