RogueRose
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Making washing machine water usable for watering crops (or other food source)
I don't want to hear about "it's not legal" and what ever. This is a real-life hypothetical and if it was needed to be done, there wouldn't be
government to come around and fine me anymore...
I'm trying to figure out what can be done with washing dirty washing machine water - specifically related to watering crops of some kind.
The soap that is used is a very basic and is a blend of the potassium and sodium salts of coconut and palm kernel oil with a slightly basic PH.
laundry additives
Na2CO3 - in 90% loads
Na2B4O7 - in 20% of loads
NaOCl some in all loads except where H2O2 is used
H2O2 (liquid or as sodium percarbonate) -
TriSodium Phosphate - rarely used - maybe 3-5% of loads
Fels Naptha soap - contains "Terpene" (hydrocarbon - which I'm guessing is naphtha, light naphtha or petroleum naptha?? that is a whole other topic
I'm wondering about though)
The soaps are very basic/simple. They are based on coconut oil and palm kernel oil (and sometimes olive oil as well, but about 5-10% of the total).
Both the sodium and potassium salts of the oils are present, though if it would be more beneficial to switch to all potassium soaps, that can be done,
so less sodium to deal with.
No fabric softner is used, if something were to be used I'd try vinegar. I've also noticed that ammonia can be used in various aspects of laundry but
haven't found out how it might be used, maybe to lower the pH? I've heard that it is actually a great fabric softener and it will make towels super
absorbent. IDK though.
I'm not worried about what is being washed out of the clothing, it is mainly dirt, sweat, grass stains, etc. and there may be 3-8 large loads being
done every day.
I am thinking that the sodium ions are the biggest problems (borax, bleach, Na2CO3, soaps) and IDK of any sodium compound that isn't insoluble in
water, where I could add something for a double replacement reaction and have the sodium compound precipitate.
I was thinking that maybe calcium nitrate could turn the Na2CO3 into NaNO3 and the CaCO3 would settle out (or the plants could use it) and I think the
sodium borate would become calcium borate & NaNO3 - but that leaves NaNO3 as fertilizer and IDK how good that is in itself.
IDK if the plants can use sodium carbonate itself, I know it is largely dependent upon the plants growing.
As for a filtration system, the water will pass through a couple 55 gal drums with sand, fine charcoal (possibly activated - some will be at least),
diatomaceous earth and possibly some type of porous clay as the final filtration level.
I guess what I am most curious about is what happens to the fatty acids when they reach the plants, and how the plants will react to them. Will this
filtration setup remove a large amount of the FA's (in the salt form)?
if the plants can use the FA's I had planned to switch to using KOH to make the soap instead of NaOH because I figured the plants can use the K ion
better than the Na.
I'm actually really interested in seeing what can be done with this water, how much the filters help, what happens without a filter, etc. I'd also
like to compare the results with normal commercial laundry detergent and see how plants fare with that.
On a side note, I've been using the above soaps for about 8 years and they clean MUCH better than brand name detergents. I have very little problems
with stains of any kind and rarely pre-treat but I do fill the washer & agitate for 10 mins then soak for 20-30 mins, agitate again for 10 mins,
drain the rinse cycle. There is a noticeable difference in white undershirts since using these soaps, they stay white and don't build up yellow like
detergents often leave behind (they tell you to use more soap or another product, don't they!).
I want to try making an ammonia soap and a naptha soap, so if anyone has any info on this, please let me know!
IDK if it matters but here are the fatty acid profiles for palm kernel and coconut oils. both are almost 50% Lauric acid.
Palm Kernel Oil contains the following fatty acids
Lauric saturated C12 48.2%
Myristic saturated C14 16.2%
Palmitic saturated C16 8.4%
Capric saturated C10 3.4%
Caprylic saturated C8 3.3%
Stearic saturated C18 2.5%
Oleic monounsaturated C18:1 15.3%
Linoleic polyunsaturated C18:2 2.3%
Coconut oil has the following fatty acids:
Caprylic saturated C8 7%
Decanoic saturated C10 8%
Lauric saturated C12 48%
Myristic saturated C14 16%
Palmitic saturated C16 9.5%
Oleic monounsaturated C18:1 6.5%
Other 5%
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clearly_not_atara
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Sodium is sometimes removed from water by adding lots of ammonium bicarbonate (Solvay Process). However, as you won't have access to Haber-Bosch
ammonia, this is of little use. Potassium bicarbonate may accomplish something similar. Using a potassium-based soap to start with avoids this problem
entirely.
[Edited on 04-20-1969 by clearly_not_atara]
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JJay
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Terpenes are natural unsaturated hydrocarbons based on isoprene units (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene).
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Tsjerk
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Sodium is going to be your biggest problem, next to the soaps, although I don't know how toxic soaps are too plants.
Sodium and chloride are plants biggest enemies, I suggest you check the sodium and chloride tolerance of the specific plants you want to grow (as they
vary widely between species) and work from there. Maybe you can dilute your washing water with fresh water? Soaps you can probably precipitate out or
something.
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Sulaiman
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Based on very little experience and even less knowledge
The sodium:potassium ratio seems very important.
How about a series of ponds, settle solids, float fats and oils, digest other.
My main question is why and how will you be using a washing machine under the anticipated conditions ?
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MultiplePersonality
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Registered: 25-7-2018
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Mood: PHD Chemist
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I can't see how sodium ions are biggest problem if you're gonna use them only or mostly.
Boron for example is needed in much lower concentration than sodium, so no fear of lack of boron.
Ever heard about dilution? Just use more water if you are scared of sodium.
Also common ion effect can easily reduce sodium, and you would anyway wanna increase that another ion like Ca, Mg, or P.
Really don't see what is problem here. Also looks like common ion effect is not well investigated.
Also my advice is to never use anything organic on plants. Just let it oxidize in some soil (give it to bacteria, or burn it), as much as possible
before adding.
Herbert Shelton says that plants are inorganic stuff eaters, and humans are organic stuff eaters.
So he reccomends us to stop eating salt (NaCl), baking soda, anything inorganic, except water, but even water only when thirsty, rarely.
I am not talking about water that already comes in plants, but pure water, we do not need this so much, but feel need because we use dry sick food
like cereals, flour, etc.
I like this ideology, because inorganic chemistry looks easy to me. I plan to grow at least 1000 different plants with pure inorganic chemicals.
That will hopefully help me remove those disgusting throat inflammations which are lymph nodes.
Before that I planned to grow plants in pure feces, but realized it's not safe, healthy, not always same composition (can't be set), and not enough
feces.
https://soilandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/02/0201hyglibca...
Oh, and you can give organic waste to small animals like fleas, they will definitely like shit. 
[Edited on 27-7-2018 by MultiplePersonality]
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MJ101
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@RogueRose: You might want to research "gray water recycling". That will tell you a lot about how to construct an efficient system that's suited for
your needs.
http://www.level.org.nz/water/wastewater/on-site-wastewater-...
This looks like a good place to start. 
Personally, I would think that you'd want to separate the water from the "sludge". Then, you can assay the sludge and see what's in it.
For crops, I would think you would be searching for a source of Nitrogen, since just about every fertilizer out there has a lot of nitrogen in it.
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