Hello, John!
Thank you so much for your response to our conundrum! We are currently pondering your suggestion of a sealed outdoor system that returns the filtered water to the house....that is a really good idea...
When I say "PA code" I was referring to Pennsylvania State Department of Environmental Protection Code on the treatment of wastewater. Unfortunately, in PA code, they consider all wastewater, including kitchen, laundry, shower, and bathroom sink effluents, to be 'black water.' Many typical greywater treatment systems are illegal in Pennsylvania. Code officials generally advise for septic tanks~ where the black and greywater just all mix together. We really don't want to do that.
First, we don't want to dig. A septic tank requires a lot of disturbance to natural soils, and we want to have as little impact on our land as possible.
Second, we are aiming to achieve Living Building Challenge certification (
https://living-future.org/lbc/), so we need to find a way to treat all of our wastewater on-site. A septic tank however, requires regular pumping. And then the waste is taking to a wastewater treatment facility.
Third, we believe that greywater is a thing, and a valuable resource to be reused. This concept is a fairly foreign concept to our local community. Many here see greywater as 'gross,' and should just be sent to the septic with the black water.
If we can find a way to keep the treatment of all of our greywater
indoors, then we just
might be able to pass code. We do intend on using a Clivus Multrum Composting toilet system, so our human waste can become fertilizer (although, it still may be illegal to distribute our liquid fertilizer onto our land...we may have to create an additional absorption field for the fertilizer instead of actually using it...again, code). For our shower and bathroom sink water we are going to use a Hydraloop system (
https://www.hydraloop.com/). It is also indoors, and will treat and then reuse that greywater to flush our foam flush clivus multrums as well as wash our laundry. However, 50% of each load of laundry does need to be discharged. In the Hydraloop system's design, that 50% from each load is designed to go to a septic tank. But we won't have one, so we are hoping that we could send that effluent to our mulch basins instead. Any excess treated greywater from the Hydraloop will go to our greywater pillow which will be hooked up for outdoor use~ wash cars, irrigate garden, etc.
IF the indoor mulch basins could work out, then we may actually be able to keep all of our wastewater treatment indoors, giving us a better chance of meeting code! Fingers crossed! It would also allow us to reuse that treated greywater for our indoor greywater garden wall.
However!!! Your idea on a sealed system outside, that
does not enter the ground, and then returns the filtered water back to the indoor garden wall...is pertty genius...that might actually meet code if we do it right and can keep it warm in winter! We shall definitely continue to ponder that one.
Thank you again!!
