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Saving water

HotchocolateloverHotchocolatelover Posts: 68
in Problem solving
instead of hose I save water from washing dishes and I am amazed how much simply went fine plug hole now I’m pouring this in larger container to then water shrubs as I used clean water to rinse dishes. My q is it ok to use soapy water to water plants 
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  • AchtungAchtung Posts: 159
    edited May 2019
    The advice is not to store grey water for more than 24 hours. Better to use right away. I was amazed how much water went down the plug hole while the shower was getting up to temperature. I get 2 gallons each time. 
  • HotchocolateloverHotchocolatelover Posts: 68
    Incredible and yet precious resource as we get cold weather these days but not much rain how do you save water from showering ok I use it up as soon as it’s full also I have installed water softener will soft water be ok to re use too 
  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    I have a rectangular bucket in the shower just beside me, and usually get half a bucketful. I don’t use soapy water for my veg, and try not to water the same plant with it all the time.  
  • SmudgeriiSmudgerii Posts: 185
    Achtung said:
    The advice is not to store grey water for more than 24 hours. Better to use right away.  
    Where is this advice from?
  • AchtungAchtung Posts: 159
    edited May 2019
    Smudgerii said:
    Achtung said:
    The advice is not to store grey water for more than 24 hours. Better to use right away.  
    Where is this advice from?
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/gardening-in-a-changing-world/water-use-in-gardens/using-grey-water

    @hotchocolatelover
    A lot of water softeners use salt. its best not to use grey water on your plants thats been softened with salt. HTH. 
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Hotchocolatelover said:
    Incredible and yet precious resource as we get cold weather these days but not much rain how do you save water from showering ok I use it up as soon as it’s full also I have installed water softener will soft water be ok to re use too 
    I'd check about using water which has been through a softener. I think it may be high in salt. Not saying it WILL before anyone jumps on me, but worth checking.
    Devon.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    edited May 2019
    @Hostafan1 Can't remember if I've said this on here before but I had a long discussion with a landscape architect about this. They wanted us to install a drip irrigation system for a huge roof garden and asked for the water to be softened. I queried it because, as you say, soft water can have quite high salinity. They said that clogging up the holes in the drip pipes was more of a problem and they didn't find soft water affected the plants. We made them write to us so we wouldn't be liable for dead plants - the fact that they did suggests they were confident it would not be a problem.

    Personally I'd not use it on anything too precious
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    We save the water when washing dishes, while it heats up, usually get a litre or two, use on container plants.
  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 Posts: 5,150
    A good informative link Achtung 👍, thanks for posting it.  I imagine a lot of gardeners resort to using grey water during times of drought like last years long hot summer.
  • AchtungAchtung Posts: 159
    YW Kitty.  :)
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