recycle hot shower water??

Grcesq · #1 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

1. Just got out of the shower (at home on land) and watched mostly clean water go down the drain.
2. Fresh water is a precious commodity, on board.
3. Showers feel good besides getting you clean.

Has anybody yet devised a system to recycle the hot/warm water from a shower so that you can take a longer one? Seems like it would just require a means of diverting or collecting the so-called waste water and pumping it back to a shower head. Let me know if I am being dumb or just need another margarita

sailingdog · #2 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

This is a really bad idea... recycling the grey water would make contaminating the fresh water supply almost guaranteed. It would likely also cause contamination of the water supply lines, worse than they already are. The grey water would be an excellent breeding ground for bacteria as well, and you'd have some in the recycling system more likely than not.

Grcesq · #3 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

I was thinking more of having like 2 gallons of shower water recirculating and then dumping it as usual, not sending it back to the holding tank. I have not had THAT many margaritas....

sailingdog · #4 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

That's what I'm talking about as well...recirculating the shower water for the duration of the shower and then dumping it as usual. Unless you set it up to fill a separate tank that holds the water for the shower, you'd have to run the recirculation line into the fresh water system... and that risks contaminating the entire system.

If you go with the separate tank setup, it still will need to be cleaned thoroughly after each shower or become a superfund biohazard site rather quickly.

smackdaddy · #5 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

Actually - that's an interesting idea Grc. As showers seem to be the biggest waste of fresh water, it's worth thinking about.

The big issue as I see it would be the crap (soap, shampoo, Gericurl, Maple Syrup, etc.) that would cycle back into the water heater. How would you get around that?

(PS - Dog you just drastically changed your post! Cheater.)

CaptainForce · #6 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

I think Grcesq has a valid idea and I'm surprised by the assumptions in the responses above that imply the recycled water would have to be returned to a water heater, reservoir or original tank. Nothing would prevent a shunt in the drain from being pumped back above to an adjacent shower nozzle that could be flushed with the last clean rinse of original source water. A sump pump with eight feet of hose and a second shower head could do this with less biological risk than the pool side jacuzzi that is recycling great volumes of water with several people seated within. 'take care and joy, Aythya crew

smackdaddy · #7 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

Hey cap - I guess I was thinking your water temp would go down pretty quickly unless it was passing back through the heater. But, then again, unless it was a tankless heater (which is still kind of mysterious technology to me), I guess it wouldn't have enough time anyway to re-heat.

So, how do you avoid the water going cold within a couple of minutes if you're recycling from the drain to the head. I love the idea of having several ladies seated within the shower with me, but I'm not sure that was the original idea.

CaptainForce · #8 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

I assumed the recyled water would be sprayed along with the virgin water and the temperature moderated by the "showeree" or your "showerettes" in the same manner that anyone would select their mix of hot and cold.

smackdaddy · #9 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

Ahh...I get it. Not a bad idea. It would definitely help dilute the Gericurl.

Deadhead · #10 (**permalink**) 04-10-2010

Easiest way to conserve the fresh water is to get wet (see the shower), shut off the water, lather up, rinse, repeat if necessary. I don't see any benefit (and there are several hygienic drawbacks) to collect and reuse the wastewater from the shower stall - gray water or not.

I have designed recycling systems that collect wastewater, treat it to a fairly high level, disinfect it, then recycle the treated water as flush water makeup to toilets and urinals. It is only cost effective when you have an application such as an office building, sporting venue, or similar non-residential type situation in which the largest wastewater sources are toilets/urinals. Overall discharge can be reduced up to 95%.

And don't forget the George Castanza factor . . .