I've thought about greywater and drip irrigation too, but honestly, I'd be cautious about combining them directly. Greywater tends to have small particles—hair, lint, soap residues—that can clog drip emitters pretty quickly. Even with filters, maintenance could become a headache over time.
Instead, I've found subsurface irrigation setups work better for greywater. A friend of mine installed perforated pipes buried just below the surface in mulch beds around his fruit trees. The mulch and soil naturally filtered out most debris, and he didn't have to fuss with clogged emitters every weekend. Plus, the roots got consistent moisture without evaporation losses.
Rain barrels are great as supplemental sources, but like others mentioned, they're unreliable during droughts. A hybrid system might be ideal—rain barrels for clean water storage when available and greywater for regular landscape watering. Just my two cents from what I've seen work well in practice...
Totally agree about greywater and drip emitters—been there, done that, and spent way too many weekends cleaning filters. Subsurface setups are definitely the way to go. I actually rigged up a DIY system using old PVC pipes drilled with holes, buried under mulch around my veggie beds. Cheap and cheerful, but it works surprisingly well. Rain barrels are handy too, but yeah... drought season hits and suddenly they're just decorative garden ornaments. Hybrid systems FTW, honestly.
- DIY subsurface setups are great, but just a heads-up:
- PVC can get brittle underground over time, especially if temps fluctuate a lot.
- Had mine crack after a few winters...switched to flexible tubing, no issues since.
- Agree on rain barrels though—mine are basically bird perches by August.
Interesting point about PVC getting brittle, but honestly, I've had mine underground for almost 6 years now without any cracks or leaks. Maybe it's more about how deep you bury it or the soil type? I made sure to bury mine below the frost line and wrapped it in insulation foam sleeves just to be safe. Rain barrels though...yeah, same here. By late summer they're basically decorative garden furniture, lol.
Good call on the insulation sleeves—I've done something similar myself. But honestly, the PVC issue might not just be about depth or soil type. I've seen pipes crack even when buried below frost lines and insulated properly. In my experience, it's often about how stable the ground stays over time. Soil settles, tree roots grow, and even small shifts can stress rigid PVC connections.
That's why I've switched mostly to flexible polyethylene pipes for underground use. They're a bit pricier upfront but handle movement way better. I buried mine about 18 inches down, wrapped them loosely in landscape fabric (to keep rocks away), and after eight years now... zero issues. Rain barrels, though, yeah—same boat here. By August they're basically giant flower pots with lids, haha.
