Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Recycled Water Category
Click here to view all posts

Drought has made reusing ‘gray’ water an increasingly popular and practiced idea

Posted by: Maven on May 31, 2009 at 7:11 am

From Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:

When Ardis Beckner-Eggebrecht does her four loads of laundry a week, she uses about 30 gallons of water and saves more than 100. Her secret? Reusing the water from her washing machine to clean several more loads, then dumping it onto the roses, grapefruit trees and grass outside her Redlands home. “I thought, ‘Why are we dumping perfectly good water out?’ ” said Beckner-Eggebrecht, a tanned and toned 75-year-old who scoops countless buckets of spent wash water she collects in two plastic trash barrels and totes them to the yard on wash day.

She and other “gray water” enthusiasts say drought-plagued California is missing an opportunity by not using wastewater from bathroom sinks, showers and washing machines to flush toilets and irrigate outdoors; it does not include the drainage from kitchen sinks, dishwashers or toilets, which are high in organic matter and pathogens.

The topic is gaining attention in light of the state’s water woes, including restrictions on the water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, mandatory cutbacks by water agencies and higher rates to inspire conservation.

Read more from Riverside’s Press Enterprise by clicking here. (Someone should tell Ardis about Enviro Water Boy ….)

May 31, 2009 · Filed Under Recycled Water

Comments

Leave a Reply