Grey water recycling system

Hello everyone.

I have built a tiny home and living off grid and need help designing a cheap water recycling system that wont require much maintenance.  I am looking at recycling my shower and sink water just for the purpose of showering and basic water needs. I will have potable water for drinking.  I don't get a lot of rain where I'm from but will incorporate it into the system.  I'm looking at setting up a system that doesn't break the bank.  Please check out my diagram and give me any feedback please.  I have been researching a little bit and found that ultra-violet light kills bacteria.  Do I need a light on each of my holding tanks, and if so should they be on all the time or could they be on a timer? Should the lights be a certain wattage or would any light work?  I was thinking of putting a chunk of charcoal in each tank as well. I was heard some floating plants will help, or possible a sand filter.  I may be completely out to lunch so I thought I would get some feedback on this design.

Thanks in advance.

Gregg

To filter and sanitize enough that you won't end up with stinky water is tricky. Most people I know that have tried end up giving up because they could never sanitize sufficiently to eliminate the odor.

Theoretically a slow sand filter done right can purify the water sufficiently that it might even be potable. In practice? I dunno. When people say slow, they really mean it. BTW, I found this quite interesting: http://en.howtopedia.org/wiki/How_to_Filter_Water_with_a_Sand_Filter

But your thinking around the UV gives me pause. First, UV only works when the water is quite close to the bulb, which limits how much you can do (and yes, wattage does matter). In a vessel of even a few gallons it won't sanitize all the water unless it's continuously circulating -- you can buy inline UV filters for this purpose, but they always seemed outrageously expensive to me. Maybe you can find one cheap. If you ask me, UV sanitization systems are hugely over-rated and frought with difficulties but my experience with them is limited. I do have a lot of experience with ozone, which might be an option if the UV doesn't work out.

If I were in your shoes (and not wanting strictly potable water) I'd find an old pool sand filter and see what happens just with that. If there is odor then look at your options.

Gregg, welcome to permies!  Your house is beautiful!

When it comes to grey water systems kitchen sinks are different than bathroom sinks.  Water from kitchen sinks are considered black water in some places and not allowed to be release into a landscape.  I have seen systems with filters to catch the organic matter from kirchen sinks, this part needs to be well planned out.

http://greywateraction.org/contentabout-greywater-reuse/
Has lots of good info and links.

Some things to remember are:
You want to take the most advantage of gravity
System that dump into troughs with mulch satisfy the need to release grey water below ground, in the mulch, and can be easily integrated into a garden