the Greywater Alliance

Bay Area Greywater Roundtable Series

The Greywater Alliance invites you to join us for our 2010, five-part series of discussions and presentations for the Bay Area greywater community.  After the recent improvement to the state greywater code, we are facilitating local action by bringing people and ideas together in five targeted greywater roundtables, with building professionals, designers, city inspectors and planners, policy makers, water district staff, and greywater advocates.

See our Roundtable Resources page for pdfs of the presentations as well as lists of the attendees.

The next roundtable will be held on September 30th and the topic will be: “Perceived vs. Actual Risks: Greywater and Pathogens.” Dr. Kara Nelson, College of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, and others to be announced.

November 18: “Perceived vs. Actual Risks: Greywater and Pathogens.”

Meetings are held at the EBMUD Headquarters, 2nd floor, 375 11th St., Oakland.     

Greywater is...

water from your bathroom sinks, showers, tubs, and washing machines. It is not water that has come into contact with feces, either from the toilet or from washing diapers.  It is also known as graywater, grey water and gray water.

Greywater is a resource

 Greywater is an important resource as it can be safely reused for outdoor irrigation or for toilet flushing. It reduces fresh water use, saves money, and reduces flow to sewage treatment plants. Installation of greywater systems could be an up-and-coming green job market.

Barriers to greywater use

California's greywater code has recently changed, making it easier for people to install legal systems. Some local jurisdictions may try to further restrict the state code. Homeowners, policy makers, and city officials need to come together to support greywater reuse. Full adoption of the state code, or local ordinances easing permitting, can facilitate legal greywater use. Widespread education and training programs can provide the public with accurate information on how to design safe, simple, low-cost and effective systems.

Greywater in action

This year has seen a surge of interest in greywater, from the general public to the media. As water districts across the state ask residents to conserve, many turn to greywater. See a video of one.

This website includes

more information about the Alliance's goals, policy information from innovative cities and municipalities on the forefront of water conservation practices, studies on greywater, articles and news about greywater, and information about the larger environmental and social context of water issues.