Waste water

[mech]

I've been dumping my waste water resivor water just where ever in my yard.
The other day I realized this light brown somewhat tea looking water was filled with nutrients and began using it in my vegetable garden.
My city water is about as good as it gets.
It's PPM(particles per million) is consistently about 25.
My waste varies around 600ppm.
Anybody else using this waste water for plant nutes?
Andy

 

[Elizadolots]

ehhh.....the thought scares me. Reptiles are known for carrying salmonella.

 

[mech]

Salmonella is just about everywhere.
I do mountain king snakes and am somewhat hip on this.
I always wash my hands after handling reptiles... That being said you can actually lick your reptiles and if your ammune system is up to par (no aids) you are good to go.Gross but ok none the less. It's ppm is just to low to harm you.
Now if you introduced salmonella to let's say a bowl of ambient temp food like potato salad you will have a toxic petri dish in a relatively short time.
I see no difference between doing this and using chicken poop in your veggie garden.
Once again it's a ppm thing.
Thank you
Andy

 

[Olimpia]

I don't have a veggie garden but I do use the water to water my outdoor plants. Why let it go to waste? lol It's only dragging stuff out of the soil in the cages, might as well throw that in to another plant to use. I can't say that I would be worried about using it on veggies or anything, it's not like plants absorb salmonella, as far as I've ever been taught. As long as you wash your fruit and veggies (which everyone should be doing anyway) I don't really see an issue.

But I'm not actually a person that washes my hands after touching my reptiles, unless I worry about spreading something from one to another. But I think my dog, that spends hours in a field where we see dead deer or at a dog park with lots of poop and other things, probably has a lot more in her mouth than my chameleons lol Our chameleons are kept in pretty sterile cages where as our dogs go all over the place and eat all sorts of things. But we still let our dogs lick our hands and faces!

 

[mech]

Thank you
I agree

 

[Ace]

lol i have my chams outside all the time, i use the garden hose and it goes to the lawn garden, and its nice and lush, i think its useful

 

[pssh]

I wouldn't use it on anything I eat. Since it isn't an herbivore's poop, I wouldn't trust it on my food. Just like I wouldn't put my dogs poop on my tomatoes.

 

[mech]

Can dig it
My veggies might be different than most

 

[Elizadolots]

I've read that if the soil is contaminated, it's impossible to "wash" the contamination away because it is in the plant.

http://www.science20.com/news_releases/vegetables_and_salmonella_washing_is_not_enough_says_study

Would you like a side of food poisoning with that salad?

Salmonella can infect plant cells and successfully evade all the defense mechanisms of plants so cleaning the surfaces of raw fruits and vegetables, e.g. by washing, is not sufficient to protect against food poisoning, according to a study published today.

...

Work carried out by a team led by geneticist Prof. Heribert Hirt, and published today in PloS ONE, shows that the strain of bacteria known as Salmonella typhimurium can also invade, and multiply inside, plant cells. It is already known that Salmonella can survive for up to 900 days in contaminated soils, which creates a rich source of infection for plant material. However, Prof. Hirt's team can now show that bacteria from such a source can actively achieve the infection of plant cells, thereby disproving the previous assumption that infection was coincidental and - as regards the bacteria - passive.

It is probably a minimal risk, particularly if your chameleon is captive bred and healthy, but there are health issues in my family that mandate extreme caution.

I dispose of all waste water in the toilet so it can go through the city's best purification process.

There was a thread about this awhile ago, I'll see if I can find it.

**edited to add link to other thread**

https://www.chameleonforums.com/what-do-you-do-water-drains-40078/

 

[Eltortu]

I bottle spray and use a dripper that falls on the live plants in my chams cages, so don't have water to reuse...but I have been using the cricket/dubias waste for awhile on some exotic plants that I have. Not sure of the nutritional value on the waste to the plants, but since I feed my feeders great food, I assume is good insect "manure"...

 

[Seeco]

Can dig it
My veggies might be different than most

Hmm what do you grow?

I have banana trees growing under my cages.

 

[Elizadolots]

oh...see how old I am? I didn't even make that connection....I guess burning it would remove any danger from salmonella? At least, I've never heard of that being a problem...

 

[Seeco]

No I'm not 100 percent sure. I mean maybe he grows cacti or something.

 

[azgnoinc]

I have used my "waste" water to water all of my house plants for years - the added nutritional benefits may not be scientifically proven, but most all of my plants are 8-10 years old now too, so it surely isn't hurting the plants..imho

 

[Elizadolots]

House plants you don't consume wouldn't worry me at all. It's "veggies" that makes me wary.

We don't have any "house" plants. We grow peppers and herbs for cooking, and as noted, I need to be extra cautious so if there's any chance that the water could cause a problem, I'm not going to risk it.