How is Grey Water Recycled?
Since grey water is less contaminated than black water it is much easier to treat and recycle. Nonetheless, grey water is still a pollution and health hazard and should always be treated before domestic use. There are a number of ways that grey water can be treated on islands using natural biological principals. These natural or “soft” island grey water filtration systems include reed beds and living walls. A reed bed is an artificial wetland constructed to provide small scale sewage treatment. The grey water trickles through the reed bed and is rapidly cleaned by the extensive root systems and its associated microorganisms who use the sewage for growing. The result is an extremely clean effluent. A living wall is a vertical garden where plants are rooted in a fibrous material which is anchored to the wall. Grey water trickles down between the sheets and feeds the moss, vines and other plants. Bacteria which grow on the roots metabolize impurities. More advanced living walls may also u
