Building a Simple Greywater System - With Worms! ~ Off-grid Living
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- We are Mauro and Harriet and in February 2021 we bought an abandoned smallholding in Castellón, Spain.
Join us as we develop a market garden rooted in sustainable agriculture & permaculture principles, transform a stone masía into a liveable little house, and rebuild an old stone ruin into a family home.
In this video we are building a super simple system to handle some of our greywater (used but not toxic waste water) which comes out of our kitchen and shower. We are totally off grid here so closed systems are really important, as are SIMPLE systems as we need to know we can maintain things ourselves :) By capturing our waste water, we also ensure this precious resource stays on the property and is put to good use. We also get to provide a home for 600 little wriggly friends, who take our waste and turn it into compost and worm tea!
Thanks as always for watching and would love to hear if you've done anything similar or have any tips or ideas!
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Somos Mauro y Harriet, y en febrero de 2021 compramos una finca abandonada en Castellón, España.
Únete a nosotros mientras desarrollamos una huerta basada en la agricultura sostenible y en los principios de la permacultura. También estamos trabajando en hacer habitable una masía de piedra, y la reconstrucción de una ruina en una casa familiar.
En este video estamos construyendo un sistema súper sencillo para gestionar las aguas grises de la cocina y la ducha (agua usada pero no tóxica). Vivimos totalmente fuera de la red, así que es muy importante para nosotros tener sistemas simples y cerrados que podemos mantener nosotros mismos. Además, al capturar nuestra aguas grises, aseguramos de que este recurso tan importante se quede aquí en la finca para poder aprovecharlo y reutilizarlo. ¡Y también proveemos un hogar para 600 criaturas bailongas que convierten nuestros desechos en compost!
Gracias como siempre por ver el video y nos encantaría leer vuestros comentarios si habéis hecho algo similar o si tenéis ideas o consejos.
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hello, im deatra---i just found your video---how i admire you both----love this way of life---nothing is more healthy that touching the earth having your own food---i cannot do this. as i am older now and have to live in a small apartment. i do as much as i can for the environment and eat healthy as i can---be proud of yourself and you are really blessed to live like this
Hi Deatra, thank you for your lovely comment. I recognise we are very blessed to be able to do this at the point in our lives. Wishing you all the best!
I love your place! I had a good laugh at myself. I was distracted for the first part of the video. Once I honed in I'm thinking, oh, so they're going to have an outdoor bath. Turns out it's a bathtub for worms! Hahaha. Great idea! You two are so hard working and ingenious. Enjoy watching very much
Hahaha yes the worms have a lovely outdoor bath, maybe we will too one day in the future!!
Por favor poner los títulos en español!!!
Hola Elena, ahora están disponibles :)
Avui acabo de descubrir el vostre canal i m'encanta com esteu fent les coses. Seguiu així! Espero que la bonança i el bon temps us acompanyin durant les vostres aventures i que ho poguem seguir veient!! Una abraçada ben forta desde Catalunya!
moltes gràcies!
You guys just got a brand new subscriber. Looking forward to your next videos. In my experience with worms I would say one year is perhaps too much time, you'll probably get great vermicompost before 6 months. Worms will get out to find more food if/when all the wood chips are gone, unless you keep feeding them regularly. I keep my worms in bins full of wood chips and coffee grounds, after 3 or 4 months it's ready to harvest. Good luck on your journey! Cumprimentos de Portugal 👋
Aww thanks! I learnt a lot of things after/by making this vermicompost setup - it's doing well but could be doing so much better!
Nos encantan vuestros videos .. espero q seáis muy felices... Se ve que si lo sois... Un abrazo desde las rías baixas en Galicia
That wet area could make a good raised bed for plants that need water, like tomatoes, melons,
Yes was thinking the same! Melons is a great idea, love melons :D
Well done, very creative. BTW, the most worms I've ever put in my bath tub was around 8 hundred, so I think you're okay with 6. :)
What washing up liquid soap do you use please? Very difficult to find an eco one here in Spain.
Hola Harriet y Mauro, hacer algún video más en castellano es muy agradable oíros en nuestro idioma.
Salud y prosperidad.
Haremos más, te prometo 😊
Looks like you have wild boar,
I love the way you handle problems. Just go and find a solution. Wonderfull!🙋
Just found and subscribed to your channel. Loving the content and your dedication to your vision very inspiring.
noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I need that book shelf!!!!
Hi Harriet just to say I loved your videos thank you for sharing
เก่งมากเลยค่ะรักเลย
Just found your channel and have watched every video back to back, we are currently in the process of buying a property in portugal with the same intentions, to live a sustainable off grid lifestyle. I love what you have done and everything you have achieved. Cant wait for the next installment.
Thank you, it's lovely to hear you enjoyed the videos so far! Good luck with your property search/purchase :)
Love your channel!
Found your videos and I've been watching and this is the first time I've seen those big very very beautiful carp would love to see some more of them.
Also it's very surprising the variety of old trees that you have is that the usual in the area you live in. Buying boxer fruits on Amazon is very expensive and it's such a good diet food
Yes, the previous owner was pretty into gardening before he passed away. There are some really interesting trees, ornamental and fruit trees. So grateful that we already have established trees here!
You are beautiful and have such a nice gentle nature about you.
hows your setup now? how are the storms?
Boars will destroy your vegetable garden
Awesome. I’m about to set up my own greywater system much like this, using worms first and then water loving plants. I just had a thought though- what happens to the worms if you send hot water down the pipes? Just say you rinse out the kitchen sink with boiling hot water. Surely that would harm the worms in the worm farm would it not? I’d be interested in hearing if you’ve dealt with this. Thanks.
We don't have hot water in the kitchen haha. I'm planning to install it soon though and I'm gonna move the wormery and just have a normal compost pile under here where the waste water comes out.
You farm is beautiful. I’ve been watching all your videos. You do a great job.
So 👍
So when do we see babies ? :)
Hallo
I also only found you vlog today and try to binge watch it. Pls number it . You are inspiring and I enjoy it.
Thank you! If you look on my channel page and then click "videos", you will see them all and TH-cam puts them in order :)
Are you feeding the worms your kitchen scraps? I think they need food not just water.
Yep! 🙂
Harriet.....Yeah the bathtub video, I know I'm watching these out of order, but its still fun! I'm 5'2" 115 lbs. We look about the same size. May I ask what size you wear in the overalls so I can sort of compare. You look about my size!!! If not OK, don't respond. Thanks. Also tip, always use rollers when painting and staining they come in all sizes and will cut your work in half
Wild pigs definitely have been there
😂planting mint inside a broken toilet seat 😂 BRILLIANT!!
Hahahaha 😂, I cracked up when I saw the toots, cracking place for the mint girl, love it
Hi Harriet. I have several Goldfish and Koi, and I have been feeding them croquettes for my dogs (the cheapest are 18 kg bags at Mercadona), for years, and they are healthy, grow and reproduce well.
The worms will multiply soon. I started a small worm 🐛 box 📦 with 6 worms from my compost heap and during the lockdown I thought that I have enough time to count them 😉😂 After I went half way through I stopped because there were already 600 😃 In just a few months they multiplied that much.
6 to 600! Hahah that's awesome!
We need an episode a week.. I need updates.. thxx for sharing again xx
Haha might be able to manage once a fortnight!
All caught up with you now. Great start you have made. Looking forward to next post and following your progress. Thanks for documenting and sharing your journey.
Puede ser interesante lo que ustedes comentan pero no hay subtitulos en otros idiomas con lo cual no puedo saber si me gusta o no me gusta.
Lo que si veo es el gran trabajo que ustedes hacen y como árboles tienes mejor aspectos y las carpas felices en su estanque.
Hola, justo ahora estoy trabajando en los subtítulos. Requiere más tiempo que pensaba 😅 Lo siento de verdad pero estarán listos pronto!
Estoy seguro q lo hará que los, subtitulos se pueda elegir y entender el trabajo que hacen Ustedes.
Les animo y se que lo conseguirán.
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
No es necesario que lo hagan ellos. Pincha en el recuadro de subtítulos, saldrá una barra de color rojo bajo el recuadro, después pincha en la rueda de configuración, pincha en traducir automáticamente y después busca español y pincha en el. Así podrás saber lo que dicen
Todos los vídeos son muy inspiradores.gracias por compartir tus ensayos y errores! Sin miedo y adelante! Me encanta 😍
Please, subtittles in spanish. Thank you
Hurray! Didn't know u were on TH-cam too! 😄
im binge watching all your videos. love them 😄💚
Those oranges were so beautiful!
i love that kind of place very peaceful, i have done watching all of your videos and i like the way you transformed the old house.
Thank you so much! Still lots to do on the old house but at least we can live inside it 😅
Your place is coming on great. I like the worm bin idea. I keep red wrigglers but in a large bucket. I may try the bath tub idea.
Thank you!
Is that chip board covering the wormery? chip board contains formaldehyde, your worms won't like
it at all! any water on the chipboard will leech the formaldehyde down into the compost and give them a hard time >
Yes it does look like chipboard! Oh no, I had no idea! I'll definitely replace it, thank you. Luckily it hasn't rained since we built the wormery anyway 😅
You could also wipe down plates and pans with bread and eat it, to keep grease from entering the grey water system :D But you probably already do!
hehe we definitely do!
I have watched nearly all your videos within a week. I own a shetland sheepdog, several over the years, watching Tofu, his body movements are very similar to my girl.
oh wow, hahah that's far more than anyone should want to see of me in a week 😂
The koi are gorgeous!❤
I think the Hessian will rot away fairly quickly.You need plan B for your bathtub liner.Good work and good luck to you.
Hmm you could be right!
Nice place to live. I would like to recommend you if you are planning to have hens chickens rabbits or other kind of small animals please keep in mind to protect then from weasels genets foxes and other vermin around
Thank you! I need to learn how to make a nice secure chicken house, for sure!
Just remind your viewers that a greywater system should only use salt free detergents and soaps. I have no idea it the soil in your area is alkaline but if it is you do not want to add more salt if your soil is alkaline.
A good resource to access is Watershed Mgmt Group out of Tucson, AZ. There are a leader with water capture and reuse. Brad Lancaster, is from Tucson and has published permaculture books on planting the rain.
Good luck.
Thank you, appreciate the advice! I will check on the soaps, they are supposed to be biodegradable but not sure about salt. Will look into Watershed Mgmt Group 😊
Hi can you remember what website did you find this property on ? i am looking for a place for myself, thank you :)
We found it in Idealista. It's a great site for looking for properties in Spain!
I'm enjoying your channel. I love your beautiful property. Channels like yours inspire me to do the most I can with our half acre in southeast Texas.
Thank you! Best of luck with your half acre. I bet you can do some amazing things with it.
I’m sure you’ve thought of this, but there have got to be an old timer around your area that can help you with the amazing waterways . Just a thought.
Thanks Shirley yes we do try and talk to lots of local people, now I have figured out a few things for myself I have more specific questions I can put to them, so hoping they can be of some help!
sorry. totally wrong. alimentar las lombruces con agua gris? los quimicos van al compost y de ahi a tus alimentos
No usamos químicos, pero de todas formas hay algunas cosas que cambiaría de este sistema, ahora con más experiencia.
las aguas grises deben ir por un tubo perforado a min 50 cm. es preferible con tres tubos de
9 cm. perforados y cubiertos de piedra y despues tierra y no deben estar cerca de manantiales, siembras etc
Te refieres a las aguas negras...no? Las grises solo llevan agua jabón y comida y grasa...si usas jabón ecológico las plantas son felices con ese agua.
Tened cuidado con las tuberías de pvc que los ultravioleta las degradan, deberíais pintar las que está más expuestas
Gracias!
Subscribed and watching you from Minnesota! Love what we see so far!
Thank you!
hmm, building a greywater system, but producing lots of kitchen paper waste? 😞
Sorry we're not perfect!
@@LittleSpanishFarmstead but apart of that i like your effort 👍🏼 greetings from valencia 😉
you need to feed worms all kitchen veg waste, shoul have system sealed,no continual ingress and collect worm tea,divert water to garden not worm bin, I thing this will give better results, love youre videos
Yeah I think we have come to the same conclusions! Expect a video soon called "Fixing our mistakes" lol
@@LittleSpanishFarmstead there just part of learning what works for you in your situation,you can use lots of plants and sand etc to clean waste water recyled,love your videos good luck
Very interesting.
Hi From Cape Town South Africa New sub
Hi Tessa!
I love what you did here! You made great progress this year!
Thanks Scarlet!
Please, subtittles in spanish. Thank you.
Ahora están disponibles. Perdón el retraso
Podrías poner los subtítulos en español? Gracias
Hola Mati, todos mis videos tienen subtítulos en español :) Hay que activar los subtítulos y luego hacer clic en el icono del engranaje para cambiar el idioma :)
Genius idea to repurpose the bathtub as a gray water system! Can the plants handle the soap from the shower too? Or is this also natural soap?
We are using a very gentle soap but I think still not ideal. I didn't think this through originally, maybe I would have put plants FIRST before the bathtub to try and catch the soap, but as it happens, the water seems to just run down the edge and out the bottom of the tub and not through the substrate, so I think the worms are safe. But the food particles get left on the surface near where the pipe goes in, which is the main thing, because the worms can digest those. Long answer, but I think in this system it's accidentially OK (worms are still alive and multiplying!) but maybe something to consider depending on how you set the system up!
@@LittleSpanishFarmstead thanks a lot! It’s impossible to think everything through, but it looks like you’ve got it. Great job.
donde comprasteis las lombrices?
En ecolombriz.es
Nice progress 👍👍👍I did not hear you mention anything about what you feed your worms . You can put in some cardboard and your plant-based scraps old fruit and from the kitchen and some cornmeal across the top. they do not like to be too wet maybe in the future put a tarp over it so when the rains come it Won’t flood . 👍✌️🤙
Yeah that's a good point about the tarp and the rain! We were def worried about them getting too much water just with the kitchen outflow but atm the substrate still feels pretty dry, I actually add additional water sometimes!
We do chuck in kitchen scraps, yes. They also have loads of leaf material in there already to munch through :)
@@LittleSpanishFarmstead how often do you get rain if it’s going to rain for a long period of time you need to take your pipe out of the tub because your trenches will fill up with water come through the pipe and flood your worms If you check your compost pile you’re probably Fine more worms 👍
@@LittleSpanishFarmstead My dad bought a farm that had a semi-commercial worm farm on it. Basically long beds about 20m long, with hessian underneath as you have, but also hessian bags (old potato sacks) on top as well, and the top was kept misted with water to maintain a moist environment for the worms. Then you lift off the top bags to 'feed' the worms, and they need green as well as brown 'food' - so scraps from the garden as well as dead leaves, then put the hessian back down and keep moist.
Those doors will likely keep the worms confined to the soil at the bottom of the bath, and does not encourage them to come up to the surface to eat the plant matter you've thrown on top. So I second the calls to cover it..!! But may be with hessian rather than plastic..?? And remove the wooden planks, maybe?
@@markwalker7813 Somehow I missed this comment. Thanks, we need to change those doors anyway as someone pointed out that type of furniture wood can contain formaldehyde, so now I know what we can change those doors for :)
Why would worms like it so wet?
They don't stay wet, the water washes out, along with the worm juice nutrients, which end up in the soil. Seems to be working pretty well so far, 1 year later!
@@LittleSpanishFarmstead Good. I'm way too soft hearted.
the pipe esta al reves
ah sí?