California joins handful of states allowing use of 'greywater'

Good use of water.

Dirty water?

Excerpt from article:

'Plagued by drought and homeowner recalcitrance, California building officials last summer relaxed the rules for greywater use, allowing residents to hook up their washing machines to garden hoses without a permit ... because they were doing it anyway.

On Aug. 4, the California Building Standards Commission effectively caught up with an eco-revolution that began here 20 years ago during the last drought. In 1989, the County of Santa Barbara became the first agency in the United States to change its building codes and legalize the use of household greywater — the slightly dirty wastewater from washing machines, bathtubs, showers and bathroom sinks — to irrigate backyard plants and trees. By 1992, the practice was legal in most western states, including California.

There was just one problem. Homeowners were installing greywater systems themselves without permits, or they hired plumbers who looked the other way. Over 20 years in Santa Barbara, city officials say, only four residents ever obtained greywater permits, much less paid the fees, set at $350 today. Meanwhile, hundreds, if not thousands, embraced do-it-yourself "laundry-to-landscape" diversions, bought biodegradable soap, connected their washers to outside tubes — if you actually hook it up to garden hose you can expect a burnt-out pump before long — and emptied buckets of bath water in their yards.

The Greywater Guerrillas, a Bay Area group that billed itself as part of the "Water Underground," helped spread the know-how, and by 1999, according to a survey by the Soap and Detergent Association, nearly 14 percent of California homeowners were using greywater in their backyards. Today, that would be about 1.7 million households operating largely under the radar of city and county building inspectors. That growth is reflected in the Guerillas' name, which has changed to Greywater Action.

"August 4th was California Greywater Liberation Day," said Art Ludwig, a Santa Barbara pioneer of greywater systems who was hired by the city this year to lobby for the permit exemption. "It's the poster child for reforming the building code to a new way of doing things. You have to trust people more: There's no way around it."
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As of now permit restrictions have been lifted. I hope it stays that way.

So you need a permit to wash your hands with a garden hose now. Maybe I should check if I need a permit to wipe my butt and what is the legal way about it.
Anyone who gave their lives for "freedom" has thrown it in a garbage can.
Arlington is full of Darwin Awards isn't it?

Excerpt:

Doug Hensel, who supervised the drafting of the new standards as assistant deputy director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development, believes they will help bring greywater use into the mainstream. The state estimates that a family of four could save up to 22,000 gallons of water per year by diverting laundry water alone.

"We're hoping it catches on," Hensel said. "It's pretty neat."

The new rules went into effect for 180 days as an emergency measure in the third year of a serious drought. They are subject to a 45-day period of public comment and are expected to return to the building commission for final action in mid-November.

Building officials, plumbing unions and representatives for a number of California cities opposed lifting the mandatory permit requirement for household greywater systems, saying homeowners could make mistakes out of ignorance. Some city and county officials told the commission they would recommend that their agencies pass ordinances to restore the permit requirement if the state changed the rules.

"I think people are really dismissing the health risks of greywater systems a little cavalierly," said Tom Enslow, an attorney for the California State Pipe Trades Council, representing union plumbers and pipe fitters.

But the move toward more lenience had the support of the state Department of Public Health and such diverse groups as the California Building Industry Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an international environmentalist group. There is no documented case of greywater ever making anyone sick.

Specifically, the new standards allow homeowners to use up to 250 gallons of greywater per day on their landscaping without a permit, if they follow a list of 12 do's and don'ts:

Greywater Do's and Don'ts:

Do:

* Frequently check your plants for evidence of over watering or damage from organic material in greywater.

* Use greywater only for flood or drip irrigation.

* Divert greywater to your sewer or septic system if you are laundering diapers or dyeing clothes.

* Structure your irrigation system so it doesn't waste water by letting it percolate beyond the root zone.

* Use PVC or ABS piping.

Don't:

* Drink your greywater!

* Reuse water that contains hazardous chemicals from photo labs, car parts or oily rags.

* Allow your greywater to pond because it can increase health risks and provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

* Reuse greywater for spray irrigation.

* Irrigate root or leaf crops (such as carrots or lettuce) that you'll eat.

* Reuse greywater if family members suffer from infectious diseases, such as diarrhea, hepatitis or internal parasites.

Source: Arizona Department of Environmental Quality