Going gray: California contractors turn loads of laundry into an irrigation source with the help of an incentive program.

摘要

The first graywater systems installed by EarthCare Landscaping in Cupertino, Calif., were complex, messy projects. A decade ago in California, graywater—the wastewater generated from a home's washing machines, sinks, dishwashers and showers—was deemed equivalent to sewage, and the state made sustainable-minded homeowners, who saw usable water quite literally going down the drain, jump through complicated hoops to make use of it. Permits, mandated 9 inches of underground tubing and upward of $6,000in material costs meant few homeowners could utilize their graywater as a way to irrigate their landscapes and save thousands of gallons of water each year.