Water Down the Drain
Ever wonder if you could reuse the water going down your drain? Creating a “gray water” recycling system is easier than you might think. In light of recent restrictions placed on water usage, many Southern Californians are now looking to “gray water” systems as a way of saving money on water bills. The system, fairly cheap to install, diverts “gray water” from sinks, bath tubs, and washing machines into an outdoor irrigation system, saving users about 100 gallons a week. If biodegradable and boron free detergents are utilized, gardens and landscapes will thrive.
Laura Allen, co-founder of Gray Water Guerillas in Oakland, is partially responsible for the boom in water recycling in the state. “Currently, the codes are very restrictive and basically make sustainability illegal,” Allen says. “So the kind of systems we do- safe, simple, economical…are accessible to most people.” California state law sets stringent rules on the implementation of “gray water” systems, making it harder for residents to conserve the already strained resource. Advocates for the “gray water’ technique declare that California should follow the more lenient and less permit-intensive model that Arizona uses.
Having had personal experience and successes with the use of “gray water” systems at home on Kaua’i, and considering the water resource issues pending for the American Southwest, I believe it would be wise of the State of California to reduce restrictions pertaining to “gray water” system permitting. Of course, care must be taken to educated users about the do’s and don’ts of water recycling, but with a little investment and a few Legislative sessions, we could keep our most precious resource from going down the drain.
Check out the full article at NPR
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Finally! The desert of California really needs something like this to be implemented into building regulations. Great artical.