Hi Michelle, good on you for seeking advice on the sprinkler issue! I wouldn't want my kids playing in the backyard if I'd been using sprinklers to get rid of our greywater.
We manufacture a subsurface textile irrigation system that was designed specifically for use underground. It's called KISSS Subsurface Textile Irrigation and is a more advanced version of drip irrigation. We work with a lot of people using KISSS to disperse their household greywater in their backyards.
With KISSS the water is carried out into the soil via a geotextile surrounding the irrigation pipe. This means that the water is absorbed at a rate dictated by the soil - not by the flow of the water from the pipe. It has lots of benefits for irrigation, but for dispersel the biggest benefit is that you won't get water tunnelling to the surface (which can sometimes happen with bare drip)
As for root intrusion, you'll find the only way drip pipe guarantees against root intrusion is with the addition of a chemical or herbicide. Because of the design of KISSS we don't need to rely on harsh herbicides to deter roots. We have a root intrusion statement on this page of website http://www.kisss.com.au/page/iwt_library.html (scroll down to the bottom).
Hope that helps.
Best of luck.
Bianca
Marketing Manager
IWT
Posted Wednesday 13 Oct 2010 @ 6:17:57 am from IP
#