WEST EAST
This view of the Mawson eucalypts on our Shackleton Circuit nature strip may seem to have nothing to do with greywater sumps but the roots of these trees have certainly found a rich source of water underground. The 3 trees on the left are fed by the en-suite greywater sump but the trees to the centre right are not so well watered. They look magnificent with their white trunks, but – read on…
This water conservation concept was the forerunner of retro 17 and while I eventually had the washing machine sump linked up to 17 I had to abandon the full system and return to the individual sumps for greywater from the western en-suite and the eastern laundry and bathroom. The two sumps are separate once again and drain into their separate subsoil soakage trenches along the top edge of the nature strip – hence the marvellous growth seen in the eucalypts along the strip. Unfortunately we were not well advised by our landscaper when we bought Unit 2/72 in 1984 as the eucalypts have put their roots down into the main Body Corporate drainage line under the nature strip and we occasionally have to get ACTEW to clean the roots out. The time must eventually come when some of the disruptive eucalypts will have to be cut down as they are obviously the wrong trees for that location.