Recycling water is something I'm quite sure that most gardeners and allotmenteers do anyway - but for those of you who don't - there's help to get from this article. If you're already recycling water in your garden or on your allotment plot - keep reading though! You may still learn something.
The obvious thing to do - when recycling water - is to collect rainwater from the roof of your house, shed(s) and greenhouse(s). If you haven’t got a gutter fitted already - or if you're not diverting water from an existing gutter - it’s not a big job to do. In the long run it will save you a lot of time - and money if you pay for your water as per usage - not having to fill your water butts from the mains supply.
If you have a large area under roof - you may consider linking up a number of water butts. You can easily do this by connecting the overflow from your first water butt to the bottom of the next one, using a piece of hose pipe. Gravity will do the rest.
Another way of recycling water is to use the much underused ressource of grey water. Grey water is defined as water, previously used in the home, for washing and bathing. It’s easy to reuse this water in your garden or on your allotment plot, as long as you adhere to a few simple rules:
- Never re-use water containing strong chemicals or detergents (ie from a dishwasher), as it’s too contaminated. Water from baths and showers is fine.
- Always allow the water to go cold before re-using it
- Use grey water in different places in your garden or on your plot.
- Never use it on edible crops or leaves
Karsten Madsen is the webmaster of http://www.allotmenteer.co.uk - an online community in the making for allotment gardeners and vegetable growers - where you can pick up tips on all things related to having your own vegetable plot.
Source: www.articlecity.com
