Greywater Systems are NOT Illegal

About two months ago at a "green" building presentation, the president of Living Homes become the 2nd person to tell me that residential greywater systems are illegal in this area. They had tried to do one on a project of their's, but were prevented by the city. A few weeks ago, I heard the same thing from the gentleman who took me on a tour of Orange County Water District's Ground Water Redistribution plant. Not that he should be an expert, but the story seemed to be consistent that greywater systems are illegal.

Up until last Saturday when I met Stephen Bilson of ReWater Systems at Santa Monica's Alt Build Expo. It turns out that Mr. Bilson assisted in writing the California greywater code. This disappointment across his face when he heard of how many people were ignorant to his work in greywater systems is easy to imagine.

The payback on a system like he had displayed was as quick as 3 years in some circumstances. Extremely cost effective and just about any investment in water conservation is a no brainer. People aren't saying that the wars of tomorrow will be fought over water and not oil just for kicks.

So what is a Greywater System?
It's quite simple actually. A greywater system uses your waste water generated from domestic processes such as dish washing, laundry and bathing to water your landscaping. It's financially savvy and conserves water which benefits tax payers, water consumers, reduces our carbon footprint because we use MASSIVE amounts of dirty energy to push Northern water to us and last but not least... the environments where our water is brought from and stored along the way.

It's important to note that you should use natural cleaners and remember that what goes down the sink and shower drain will end up on your landscaping. You shouldn't be using harmful cleaners in your home in the first place!!


Written by, Evan T. Little

Realtor®, EcoBroker®
Volkl Investments Inc.
949.939.9687 phone
evan@volklinvestmentsinc.com

My other blogs:
Going "Green" in Orange County
Orange County, CA Community
Real Estate in Orange County, CA


Best Green Blogs Green Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory Blog Directory - Blogged blog search directory Blog Directory & Search engine Directory of Environment Blogs My Zimbio Resources Top Blogs Technorati ActiveRain Real Estate View Evan Little's profile on LinkedIn view Evan T Little's Myspace profile view Evan T Little's Facebook profile view Evan T Little's Yelp profile
 
Post is included in group: ECO-All-Stars~ GREEN Resources, Trends & Friends
Post is included in group: Everything California
Post is included in group: Green housing panel
Post is included in group: Orange County Real Estate

3 Comments on Greywater Systems are NOT Illegal

Great post!  We talk about installing a greywater system someday ourselves.  It just makes so much sense.    

05/01/2008 12:39 PM by Brenda Carus (Re/Max Towne Square Realty)

Evan, thanks so much for this post.  I hate to admit it but I haven't given it much thought since the lady down the street from us was cited by the city for using laundry grey water to water her plants.  Nice to know there is a safe way to do it.  Too bad they can't figure out a way to use it to fill our swimming pool safely and of course cost effectively...

05/01/2008 07:26 PM by Alisa Ottaviano- Certified Res. Appraiser (Appraisal Pros)

Hi Evan,  Greywater is very difficult to get permitted down here.  I really like how you describe them though.  Raising awarenes for a great green feature!

05/02/2008 07:06 PM by Stephanie Edwards-Musa, Realtor ® The Woodlands, TX Real Estate (Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors ®)

Leave a response…

Name:
Notify me of new comments:
Comment:
What does the graphic say?
 
Find CA real estate agents and Costa Mesa real estate here on ActiveRain.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
© 2007 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved