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Lemna (Duckweed) and greywater for watering my food garden

 
gardener
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I was wondering if I ran my greywater (showers, laundry, dishes) through a holding/settling tank and let lemna (duckweed) work on it, could I then use it to water my Rain Gutter Gardening System plants and be able to eat the results safely? I have two 375 gallon 'fish safe' lifts (liquid transport containers that are 40x48x48" tall, and fit on a pallet) that I could send the water to, with tops cut off, for the lemna to work on then tap those for the gardening water.

Comments, please? Thanks in advance.

 
pollinator
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Location: Zone 10a, Australia
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Interesting question! I think duckweed is best planted in shallow containers. What will you do in winter? Duckweed does not grow so well in winter. Will you bucket the water or will you pump it?
 
Deb Rebel
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Still working on how to move the water around. I also do fancy goldfish and koi as house and pond fish, so I have the ability to winter a culture of duckweed. I would only be using the duckweed about 7 months of the year, the rest of the time it can freeze and kill the greens. And I do not want to have to dedicate warmspace for this.
 
Angelika Maier
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Poor fish! But we have tadpoles in our system. Maybe there are animal who like greywater??
 
Deb Rebel
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Fish are looking well and getting fat for their winter hibernation. Some are wintered in pond (about 5 thousand gallons) and some in other situations. Some get to winter in 'warm area' so it depends on what kind. Only thing is if they can get to the duckweed they will eat it. All of it. So fish can be in the system but they and the duckweed have to be separated. I have had good luck with using duckweed in their filtering system to help remove ammonia, nitrates and nitrites.

Tadpoles are my bane, as that means I have screaming frogs in my pond all summer. They don't croak, they sound like a 4 month old baby with a full diaper, totally furious and scream-crying, lungful after lungful. The frogs will also eat baby fish. Midnight wades with a small flashlight in my teeth and a net and 5 gallon pail to catch the fist sized frogs to release them far far away is no fun. I have no water moccasins or the like but with reeds and that, I have plenty of spiders to worry about.

I'm cleaning for fall cropping so will get back to this in the early spring. Will keep you updated.
 
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