Laundry water: Can you use it to water your lawn and fruit trees?

Question

If you use detergents like " TIDE"

Answer 1

You have to filter it first. It's referred to as gray water and is allowed in certain states. Here is some more info/reading for you....

http://www.oasisdesign.net/greywater/law/

Answer 2

Tide is very strong.... for the time being, change to something a little softer, like Purex..... and yes, you can water stuff with this too-often -wasted water!!... the last drought we had here in NC, I had my washer hooked up to a clear plastic tubing that ran out the kitchen window to a kiddie pool... from there, a fountain/pond pump pumped it out a hose to my plants... the wash water went to the big trees and shrubs and the rinse water *no softener!!* went to the smaller plants..... you cannot SAVE this water, it must be used immediately... there's bacteria in it that would grow if saved..... don't use water with bleach in it.... let that go to the sewer....
make sure you use the clear plastic tubing that is the same size as the outlet hose on your washer.... and you'll need something outside that will handle thirty gallons of water....a 55 gallon barrel is good, too, but make sure you use the water right then!!....set a barrel up so that there's a drain at the bottom and a hose fitting and you might not need the pump!!.... set it up on blocks, too and get that extra gravity push......

Answer 3

Not really a good idea. Depending on the kind of detergent you use you would be adding too much phosphate. You would be better off making a cistern and collecting rain water. (Unless you live where I do in North Carolina where we haven't had rain since I don't know when!)

Answer 4

The soap is going to hurt the trees. It needs cleaned out first.

Answer 5

I would think the soap would be damaging to fruit trees, but you also have to think about when it gets wet again it would be slippery being also dangerous.

Answer 6

Regular water is probably better. You don't really want chemicals going into your plants.