permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

Kathy Evans wrote:

> Hello, This week and next I have some extra help around the house--brother is 
> visiting, and he is going to put in a new pond for me. I am thinking a small 
> pond (I have a preform 40 gallon one that we can move--probably not ideal but 
> do-able) with filtration plants and a small waterfall/stream that leads from 
> it into the larger (new) pond. The larger pond will only a few feet across. 
> These will be close to a downspout, north side of the house, garden is about 
> thirty or forty feet away. My question is, can I eventually turn this design 
> into part of a greywater system and if so what should I be thinking about 
> right now, this week, as they build it? I know there are excellent books on 
> the subject and I have looked at what Toby says about greywater and really 
> want to do this eventually...but they are buying materials tomorrow so I 
> don't have much time to read up on it all right now. Are these ponds too 
> small to incorporate into a greywater system? I'm thinking fish in the large
r b
>  ottom pond and then I can get tadpoles started in the upper smaller pond and 
> the fish won't eat them. And eventually some unkinkable hose to a drip system 
> in the garden?

Depends on how much greywater you are trying to process and how many/what kind of aquatic plants and amphibians you have 
in the pond. Put some clean rock dust in the bottom, fill it with water and put duckweed, water hyacinth, cattails in 
it. Frogs will breed in it and the plants will keep it clean. Water hyacinths will turn the water crystal clear in a 
short amount of time and they will have to be moved indoors for the cold months - the rest will probably survive winters 
in your area.