Washing Machine Hook Up

One day I measured how much grey water came out of my washing machine during a week's laundry (4-5 loads), and was astounded.  I was racing from the garage to the garden with buckets and still water was spilling on the garage floor.  I counted about 50 gallons per load, and that is with an energy efficient model! As a resident of thirsty Southern California, I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to let this water go down the sewer any longer.  This water was bound for the garden.
It took some help from a friendly Lowe's floorman, but I found a way to channel this water out that has worked like a charm for a month now, so I will share this trick.

I first lifted the drainage pipe from the sewer pipe, which was clearly visible behind my washer.  There was nothing connecting the pipes, so that was simple.  At Lowe's I purchased a large quantity of black 3/4 inch flexible pipe used to make drip irrigation systems and a hole puncher.  I also purchased a piece of connective tubing used in sink garbage disposal systems that effectively enlarges the 3/4 inch pipe to 1 inch, the same diameter of the washer outlet pipe.
Then came the hard part, and I am going to save you from making the mistakes I made and flooding your garage several times.  I tried using bicycle tire  and sealant to wrap the two ends together - Don't try that, it was messy and ineffective for the amount of water pressure produced by the washing machine.  I returned to Lowe's several times and finally found a connective piece that worked - a PVC 1 inch connector with threading on the inside of both ends.  With sealant and the gripping power of the threads, I was able to twist and muscle the two ends into the threading, and it is holding great!  A relatively cheap and simple way to take a 1 inch pipe down to a 3/4 inch tube that snakes through my garden, dripping out the grey water through small punctured holes.  This provides a deep watering once a week, which has been fantastic this spring.  The real test will be during the summer, when a daily deep watering will be necessary.  I am still devising a way to mechanize that chore!