Going Green with Greywater & Rainwater Harvesting

The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental organization Resilient Palisades to deliver a “green tip” to our readers in each newspaper. This edition’s tip was written by Vicki Warren of Resilient Palisades Water Sages.

Did you know that your home can provide you with extra water for your garden without growing your water bill? As much as 50% to 80% of indoor water use is “greywater” that can be diverted to your garden rather than going down the drain.

Greywater systems capture water used in bathtubs, showers and laundry, and re-use it for garden irrigation. There are many options from simple do-it-yourself “laundry to landscape” systems (no permit required) to larger systems with pumps and filters that can provide water for up to 16 emitters in the garden.

There are some important requirements for greywater systems including:

– A shut-off valve so that water can be sent down the drain when bleach is used in a laundry load or the garden is saturated after a storm.

– Water must enter the garden below the surface, typically using emitters that release water under a layer of mulch.

– Greywater is ideal for watering trees and larger plants and shrubs, but cannot be used for any edibles that grow underground (such as carrots) or are in contact with the ground (such as lettuce or strawberries).

– Greywater systems must disperse water directly into the garden, not into a storage tank.

Another way to get extra water for your garden (as well as for emergency use) is collecting rainwater. A simple setup of rain barrels is the easiest (check out rebates using the Dashboard Earth app: dashboard.earth).

With average rainfall of 15 inches per year in our area, a larger rainwater collection system with storage tanks can provide much more water for landscaping (including edibles) as well as for emergency use. Each 1,000 square feet of roof can provide 600 gallons of water in a one-inch rain event.

Supplemental water from a greywater or rainwater system can keep your trees and important plants healthy and green even when we have a drought with strict watering restrictions. On top of saving water you will also be saving electricity—moving water around the state accounts for 20% of California’s energy use.

For more information, check out the resources on websites such as Greywater Corps (greywatercorps.com) and Greywater Action (greywateraction.org).