Traditional sinks, washers, showers and bathtubs typically discharge the used water into a drain system as greywater, to be mixed with black water and be discharged into a sewer system. This conventional discharge of greywater is environmentally inefficient and a wasteful use of water that could be harvested and re-used in applications that do not require potable water, such as flushing toilets, clothes washing, dish washing and outdoor irrigation, and water purification systems. The Drainharvest Greywater Collection System consists of four components which collectively and severally combine to form an integrated residential water harvesting system.
Drainharvest Cylinder Valve to divert greywater from existing drain systems based on the status and need for greywater within the greywater filtration reservoir, Drainharvest Control Panel and Drainharvest cistern system. The Drainharvest cylinder valve has two states, “Pass Through” and “Divert.” It is installed with standard plumbing parts immediately after the sink trap.
Drainharvest Filtration Reservoir collects water from the Drainharvest Cylinder Valve when it is in the “DIVERT” mode. The greywater is collected into a settling chamber to allow particles to settle into the bottom of the chamber and any grease or oil to float to the top of the chamber. The collection chamber incorporates a water treatment dispenser to treat, filter and distribute the greywater for subsequent use. The Drainharvest filtration reservoir is designed to fit under a sink and has an approximate storage capacity of 8.5 gallons. It is stackable on the greywater cistern system to increase storage capacity.
Drainharvest Control Panel to monitor the status of water levels within the cistern system and activate the Drainharvest cylinder valves and apparatus to “DIVERT” or PASS THROUGH” states. It also activates the cistern system pumps to the “FILL” or “DRAIN” states and monitors apparatus such as garbage disposal units to set up interlocks preventing polluted water from entering the Drainharvest water collection system.
Drainharvest Cistern System consists of modular cistern tanks designed to fit under the sink, next to the bathtub or washing machine. The under sink cisterns are modular and stackable designed to store 6.5 gallons per module. The bathroom cistern is designed to fit between a bathtub and toilet seat and store 35 gallons. Each cistern storage tank module can be interlinked to increase storage capacity as needed. Each cistern tank incorporates knock out plugs top and bottom to interconnect additional modules and a water pump with standard plumbing supply parts. Each cistern tank incorporates limit switches “HIGH” and “LOW” for interconnection to the Drainharvest Control Panel.