Our house is being re-plumbed, but it looks as if our plan to irrigate our landscaping using the grey water from our bathroom sinks, showers, and washing machine are going down the drain.

Soap, gravity and economics are not on our side.

For those that aren't familiar with grey water, here it is in a nutshell: Water that is used for washing doesn't have to go to the sewer; rather, it can go back into the soil around your house. Landscape plants get the water, the you save some bucks by not having to pay extra for irrigating with potable water, and everyone is happy. (FYI--waste water from the kitchen sink, dishwasher, and toilets is considered "black water" and legally must be routed to a septic or sewer system.)

Sadly, its not as simple as it seems.

Soap is a concern. While we did use a garden hose to divert our laundry water to a maple and a redbud last summer, it seems that there are very few soaps on the market (I am talking all soaps, including laundry, hand, and shampoo) that are considered truly "grey water safe," and those that are tend to be a bit pricey. Others say to use biodegradable "natural soaps," and suggest that the soap gets diluted enough such that it isn't a problem. But what happens if you are irrigating with diluted soapy water in the same place for years, or even decades? More elaborate grey water systems are designed to filter out the soap, but this starts going a bit beyond my garden hose technology. Finally, it is not suggested that you use grey water for irrigating annual veggies, and I am also skeptical about irrigating fruit trees. This is problematic for me, as I am moving towards having something edible in every corner of the property.

A more personal issue is gravity. For grey water systems, you need some way to move the water from your house to your landscaping. Our house is on a flat piece of land, so moving the water to a non-food producing location of our yard would require a pump, which requires money.

Lastly, there is the issue of economics. As I have mentioned before in this blog, water is undervalued in Northern California. We are already connected to the sewer, and the cost of installing even the most basic grey water system to save water does not make economic sense for our home here in Chico in terms of the amount of water we would be able to conserve.

The smart choice, in my opinion, is to use less water overall, and to try rainwater harvesting--capturing rainwater runoff from the roof in barrels and using it throughout the summer to irrigate nearby plants. I am pretty sure that is the direction we are heading.

This all having been said, I do think that there is a time and a place for grey water systems, for example, in place of a septic system for new construction. And there are plenty of others who agree.