On a recent trip with friends we discussed the usage of Water Legacy’s greywater re-use system and how some people just think it is is accepted as the norm.  It is not the norm… as a matter of fact, it is abnormal and truly the ones who choose to re-use greywater for toilet flushing are innovators and leaders.  However, in other countries flushing fresh water is not the good thing to do.  Grey water is used in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK  http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/new_norfolk_homes_are_a_sign_of_the_times_1_1014108.

So we need to get our government to realize the energy savings, the water conservation and the benefit of greywater re-recycling and allow it instead of disallowing based on old thoughts….

Eco Home Magazine, the premier source of green building products, features the WL55 in the June issue.  A a part of an article on re-using your greywater, Eco Home discussed the Water Legacy WL55 and featured a photo of the product.

They state in the article the following from Water Legacy’s COO, Mike Vail:

“Mike Vale, who designed and built the Water Legacy greywater treatment system installed at the Edge House in Boulder, says one of the recurring errors in greywater installation is not providing space for the water heater–size treatment appliance. “Allow plenty of room around the treatment tank, so you can easily get to it for servicing,” says Vale, who now manufactures and sells the Water Legacy system nationwide. Recycling tanks are located in the same utility closets where water heaters may go, in basements, laundry rooms, or even garages or outdoors in warm climates.”

Please view the whole article at  http://www.ecohomemagazine.com/water-conservation/second-time-around.aspx
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More and more forward thinking architects and designers are incorporating water conservation in their new home drawings.  The concept of Water Legacy and the company’s philosophy of saving fresh water through utilizing greywater to flush your toilets appears to be catching on.  View this posting and share with your friends and colleagues .

http://livemodern.com/greenblogs/86ae4ec8ff0f99a6f104fd44623da449

Visit this link to see our President and leader Mike Vail speak to IAPMO members regarding the energy usage of cleaning and treating water.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxB23-7hox8 It is amazing the cost of energy to  provide fresh water to flush your toilets.  Water conservation can save up to 13% of the cost of moving, treating and using water.  80% of the cost of a municipal system is just moving water…. Hey… how about a solution of re-using water to not only save water, but also to save energy.

The most recent issue of “Mountain Living” Magazine feature’s Water Legacy’s co-founder’s Edge House. The Beautiful home in Boulder, Colorado is part of the March/April issue specifically dedicated to “Green” homes.  Designed by Rodwin Architects, this home features numerous sustainable methods that go beyond the basic thought of energy conservation.  A near Net Zero Energy home, The Edge house, has solar, geo-thermal systems, low VOX paint in addition to smart lighting and the best water re-use system available.   Visit this link to view the article.  http://waterlegacy.com/pdf/Mountain_Living_March_April_2011.pdf

A recent article written in the Rocky Mountain Collegian by Holly Batchelder defines the steps Colorado State University is taking in going “Green”.  One of those steps is the partnership with Water Legacy and the CSU’s school of Engineering.  Water Legacy’s mission is expanding in the area of multi-family, multi person, and commercial buildings. The greywater re-use system designed by Water Legacy in Allen Hall will be the first of it’s kind in the country.  How great is that?  All of us can remember showering in the dorms and when the toilets flushed the spray of hot water that singed us.  Now that water will be coming back to flush the toilets.

We are so proud to be affiliated with the wonderful staff and students at CSU and hope the momentum continues.

Please read this post from the Rocky mountian Colligian  http://www.collegian.com/index.php/article/2011/01/020111_guestcolumnbatchelder

Earth Advantage Institute, www.earthadvantage.org, lists residential greywater re-use as one of the top ten trends for green building in 2011.  The article can be viewed at http://www.benzinga.com/press-releases/11/01/p758110/top-ten-green-building-trends-for-2011-selected-by-earth-advantage-inst. We have seen in the past few months, an attitude that insinuates greywater re-use for irrigation and toilet flushing is an acceptable practice for water conservation.   We fight city hall every day in order to get greywater standardization in place. Yet we know the tremendous difficulty in gaining mainstream acceptance of greywater re-use. The benefits to reducing consumption and energy along with it do not seem so apparent during the winter months, only when we are short on water in the summer.

Anyone involved in water knows that the droughts facing various parts of the world are being acted upon only when it is imperative water must be conserved.  The US will be facing severe water shortages as we progress into the next ten years.  So why the delay in rate of greywater re-use????  We, as water conservationists need to petition our local, state and Federal regulators to standardize acceptable greywater re-use guide lines.

So, while we find it encouraging that Green Building proponents see and understand the need for greywater re-use the truth is; Greywater re-use is still one of those things that just has not crossed into main stream thinking.  But the time will come when we have to consider do we really want to flush fresh water or use drinking water to irrigate our lawn?????

Today’s L.A. Times claims that 50% of the water used inside of a home can be used to irrigate or flush your toilets.  Really?????  These are things we as water conservationists already know, but how do we get our federal, state and local officials to understand that we demand this type  of conservation????  As I continue the quest for greywater re-use in toilet flushing and irrigation, I find there are so many people open to not flushing drinking water.  Yet, we are confronted with antiquated thought from our protectors, those who would rather flush fresh water so your dog doesn’t drink from the toilet. 

Check out the article and comment so we can see the number of people who care about water conservation

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/11/greywater-report.html

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

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