You’ve rolled up your sleeves and scrubbed all the filth off those dishes. Now you’re left with a sink full of murky water that would normally be washed down the drain. Not so fast!
Why not dig out your watering can, fill it up and use that water on your flower garden. Sprinkler season is in full effect, but turn them off for a bit and use the water that would otherwise go to waste. Two birds, one stone.
Does anyone else do this?
~Mavis
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Julie Watson says
What about the dishsoap?
Matia says
I have a bucket in the shower to catch the warm up water and use it to fill the washer or water flowers or flush the toilet
Stacy says
I have done this for years…always have a 5 gallon bucket in the shower. The dish water/rinse water is also re-used, normally to just flush. Why not use it twice…after all, it’s the same water going down the same drain pipe to the same septic system.
As someone else already posted….two birds, one stone.
Kirsten G. says
The soap isn’t bad for your plants?
Deanna says
not if you use biodegradable which most dish soaps are
Constance says
We live on a farm since of course you couldn’t do this anywhere else … but … all our non-septic water drains into our orchard to connect with pipes to the trees. We started this years ago with just the kitchen drain but as we gradually replaced old pipes with new pvc ones, we connected them all to the pipe to the orchard. (washer, dishwasher, bathroom sink, kitchen sink).
Deanna says
It takes a bit to set up but we recycle our washing machine water Wash water with soap gets pumped out to the yard. The rinse water is returned to the washer for the next load. This reduces the amount of soap you need to use also. At 20 gallons a cycle it adds up when you have to pay for water, reduces the liquid that goes into the septic tank, and keeps the lawn/plants maintained
Steve Morton says
That is a good idea. Can you give some more details on how your system is setup? I would like to try the same with my washer.
Ellen C. says
We live east of San Diego and started using 5 gallon buckets in our deep kitchen sink to capture water when we were all mandated to reduce water usage. There are only 2 of us but I am always amazed how much water we retrieve. That used to go down the drain! We are using it to water a small asian pear tree that has never produced any viable fruit in the past. This year it actually has fruit! and I attribute it to the regular kitchen sink water it gets. I also rinse pasta over the bucket, dump any water used to boil potatoes or pasta into the bucket and the water used to rinse out the recyclables goes into the bucket as well. The little tree doesn’t seem to mind. We also piped our washing machine water out to the front yard a few years ago when gray water stopped being demonized. My next goal is to get rain water storage set up.
Jenny says
Completely off the subject but, I grew up in El Centro!
Lesley says
I’m lucky enough to have a well on my property (old farmhouse in the middle of town), so I use that to connect to my hose for plants. I love not worrying about paying for that water. I do, however, collect any water that runs while I’m waiting for it to heat up (for showers or dishes, etc); that water I pour into our Brita pitcher to drinks once it’s filtered.
Mavis, looking forward to hearing about your yard sale and whatever your next big adventure is!
Judy Johnson says
We live in the high desert of Southern California and have recycled our washing machine water to the back acre to water fruits trees for over twenty years. The trees do very well, and as another reader mentioned, it keeps all that water out of the septic tank. During the current drought, we have been using a bucket in the sink to capture just about all of the water used in the kitchen. Very little goes down the drain, and for an added bonus, we have had several very productive tomato bushes spring up amid the front yard landscaping. Yes, this is a very good idea.
Shawn M says
I rarely use my dishwasher, but I do use the water from my dehumidifier to water my garden and also add it to my washing machine!