Grey water & biodegradable products

[Malk]

Hello all,

I was wanting to use my bath and washing up water in the garden - on flowers only. But how do you know which products are biodegradable and therefore safe to use on plants?

Things I'm wondering about Fairy Liquid, Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner and Radox bath salts (from my long soak after toiling at the plot).

We don't have a hosepipe ban up here in Scotland, but it seems a waste to throw out a bath of water when we haven't had rain for a few days and the plants would like an extra drink. So your help appreciated.

[peter]

Someone will doubtless know which issue of KG had it, but Bob Flowerdew did an article on this.

[Zena]

Didn't they mention this on Gardener's World last week? I wasn't paying much attention but seem to remember Monty Don talking about filtering washing up water before you use it? It might be worth checking out the website.....

[Mr Potato Head]

As far as I know, most products that you would consider using on your skin would be safe (in 'grey water') to use on your plants.

The main ones to avoid are things like household cleaning products / dishwasher water / washing machine water as these contain nastier stuff. (Don't ask me what the 'nastiness' is though!)

I know that technically, things like Ecover dishwasher tablets are biodegradable, but I'm not sure that this means that they'll be safe to use in grey water!

[Mr Potato Head]

Here's a handy link for some grey water info

[Malk]

Thanks Mr PH,

the link says 'Greywater from baths and showers can be used safely on most non-edible plants, provided it is applied to the soil rather than foliage and is not hot' which is what I needed to know.

Someone suggested at the plots that washing up liquid would be ok diluted as you use it against greenfly.

thanks all.

[Rubberman]

If I recall correctly, Monty Don's comment was something along the lines that as long as the detergents are non-biological, they will be OK for grey water use.

The idea of filtering is to remove larger particles of debris, grease, etc. (Hopefully not such a problem from bathwater, I'm not trying to defame anyone's character here!)

Hope this helps.

Rubberman

[Carole B.]

I think water from Dishwashers is strongly alkaline which is why it shouldn't go on soil.

[Mr Potato Head]

Dishwasher water does tend to have a lot of salt in it, it's probably not far off watering your plants with sea water!