Watering with reclaimed water

[vette-kid]

We are on a reclaimed water system here. My wife would very much like some type of berries, but I've always heard any fruit or veggies with skin that you eat are not a good idea with reclaimed water. We are going to try some bananas, but curious what the take here is on other fruit or berries? We could do a small raised bed that we water by hand, but it would be a lot easier to let the irrigation system take care of it. Thoughts?

 

[marlingardener]

Vette-kid, is "reclaimed water" the same as "grey water" aka water that goes down the toilet? If so, I wouldn't put it on edibles.
Is there any way you can harvest rainwater and use that for your berries? It doesn't have to be high tech--just a 55 gal trash can up on concrete blocks, caulked spigot at the bottom, and a hose. If you have guttering and downspouts, you've got the major components.

 

[vette-kid]

Vette-kid, is "reclaimed water" the same as "grey water" aka water that goes down the toilet? If so, I wouldn't put it on edibles.
Is there any way you can harvest rainwater and use that for your berries? It doesn't have to be high tech--just a 55 gal trash can up on concrete blocks, caulked spigot at the bottom, and a hose. If you have guttering and downspouts, you've got the major components.

Sort of. It is water that has been processed by the city, just not to full drinking water standards. My understanding is that they divert some of the water before the last few step's in the treatment process to tap quality. People use it for citrus all the time here (most common fruit here). I suppose I could test the water somehow and see just how clean it is. It is clear and oderless, but does not meet drinking standards...according to the city. Although animals drink it and I havnt seen any dogs die from it yet.

 

[Tjohn]

Reclaimed water is water that has been filtered for non-potable (not drinkable) use or, in some places, treated to become potable ( drinking water). It is very useful for watering plants, washing, ect. Grey water is water that has been used for washing, NOT the toilet, but it can also be used for watering plants. Brown water ( sewage) should not be used before being treated at the treatment plant.

 

[vette-kid]

TJohn, thanks for clarifying. Thoughts on watering plants with porous or no skin ( berries, peppers, lettuce, etc? ) with non potable water?

 

[Tjohn]

As long as you wash before eating, there should be no problem. Non-potable water is usually just not certified for drinking, containing traces of soap or untested for bacteria. Reclaimed water systems usually do a good job of filtering out the really bad stuff.

 

[roadrunner]

Using reclaimed water seems interesting to me and I'll probably look into it at some time; I personally wouldn't have a problem using it anywhere. As of now I reclaim my own water by using dirty water collected from pre-washing my dishes and I clean all oily/greasy pans out in my garden. You'd think that I'd have a lot of greasy/oily spots, but the soil organisms make quick work of cleaning up the grease.

I also have a hose coming from my AC drip line, it can supply at least 5-gallons of water per day in the summer. I keep my thermostat set at 77 deg.