What is grey water?

Water your would not like to drink. (shower water, dishwater, toothbrushing water)
(Black water is what goes down a toilet)

How can I minimize the creation grey water?

• Take less water to the playa: you will conserve water if you bring less! However 1.5 gallons per person per day is the bare minimum. You don’t want to have to ration your drinking water in the desert.
• When you shower, get wet, turn the water off, soap up (scrub those nooks and crannies), then turn the water back on to rinse off
• Shower with a friend: a friend can efficiently rinse the soap off as well as wash your back
• Use a pump-up pressurized water sprayer for dish washing http://www.nextag.com/pump-sprayer/search-html
• Minimize the creation of dirty dishes: eat right out of the pan! Share utensils!
• Lick your dishes clean! Then swirl with clean water to remove any food bits –> next, drink that water! YUM!
• Wipe out dirty dishes with paper towels/wet wipes or use paper dishes: burn the paper in one of the burn barrels

What are the rules about disposal of grey water on the playa?

[This is a recollection, and needs verification]

BLM’s list of stipulations for Burning Man forbids disposing of untreated graywater on the playa. What constitutes treatment is not specified, but would probably be satisfied by filtering out solid matter and disinfecting with Clorox. An amount of water sufficient to create a muddy patch is of concern; smaller amounts aren’t. Playa visitors not attending Burning Man aren’t bound by stipulations, and should be guided by common-sense wilderness ethics.

GREY WATER DISPOSAL

-copied from:

Most camps need to dispose of grey water during Burning Man. Grey water is produced from cooking, dish washing, and hair and body washing. Our permit from BLM does NOT allow us to dump grey water directly on the playa. Therefore all grey water must be collected. Camps can then remove that water directly off the playa (by themselves or using Johnny on the Spot). Some camps may choose to use evaporation ponds to reduce the amount of water they need to haul off the playa, but these ponds can easily get clogged with dust. Some camps have even developed technologies to reuse their water. The appropriate methodology for you depends on the size of your camp, your background and experience, and the level of energy you want to spend dealing with grey water.

What’s Simple? Small and mid-sized camps can collect your grey water and take your water to several RV dump stations along highway 80 and in Reno after the event. See below. Please check with the dumping station before the event for disposal charges and determine if they can handle the amount of water you are planning to dump! Larger camps should consider setting up a contract with Johnny on the Spot to collect grey water. With 30 days notice, they will provide a collection tank for you at the event that they will collect at the end of the event for disposal.

How can I reduce my grey water? First — remember Conservation, Conservation, Conservation! In your kitchen area, set up a low-volume water spray over a basin, for dishwashing and hand cleaning. You need remarkably little water to wash up with. Assign a water cop in your camp to remind campmates that you’re in the desert, not at home. Use a biodegradable detergent instead of soap. Camp Suds, works well for dishes, hands, and showers. Rub your hands with a few drops of a waterless disinfectant lotion, available at drugstores, before you handle food. This saves water and is also good camp hygiene. Evaporation ponds are a technique that has been shown to reduce the volume of grey water. Though it’s important to construct a pond that is big enough for your camp. Too big — it will still work great. Too small — it stops working when the water gets too deep! Also limit showers the last few days of the event before you’ll need to pack up the evaporative pond for disposal.

What about scattering my grey water? For reasons of sanitation, and sheer volume, both Black Rock City and the BLM discourage scattering. However, if you’re in a very small camp, with minimal dish and body-washing water, you might choose to pour your grey water through a filter or sieve (eg a paint sieve or pantyhose), disinfect the water, then, since it is treated, disperse it on your street to keep down dust. A watering can works nicely for sprinkling.

What are the reuse options? While some camps supported by environmental engineering students have developed elaborate systems to treat the grey water for reuse, most camps do not have the expertise to treat grey water to be clean enough for misting and drinking.

How do I build an evaporative pond? The following design is borrowed from Astral Headwash, who has won the valuable ‘Earth Guardian Camp of the Day’ award for several years. This pond will dispose of up to 15 gallons a day, and is easily expandable.

Materials and Construction for a 15 gallon evaporation pond

You will need:

• four 2×4’s 8 feet long,

• black plastic sheet, 6 mil thickness, 10 ft by 10 ft,

• 3″ screws

• a screw gun (cordless drill), or

• nails and a hammer,

• a staple gun,

• a pump and a grey water container

• and gloves.

• Contact: Bob Meydenbauer of Astral Headwash meydenbauer(at)yahoo(dot)com
Contact: Larry Breed, Earth Guardian, ember(at)burningman(dot)com or earthguardians(at)burningman(dot)com

• Simple Shower Design from NoseFish

• BRC MUD Grey Water Treatment Web site: http://www.freshmakkur.org