My homemade reedbed

The Design

I wanted the system to be low maintenance and durable. It also had to be aesthetically pleasing, sustainable and capable of providing adequate clean water supplies during the increased period of drought that may be experienced due to global warming. The site is relatively flat with only a slight fall towards the top of Figure 1 ‘The Site before start’ below. To minimise the energy requirement of the system as much as possible, it had to be gravity fed. However, it ultimately had to be landscaped into the garden so some pumping was going to be necessary.

The previous research indicated the there were two basic configurations, surface and sub-surface flow, with the later being further divided into, horizontal flow and vertical flow. The sub-surface configuration is thought to be better for temperate climates, especially during winter, as the water flows through the substrate, thereby staying warmer and more efficient. To have a sub-surface vertical flow configuration would involve having outlets at the bottom of the tubs, which would necessarily involve burying pipe work, access chambers and making holes in the bottom of an otherwise water tight vessel. It would also require a relatively complex distribution system for the grey water. A sub-surface horizontal system has similar difficulties with respect to the outlet but without the inlet difficulties. I considered that the sub-surface configuration imported too much risk of failure overtime and the buried pipe work and access chambers unnecessarily complicated for the relatively small gains offered by sub-surface flow configuration compared to surface flow. The surface flow configuration has the water flow above the substrate, through the reeds, and is more similar to natural wetlands. The reduced efficiency during winter can be countered by having a larger area, together with the ability to switch to normal direct discharge into the sewers if required. Therefore the surface flow configuration was adopted.

I also considered having all of the main tubs at exactly the same level so as to provide the infinity pool type look, but decided that this was impracticable, and less attractive than gently flowing water from one tub to the next, until quietly disappearing underground.

Another significant design criteria was that the system had to be operational, at least in part, in the shortest possible time and preferably before the hose pipe ban came into force. The project was therefore done in distinct phases.

The photograph Figure 1 ‘The Site before start’ below, shows the hose pipe being put to good use, marking out the edge of the development. Several shapes and locations within the garden were considered using this technique. This is the final location but not the ultimate layout. This also represents the ‘before’ photo.

Figure 1 ‘The Site before start’
The location needed to be relatively close to the house for piping the waste water from the bathroom to the surge tank. It is necessary to have a surge tank to capture a bath full of waste water, and then to allow it to flow at a regulated speed through the system so as to allow the natural processing to take place. Consideration also had to be given for the wellbeing of the plants, such that they would not always be in the shadow of the house.

The bird feeder would have to be relocated. There would be a significant loss of grass and the washing line capacity would be reduced.

Another consideration was what to do with the excavated material. I did not want the normal hole and hill, nor did I want to have to cart the material off site. Adjacent to the site, also near the house, there is an old brick built shed.

The solution adopted was to increase the thermal mass and insulation of the shed by creating a turf wall near the shed and back filling the intervening space with the sub-soil excavated. The topsoil was stockpiled for use elsewhere in the garden. The shed wall was protected with two layers of waterproof membrane to avoid damp penetration. In turn the waterproof membrane was protected by reused expanded cardboard to reduce the risk of puncture by broken flints, primarily during construction and settlement. This additional wall also incorporated an old fashioned cistern arrangement which captures all of the rain water from the shed into open water. This overflows into the reed bed system.

It is planned that eventually the shed will also be re-roofed with a living roof. Combined this will provide a much reduced visual impact to the shed together with the benefits of a larger planted area.

The pumps necessary for irrigation circulation and to lift the reclaimed water from the sump pump chamber, the lowest part of the system, to the water storage are electric. In addition to this there is a small 12v fountain in the lowest tub, which now contains fish, and a pump to power the waterfall. Both the waterfall and the fountain are primarily for aesthetics, visual and sound, but they also provide additional aeration and agitation as a by-product. The electricity for the pumps is generally provided by two 18w photoelectric panels feeding a 12v 110Ah deep cycle leisure battery. The 12v supply from the battery is converted to the required 240v by a Sterling 600W inverter. The sump pump has to be connected to the mains to avoid the continuous use of electricity required by the standing current of the inverter if it was left on all of the time. The sump pump operates automatically by float switch which activates as soon as the sump pump chamber nears capacity and therefore requires a constant supply. The electrical requirement for the sump pump is however offset by the reduction in both the water requirement and the sewerage processing, which are intensive power consumers. Hence, despite not being fully power self sufficient, it is better than carbon neutral, it has reduced our overall carbon footprint.

The rate of flow required through the system has to be slow enough to process the water but not so slow for the water to become stagnant. It also has to be fast enough to deal with the input of grey water on a daily basis and ultimately to provide sufficient surplus to provide adequate stored water for later use. The research revealed that 1-2 square metres of reed beds are required per person to process black water but not the rate of flow through the system for grey water.

The solution was to experiment within phase one of the project.

As previously stated, pollutants and pathogens are removed from the waste water flowing through a reed bed by a complex variety of physical, chemical and biological processes, including aerobic and anaerobic microbial activity, nitrification, plant uptake, sedimentation, precipitation and filtration

The waste water treatment is outlined below;

• suspended solids settle to the bottom in still water or are filtered by the substrates and plants
• organic material is broken down by microbes that live on the roots and rhizomes
• nitrates can be taken up by the plants, or they can be transformed by denitrifying bacteria to nitrogen gas
• ammonia is transformed by bacteria to nitrates
• phosphorus precipitates with calcium, iron and aluminium compounds and is subsequently removed by sedimentation and absorption to the soil and by plant uptake
• metals and toxic chemicals are removed by oxidation, precipitation and plant uptake
• pathogens die off in inhospitable environment and are ingested by other organisms, or are killed off by antibacterial compounds.

The desktop research indicated which plants would be suitable in terms of their ability to deal with different pollutants and pathogens and to process the grey / black waste water. The environment required to carry out the water treatment outlined above could be achieved within a small site with careful design, construction and selection of plants.
Additional requirements that I wanted included, that the mixed varieties should be aesthetically pleasing, readily available, manageable, some flowering, indigenous, generally of UK origin and hardy. Such a mix of plants would inevitably have different size, spread and rates of growth. One of the listed plants is bulrushes. If they were not constrained they would quickly overrun most of the other plants. The use of separate tubs, and careful selection of which plants share tubs should eradicate this problem.

Go back to the top of this tab in this article

Go to the next tab in this article

Design development

The design development and phase one of construction involved commissioning one tub only and testing the plants ability to process the water.

Figure 2 – ‘Phase 1 – The first filling’
The first tub, with a water capacity before planting of 370lts, was placed in the excavation on a thin bed of sharp sand. Layers of large and medium sized stones recovered from the excavation were placed into the tub followed by a bag of pea shingle. This was topped off by a layer of topsoil, previously stockpiled, as the primary growing medium for the plants. This reduced the water capacity by approximately 150lts. The waste pipe from the bath / shower was cut and a low pressure water switch installed. One arm was returned to the waste stack and the other lead to the first tub, later the surge tank. Joints and fittings were checked and the test system declared ready.

Figure 3 – ‘Phase 1 – The first filling’
Figures 2 & 3 – ‘Phase 1 – The first filling’ shows the first tub just after the first full filling. The water capacity at this stage represented bath / showers for the whole family. A mixture of reeds, flags and water hyacinth was obtained from the local garden centre and planted as show in Figure 4 – ‘Phase 1 – Planted, landscaped and operational’.

Figure 3A – ‘Phase 1 – Planting begins.
David putting in the first plants. Water hyacinth, a free-floating perennial, but not hardy.

Figure 4 – ‘Phase 1 - Planted, landscaped and operational’
The density of initial planting was relatively low so as to allow for growth, and to reduce costs in plant acquisition. The suction pipe of the irrigation circulation pump can be seen lying adjacent to the white waste water pipe which supplies the tub. Grey water provided in the morning was distributed in the evening which emulated a tidal effect. The plants in the tub quickly established themselves providing daily clear water fit for irrigation. The trial was considered a success.
The stone chips of the herb bed were extended as part of the landscaping.

Figure 5 – ‘Phase 1 - Planted, landscaped and operational’
Grey water provided in the morning clears quickly during the day. Not totally clear but a noticeable improvement.

 Figure 5A – ‘Phase 1 - Sun on clearing water’
Four days after first planting, grey water from the morning clears even more quickly during the day as the plants become established.

Go back to the top of this tab in this article

Go to the next tab in this article 

Construction

Following the completion of the trial more tubs were procured, again from the local garden centre. I decided that three additional tubs would provide adequate capacity and an appropriate rate of flow through the system. A larger surface area final tub would provide an interim holding area and centre of focus for the subsequent landscaping.

Figure 6 – ‘More tubs ready, with shapes cut in the turf around the setting-out point’
The centre of this final tub was positioned and marked with a cane which became the setting out point for the other tubs.

Then the digging in earnest could commence. By this time the hose pipe ban had been in place for some time and the ground had become rock hard. A pick axe was required even at the sub-soil level. The sub-soil layer slowly gave way to clay and chalk and then to solid hard clay.

Figure 7 – ‘Holes slowly getting deeper in hard ground’
The lowest part of the dig for the final tub was just at ground water level. Any deeper and floatation problems would have had to been considered.

The second tub has a rim height which allows the full body of water above the substrata of the first tub to flow into it. The rate of flow for the whole system is set by a simple pond hose tap on the outlet from the first tub. It can be seen as the lower outlet. The upper outlet is the overflow relief. The connection is lower than might be expected to avoid being near the rim, however the desired water height is retained by having an upside down U bend in the hose. 
Each of the subsequent tubs is slightly lower that the preceding tub. A 1” pond hose is connected to the upper tub and overflows into the lower tub across the rim. This provides separation of the waters of the subsequent tubs and the slight sound of moving water.

The final tub overflows the rim into a drain channel and is collected into a sump pump chamber for later collection or distribution.

Figure 7A – Testing the solar pump with the panel propped against the swing.
Before installing the shallow lower pool I took advantage of a sunny day to test the performance of the solar powered pump. The solar panel was temporarily propped against the remnants of the climbing frame, a swing. It produced a very satisfactory flow.

Figure 7B – Satisfactory flow.
The same time as the test, and this pattern takes a lot to produce the full dome. Test passed.

Figure 8 – ‘All tubs installed and landscaping commenced with a waterfall’
The photo shows an aerial view of the system complete and operational. The waterfall is the grey/green stones on the lower right side. it is a multi outlet waterfall with flows from the top and between the rocks.
The water hyacinths have grown remarkably well and make it difficult to see the tubs and water beneath them. The final tub can be seen more clearly with the metal cover of the drain channel showing adjacent to it. At the end of the metal cover there is the black cover of the sump pump chamber. This is in fact a 4 gallon expansion tank. This is an example of the utilisation of materials produced for different purposes being used for this project. This is the case for most of the materials other that aggregates and reeds. Sourcing some of the requirements proved to be an exercise in lateral thought and was something of a challenge.

Since then, there has been a blossoming water harvesting industry which can provide all the products needed.

 
Figure 8A – ‘All tubs installed and landscaping commenced with a waterfall’
The same photo but cropped closer to see the tubs.

In the lower shallow tub, the solar fountain can be seen above the water. Also visible in the depth of the water, at the bottom of the picture is the waterfall pump. This is much more powerful and provides a impressive cascade across the adjacent stones when turned on. Neither pumps are required for the functioning of the reed beds and are only for pleasure. Visual and sound.

Figure 9 – ‘Winter, and early morning snowfall slows progress’
Winter set in before the landscaping was finished and effectively stopped work until spring 2007. This snow scene was an early morning in January 2007.

The water lily cistern on the right frozen over.

This proved to be beneficial. It provided sufficient time to identify two changes that I wanted to make prior to finishing the landscaping.

Figure 10 – ‘Redesign required, bigger pump sump dug’
The sump pump chamber needed to be enlarged to accommodate a larger sump pump. The original was a clear water submersible pump with a low clearance so as to be able to pump to within 3mm of the floor. However, even fine sediment in the sump could jam the impeller. This increased the maintenance requirements considerably, to an unacceptable level. I decided to replace the sump pump with a submersible pump which was of a different design that was capable of handling solids up to 30mm. This was therefore unlikely to get jammed by fine sediment or even small stones. Unfortunately the replacement pump was physically significantly bigger that the first, especially in height. Therefore the sump pump chamber had to be taller, deeper and bigger capacity as the second also had a higher rate of flow.

Figure 11 – ‘Redesign required, bigger pump sump dug’
At the same time as replacing the sump pump chamber I decided to add a ground source heat exchanger. It is partly experimental and partly to provide sufficient heat to the lower tub to prevent it freezing over totally, thereby allowing an ice hole so that the fish could breath. Figure 12 – ‘Ground source heat exchanger being prepared’, below shows it just prior to being lowered into the excavation. The deeper excavation for the sump pump chamber and the heat exchanger, actually a central heating radiator, meant that the heat exchanger was over 1.2 m deep and within both the summer and winter water table. The depth alone should be sufficient to not be affected by frost.

Whilst at this photo, look how clear that water is. The top tub is filled with grey / white soapy water every day, and this is the result, all of the time. The cloudy water never gets this far.

Figure 12 – ‘Ground source heat exchanger being prepared’
In this test the circulation is gravity feed. The supply pipes are insulated and the heat transporting fluid is antifreeze as opposed to water so that it does not freeze at the surface. The pipes are coiled at the lower tub water surface to provide the heating element. Provision is made in the installation to be able to check for leaks and maintain fluid levels and for a post fit circulation pump if the gravity circulation system proves to be too inefficient. If required the circulation pump will be powered by the solar battery described above. The assessment of the effectiveness of the ground source heat exchanger will have to wait until next winter.

The gaffer tape at the joints of hose to radiator is, by the way, not the fluid seal. The fluid seal is a proper plumbing watertight system with the hoses being Appliance inlet hoses. Those joints are then plastered in grease as an anti-corrosion. The gaffer tape then protects the grease and keeps it in place. Similar to the function of Denso Tape.

Figure 13 – ‘Ground source heat exchanger being lowered into hole’
It is lowered onto a bed of wet sand. Wet because it is just below the water table. I provides a stable foundation with good contact with the surrounding ground.
Once in place it was backfilled with more sand, ensuring all the fins were fully filled and compacted. Then water added just to make sure every crevice was filled, thereby creating a good thermal connection, at a level that would be at a fairly constant temperature.

Figure 14 – ‘Ground source heat exchanger beneath pump sump’
Following some more backfill to create the level necessary for the rim of the sump pump tub to be filled by the lower tub outflow. The new sump pump tub placed in the hole with the heat exchanger insulated pipes kept clear. The new sump pump in place and connected. The red float switch positioned to bob up clear of obstructions as the tub fills.

The solar circulation pump working well.

Figure 15 – ‘New Surge tank under construction - first layer’
The first design change due to operational experience was the sump pump chamber together with the ground source heat exchanger. As above. The second was to enlarge the surge tank to provide greater capacity before overflowing. the existing surge tub was retained, but was no longer the surge tank. The only available position, considering both elevation and plan, was the herb bed. Fortunately, they were all in pots on  a bed of green stone chippings, so it was not difficult to move them.
The plumbing had to be altered as well. The 40mm waste pipe run was raised and inserted within a 150mm drain pipe as a service duct or conduit. This new arrangement would also require the construction of a bridge or ramp in the area of the water lily cistern. The new garden path.

 

Figure 16 – ‘New Surge tank under construction - second layer’
The first layer of large stones salvaged from the big dig the previous year, together with the second layer of subsoil provide a firm anchor for the plants roots. This also helped achieve the no export of materials off site. Slightly smaller stones were bagged up and used to create retaining walls.
The distinct layers could perhaps aid the aerobic and anaerobic digestion even in the relatively short time the grey water was in the surge tank before commencing its journey through the red beds below.

Figure 17 – ‘New Surge tank under construction - third layer (topsoil) and first planting’
Viewed from the other end, this is the moment that the feeder pipe was turned from out pouring over the lip of the existing surge tub, on the left, and into the side of the new surge tank on the right.
This also means that whilst previously the feeder pipe fully drained, it is now permanently wet. Waiting for the next bath of water to push the previous residual water through. Gurgling and bubbling as the surge tank fills above the inlet.

Just three common Bulrushes in this photo. It did not take long to fill the tank with plants, and for them to consistently grow to over 8ft high, about 2.4m.

Go back to the top of this tab in this article

Go to the next tab in this article 

Planting and landscaping

Figure 18 – ‘Landscaping nearing completion, viewed from the pier side’
The hard landscaping is procured locally but unfortunately sourced from the lake district. A case of aesthetics over green. The rocks are 1 tonne of Lakeland Green rockery and 1 tonne of Lakeland Green stone walling. So maybe it is green after all.

The pier is decking, just large enough to place a deck chair on, and do some fishing? It is actually the cover for the sump pump chamber and is easily removable for maintenance.

Figure 19 – ‘Landscaping nearing completion, viewed from the house side’
Figure 18 – ‘Landscaping nearing completion, viewed from the pier side’, above, and, Figure 19 – ‘Landscaping nearing completion, viewed from the house side’, right, shows the aquatic planting complete.
The new raised footpath allowing the pipes to pass beneath as well as the cables for the pumps. The water lily cistern on the right shows the new overflow in 40mm waste pipe. Again using the inverted U, and in this case fallen over as well. The water comes out of the cistern away from the rim construction, but cannot flow away until the water both within the cistern and in the pipe reach the bottom of the upper elbow joint. The more the excess, the more the flow, thereby a good overflow whilst still maintaining water height in the cistern. The cistern is feed from the adjacent shed roof, so can be susceptible to storms. It is therefore just rainwater that would be overflowing, and accordingly skips the surge tank and outflows directly into the lower system.

As previously stated, different reeds deal with different pollutants and pathogens. Certain plants, such as common reeds (Phragmites australis) and cattails (Typha spp.), have hollow stems that can transport air to the roots, supplying microbes with additional oxygen. Some take up specific metals or chemicals, other produce an exudate that kills pathogens.

Some of the plants in the system are listed below together with their ‘special abilities’.

• Common reeds (Phragmites australis) and Cattails (Typha spp.)
  • flocculate colloids, eliminate pathogens
• Bulrushes (Schoenoplectus spp.)
  • take up copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese, chlorinated hydrocarbons
  • eliminate pathogens
  • exude antibodies
• Grasses (Scirpus spp.)
  • break down phenols
  • eliminate pathogens
• Rushes (Juncus spp.)
  • treat chlorinated hydrocarbons, cyanide compounds, phenols
  • remove pathogens
• Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus)
  • Remove pathogens

The water treatment provided by the above plants is supplemented by floating aquatic plants such as Water Hyacinth and Duckweed. Unfortunately Water Hyacinths are not hardy. However, they can be readily replaced with a few plants from the garden centre during spring. They are very prolific and will soon cover the tubs again. Alternatively a few plants could be over wintered in a frost free environment. Duckweeds are one of the smallest flowering plants and have one of the fastest reproduction rates.

• Water Hyacinths (Eichornia crassipes) and Duckweeds (Lemna, Spirodela and Wolffia)
  • Take up nitrogen and phosphorus
  • Microbes living on roots transform nitrogen to ammonia
  • Take up trace metals, Boron, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Lead, Cadmium, Chromium Arsenic

The grey water from the bath / shower flows through this assortment of plants to produce crystal clear water.

The final planting is alpines and herbs in amongst the rocks, producing the desired ultimate effect of a small water treatment plant fully integrated into a garden environment.

The finished product, albeit with some site tidying still to do.

Figure 20 – ‘Landscaping and additional planting complete, viewed from the pier side’

Figure 21 – ‘Landscaping and additional planting complete, viewed from above’
These photographs show the finished, commissioned, and operational system. Just the site tidy up to finish the project.

Figure 22 – ‘David preparing to release fish.’
In this bag there are some ordinary goldfish. Another bag contained Golden Orfe. The final offering, Golden Tench. Green Tench were also considered, but discounted in favor of the Golden variety due to a better chance of seeing the bottom feeders with a gold coat on. However, the Golden Orfe were a mistake. Whilst they shoaled well with the goldfish and made the pool quite active, as soon as they became somewhat larger they became prone to jump, not always landing back in the right body of water, or indeed, any water. They were not replaced.

Figure 22A – ‘David preparing to release fish.’
The goldfish in their new home. Going for an initial explore.

Figure 23 – ‘Landscaping and additional planting complete, viewed from the house side’
Rosemary in a green ceramic pot. Hostas and other shade loving plants in wooden troughs beside the surge tank. Automatic irrigation in place. Hellebores and primrose in the verge. Piece of wood providing the sloping escape for animals that find themselves trapped in the surge tank. Turf wall fronting the water lily cistern.

Figure 24 – ‘The waterfall’
The waterfall is purely for aesthetics, and is not necessary for the aeration of the system. It is not the equivalent of the rotating sprinkler bar at the sewage works.
It is fed entirely by the waterfall pump submersed in the lower tub, which is where the water returns directly to, not via any other part of the system. The flows it would create are far to large for the reed beds. It feeds multiple outlets. The top one opening into a small pool before disappearing into the rocks again. Another is more of a spout out of the rock face. A lower one adds to the flow from the top one to create a wide flowing cascade. There are several nooks, crannies, cavities, and caverns, built into the depth of the water fall primarily to provide winter homes, and hiding places, but also to provide a degree of variation to the water flow.
The pump is only turned on when we are in the garden relaxing. It is not on in this photo.

Figure 24A – ‘The waterfall’ One year on.
One year later and you can see the amount of growth and naturalisation. It is a warm sunny day and the pump is turned on. Dry rocks and wet ones. Cascading water bubbling down into the lower pool.

Figure 24B – ‘The waterfall’ One year on.
Slightly closer view. The cascade stream in the middle and a spout on the right edge of the photo.

 

Figure 24C – ‘The waterfall’ One year on.
Closer again, water streaming down the rocks and falling into the lower pond below.

Figure 25 – ‘Bulrushes in the primary surge tank’
The surge tank has to be large enough to accommodate all the family having baths / showers in succession and to allow for the increased density of plants envisaged in future years. The plants and their roots and rhizomes, as they grow, significantly reduce the available volume for waste water.

Go back to the top of this tab in this article

Go to the next tab in this article 

Wildlife

Earlier this year, just in one tub, covered in duckweed, nine frogs were counted. Newts have also colonized the system.

The photographs below are just an indication of the wildlife that resides in or visits. Wait for the photos to auto slide, or click the arrows near the edge of the photo, the dots, or the thumbnails at the bottom.

Fig_27__Common_Newt-2413.jpg

Fig_26A__Yellow_Flag-1151.jpg

Fig_28__Common_Newt-2414.jpg

Fig_29__Common_Newt-2416.jpg

Fig_30__Red_Mason_Bee-1145.jpg

Fig_31__Large_Red_Damselfly-1161.jpg

Fig_32__Common_Blue_Damselfly-1163.jpg

Fig_33__Two_Large_Red_Damselfly_mating-2418.jpg

Fig_34__Two_Large_Red_Damselfly_mating-2420.jpg

Fig_35__Bulrushes-2522.jpg

Fig_36__Bulrushes-1353.jpg

Fig_37A__Water_Lily-1397.jpg

Fig_37B__Water_Lily-1403.jpg

Fig_37__Bulrushes_600-1361.jpg

Fig_25__Bulrushes-1150.jpg

 

Figure 36 – ‘Bulrushes (Typha latifolia) in spring’

Figure 37 – ‘Bulrushes (Typha latifolia) in spring’

Go back to the top of this tab in this article

Go to the next tab in this article 

Storage

The excess water reclaimed needs to be stored and there needs to be a reserve of stored water in times of drought and / or hot weather to supplement the daily production of reclaimed water. At the start of this paper it was established that I needed approximately 90 lts a day to irrigate the garden at the same intensity as previously done. If I required to store adequate water for just half a year’s supply I would have to produce and store in excess of 16,000 lts of water. This would be a huge container. However, when consideration is given to the rainfall pattern in Southern England the storage requirement is significantly reduced. If I were only relying on rainfall as my supply of usable water I would have to provide storage for 1,700 lts. This would be amassed over winter and alternately used and partially replenished during summer. With typical rainfall patterns the reserve of water would be almost depleted by the end of summer, relying on autumn rains to cope with an India Summer. However, as this cycle is supplemented by the reclamation process I have decided to limit my storage ability to 800 lts. This is provided by a cluster of four domestic water butts linked together. Other storage options considered included, a pond, a reused orange juice container, of the shipping variety – 1,700 lts or an ISO liquid container – 1,000 lts.

  

Figure 38A – ‘Storage with feed pipe’
The first of the four linked domestic water butts, with a downpipe for the water arriving from the sump pump at the end of the reed beds.
The remaining water butts are all interconnected at low level, so all the water butts have the same level of water.

The sump pump fills the water butts and the irrigation pump draws water as required. If there is excess water it will overflow into a small area of native trees planted at the bottom of the garden. The amount of excess water is not expected to be as large as may be expected by calculation of requirements against bath / shower water usage. The reclamation process has inevitable losses. The aquatic plants have a high water take up. Surface water evaporation is significant in hot weather. Some of the water loss is designed into the system by providing direct systems of water draw into areas adjacent to the tubs to provide continuously damp areas for moisture loving plants, so as to enhance the natural look of the system.

Figure 39A – ‘The planting filling out’ One year on. 

Go back to the top of this tab in this article

The end of this set of tabs in this article, continue reading below.