Graywater systems are designed to re-use water that has no waste in it for watering plants, trees, etc. The use of graywater systems can be very beneficial. It can lower fresh water usage, reduce the amount of chemicals and energy at water treatment plants, it's less of a strain on septic tanks, great for plant growth, and can help with the recharge of groundwater.
I had an inspection recently where the homeowner designed his own graywater system. He 
had the bathroom sink, tub, the kitchen sink, and the washing machine tied to his graywater drain line to the outside of the house. The problem with this baby is it merely drained out to the backyard! Discharging right into
the grassy area behind the house. The end of the drainline was uncovered! Well, it was covered with snow but virtually uncovered.
Graywater systems should discharge into the soil below ground level. They also should not be discharged directly onto any edible things like fruit or vegetables. In practice, grey water legality is virtually never an issue for residential retrofit systems because everyone just bootlegs them. However, grey water legality is almost always an issue for permitted new construction and remodeling, unless you're in a visionary state such as Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Montana, Oregon, and California.
This guy just ran a new line and capped off the original drain line. See the cap on the end, and the little trap he installed as a water seal in the picture? (We'll talk about that gas line with the horizontal drip leg another time)
There was no design here, probably done without much thought. He had good intentions I'm sure, but a little research would have gone a long way. I have not seen many of these type systems, but I knew right away something was wrong with this one!
The simplest thing for this guy to do is reconnect the original drain line to these fixtures. I believe that is what the buyer will ask them to do, or to redesign it to make it safe and effective. That will be a re-inspect that I am looking forward to!
For more information about graywater systems and their uses, see: http://greywateraction.org/
***************************************************************************************
Comments(7)