New challenging idea: Recycled Water

[Dem0072]

So I was watching "The Martain" about a week ago and it got me to thinking, I understand a lot of people have created home brew filter mechanisms to re-purpose water for various uses, such as irrigating flowers or lawns. I also know that there are filtration systems such as reverse osmosis which basically strip water back to its basic composition. And I also know there's a lot of people who live in small cities or towns that constantly fail their water quality tests and they live to tell about it.

With all of that in mind, I started doing some homework on what it would require to recycle water for showers, laundry and possibly sink usage. Then I came across this: https://showerloop.org/

Was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this? The system can keep up with a household flow of water (2.5gpm) based on about a 5 gallon reservoir. So I thought, as long as you didn't try to run everything at once, could a system like this with a 45 gallon fresh water tank unlock some impressive conservation capabilities and extend a persons off-grid time by a considerable amount? And if so, knowing diesel fuel, dump station fees and water refill fees at places like parks can add up I wonder what the break-even point would be with a setup like this.

I'd also be curious about chemical testing recycled water after putting it through a distiller filtration system for trace elements of things like soaps, chemicals or contaminants.

Is it possible to strike water mule off the list of Skoolie lifestyle chores?

[Sehnsucht]

I like the idea because shower water is usually the least contaminated type of gray water so easiest to refilter either on-demand or in-transit. I think it would require an entirely separate water loop from the other water-using fixtures though so plan the layout accordingly.

[Dem0072]

I've thought the same. Using a urine diverter on a composting toilet to a separate dump tank as the final egress of the cycle. I think as long as a general sink debris strainer was used, and you had the sediment filter kicking in, with sand, charcoal and the UV filter, sink water would be alright for recycling for clothes washing / showers / dishes.

Water treatment centers begin with a pretty disappointing product and end up piping it to houses as tap water. So comparatively, the product can't be worse than what comes out of the tap.

[Inner Love]

Look at how pools recirculate and filter their water. Dead skin, dust, plant cells, sweat, oils and sometimes urine is removed from the water in low concentrations continuously.

There’s also cheap ceramic filters for slow drip filtration.

If you can devise an economical (low maintenance and consumables costs) water recycling system for shower and bath water, lots of people would consider adding that system in their bus.

[neversayneverbus]

I plan on doing my reverse osmosis for drinking from my freshwater tank, and having the discharge go back to the freshwater tank and powering it by a pressure pump. But I had never considered pulling anything from the gray water tank.

I suppose if you used a paper prefilter to get the big stuff and a sand filter like a pool uses to filter the water you could put that in a loop for showers and laundry. But depending on what chemicals you use to wash your body and your laundry, I'm not sure how you would remove them from the system for continued loops usage. Charcoal and other media would work, but you would be trading one consumable for another. And fresh water would probably be easier to find and replace than charcoal.

The best idea is to know that you will use X amount of water per shower or laundry, and reuse that water a few times, before putting it in the gray water tank. Then if you notice the water getting nasty you could flush it to the gray water and refill.