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Greywater Systems are NOT Illegal

By
Real Estate Agent with Surterre Properties
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


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Comments (6)

Brenda Carus
Century 21 Zwygart Real Estate - Monroe, WI
Great post!  We talk about installing a greywater system someday ourselves.  It just makes so much sense.    
May 01, 2008 05:39 AM
Alisa McKeel Willson
Appraisal Pros in Texas - Huntsville, TX
Certified Res. Appraiser

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...

May 01, 2008 12:26 PM
Stephanie Edwards-Musa
thredUP.com - The Woodlands, TX
knitwit at thred UP
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!
May 02, 2008 12:06 PM
Loretta Buckner
Real World Properties, Inc.| Your Real Estate Consultant for Life - Palm Harbor, FL
Your GREEN Real Estate Consultant For Life!

YAY, Evan!  I just started researching grey water alternatives for Florida, and YOUR blog post came up--with your permission, I'd like to linkback from my post, once constructed--excellent resource, well-written, and bookmarked.  Thank you!

Jan 12, 2009 08:50 AM
Mary McGraw
GLREA - Rockford, MI
2015: Solar Energy Is Still A Simple Machine!

Hi Evan - we are still so backwoods that we flush perfectly good water down the drain. I camped for many years and learned water conservation...separated the grey from the good....

More of our houses and businesses should reuse via greywater. Great post and I would love to see more of this!

Jan 14, 2009 04:18 PM
Sabrina Kelley
ERA Herman Group Real Estate - Woodland Park, CO
Woodland Park Colorado Mountain Homes and Land

The more we know about water in our area then the more we can help consumers understand why it is good to look into all of the details of alternative water usage.

 

Jan 14, 2009 04:54 PM