The Pacific Institute, based in Oakland, CA, recently released a comprehensive report that confirms our company’s mission.  Stop using fresh water to flush toilets.

The article quotes: “Greywater reuse is part of an important paradigm shift in how we manage water, toward a more rational approach where we match the quality of water to the need” said Meena Palaniappan, director of the Pacific Institute International Water and Communities Initiative and coauthor of the report. “By reusing greywater in the home for watering landscapes or flushing toilets, we can reduce the use of high quality, expensive, and energy-intensive drinking water for those purposes.”

What they continue to say is probably more important:

The current greywater policies are not consistent from country to country, state to state or city to city. The powers that be need to determine international policies that govern the quality and safety of greyater re-use that is not so constrictive to cause undue and prohibitive rules.

We have had years of experience dealing with local, state and federal agencies. While in theory most will agree to greywater re-use sysems, they more often than not, figure a way to not allow greywater re-use.

Back to the real reason of this blog…. check out this website and comment about the benefit of 40% saving in water conservaton by using your washing machine and shower water to flush your toilets.

http://yubanet.com/california/Report-Explores-Potential-of-Greywater-Reuse-to-Aid-Sustainable-Water-Use.php

An article written this week by Alex Wilson of Building Green.com states that the Second most important priority in green building is reduction of water.  The author, although not specifically mentioning Water legacy, he gets the point of water conservation.  He discussed the water/energy nexus and gives some known and new ideas for water conservation. 

Check out this article at www.BuildingGreen.com/live/index.cfm/2010/11/9

We seem to focus on the shortage of something when it affects our lives, otherwise we don’t really care.  There is a also a tendancy to think a shortage will right itself as if by magic.  However, when it comes to water, there is a limited supply of fresh water.  Other countries, such as Australia and Canada, know the potential downfalls of shortages and are regulating their water and storm systems to accomodate innovative ideas.

One area that we can help ourselves prepare for potential shortages is to conserve and reuse.  Most sustainably oriented people already utilize low flush toilets, low flow faucets and at least turn off the water while brushing their teeth.  However, there seems to be an impass of legislative rules regarding the re-use of greywater and especially in toilet flushing.  We have available a method to save consumption in residential households  40% of its water usage and cities are fighting over whether or not to allow it.

If you Don’t Flush Fresh Water you can save 40%, sometimes even more.  check out this link that concerns the top cities in the U.S. Facing water shortages and think about why recycling greywater to flush your toilet makes sense.

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/111186/the-ten-biggest-american-cities-that-are-running-out-of-water

Denver Housing Authority broke ground on the $20.4 million project providing affordable housing for low income seniors this week.  Part of the program is a pilot project featuring Water Legacy’s Greywater re-use system’s technology.  Mike Vail, CEO of Water Legacy has been involved in the planning and engineering of the plumbing system in the project and is thrilled to see it come so far.  “We always knew the need for conservation of water would have to transition public and multi-family housing, and we are proud to be a part of this innovative project.”, He said recently. 

To view the whole story visit http://insiderealestatenews.com/2010/09/dha-breaks-ground-on-20-million-project/

Water Legacy’s quest is to replace the common misconception that we need fresh water to flush our toilets.  In the past year we have seen numerous quotes from highly credible individuals, that we should not use fresh water to flush our toilets.  But, quotes versus actual action don’t create sytems when you have resistance by local plumbing authorities.  Our goal is simple- Use a greywater system with recycled water to flush your toilets, this ends up with a 30-40% reduction in consumption of fresh water.  Check out this great blog by a person in San Francisco who will be using a WL55 in their new home design.  http://www.greenmodernsf.com/?p=42

There is an excellent article today from Huffington Post regarding re-use of greywater.  PLease visit the article and let me know what you think….  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yermi-brenner/is-desalination-the-answe_b_678968.html

How exciting!  The Texas city of  San Marcos, located near Austin has approved a greywater (graywater) ordinance that will allow greywater for toilet flushing. The city council, following in the footsteps of Austin, TX, will allow shower water, washing machine water and sink water for uses such as irrigation and TOILET FLUSHING.

Water Legacy is very pleased at the comments made by the council members, that is that their constituents have expressed a need for this.  The people do matter!!  Our conservation and efficiency demands on our government will create the grass roots efforts for continued saving of fresh water!

According to the Austin Statesman - the local newspaper - the council has added some considerations to the ordinance, but all in all it is a very good message for the water conservationists.

“In addition, the proposed ordinance stipulates that gray water must be applied in a way that prevents pooling and runoff onto other properties. Clack said the ordinance primarily targets new home construction.

“We’re encouraging builders to install new gray water plumbing,” Clack said. But there are no incentives currently planned for builders or residents, he said.

For commercial and industrial applications, gray water can only be used for landscape maintenance, dust control and toilet flushing.

Council member John Thomaides said that the ordinance is one that residents have pushed for in the past.

“Citizens have communicated to me through the years that they want to capture laundry water, mostly for gardening,” Thomaides said. “If homeowners want to use it to save aquifer water, it’s a good thing. (The ordinance) gives us the ability to tell people how to use it.”

To read the whole article, click on this link: 

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/san-marcos-to-consider-gray-water-ordinance-811895.html?cxtype=rss_local

Green Collar Research boasts the largest B2B Green Directory on the web and we are a part of the directory!

Added to the site last week, Water Legacy is the only greywater re-use system on this site. 

Follow this link to visit the site:  

http://www.greencollareconomy.com/Green_Directory/environment/water-efficiency-%26-technology/greywater-management/water-legacy/details/

Laer Pearce, one of my connections on LinkedIn, posted an article on the Water Conservation Professionals group that has definitive information that relates to Water Legacy and our mission to reduce water consumption through re-use of greywater by toilet flushing.  Over 1,100 counties in the US will face shortages of water by 2050.  After reading this article, we realize our mission may be in its infancy, because we american’s have a tendancy not to think beyond a couple of years.  So what can we do???

Greywater recycling, conservation through re-use in irrigation, eco-faucets and high efficiency plumbing are the starting blocks. However; serious efforts need to be made in municipal use, power plant cooling and industrial applications. Total water consumption is projected to increase, not decrease by 2050 by 12% for municipal use and electric cooling.  Agriculture, livestock, irrigation and mining is expected to remain relatively the same.  We can have an effect on our municipal use through greywater recycling by using our shower and washing machine water to flush our toilets. We can impact usage individually. Domestic greywater recycling has reduced our family’s overall use by at least 40%, but not everyone is married to the designer of the WL55.   

To read more about this topic visit this website: http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/watersustainability/files/WaterRisk.pdf

Mike Holmes - Holmes on Homes, a Canadian publication asserts it is time to start using grey water to flush our toilets!  DUH!   We, at Water legacy have been saying this for years.  The time has come for the regulatory agencies to start mandating the use of greywater to flush toilets. I n this article it states:            “Grey-water recycling is a technology we all need to adopt to help conserve water.”  We have the technology!  It exists and it works.  Our water bill last month for water alone was a  whopping $12.00.

View this article at http://www.holmesmagazine.com/moremike_waterways.php.

The WL55 from Water legacy saves an average household 30%-40% of its residential water consumption!  Now that is saving water

Let me know what you think.