Bottled Water is Not Wise

Check out Tapped, the movie!

Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? Stephanie Soechtig's debut feature is an unflinching examination of the big business of bottled water. From the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car and I.O.U.S.A., this timely documentary is a behind-the-scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water. From the plastic production to the ocean in which so many of these bottles end up, this inspiring documentary trails the path of the bottled water industry and the communities which were the unwitting chips on the table. A powerful portrait of the lives affected by the bottled water industry, this revelatory film features those caught at the intersection of big business and the public's right to water.

Learn about how to clean up your tap water and avoid harmful chemicals in bottled water

http://www.ewg.org/healthyhometips/filtertapwater#identify

Read more about the "Take Back the Tap" campaign:

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/pubs/reports/take-back-the-tap

I've said it before: if we all do a little bit, it adds up to a lot. A recent article in the LA Times spells it out in another way:

The UCLA report, titled "Graywater: A Potential Source of Water," estimated that if 10% of Southern Californians implemented graywater systems for their laundry, showers, dishwashers and faucets, "the potable water savings would be equivalent to, or larger than, the capacity of a modern, large seawater desalination plant such as those proposed for California."

The article also points out the lack of education about greywater at the state level. I guess it's up to us to make sure we do it right. Do your research!

Our leaders should be leading

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/18/demaios-sanders-water-spat-wash/

It's great that these leading citizens are cutting back water usage by 50 and 60%. Reducing consumption is an important step in water conservation. But let's take the next step in creating a sustainable solution. Let's ask our leaders to be leading this effort.

People in public positions should be at the forefront of water conservation technology, not catching up. That doesn't mean more high tech gadgetry, and following lagging party lines. It means really paying attention to being part of the solution. Mayor Sanders and Councilmember DeMaio should be demonstrating effective use of greywater and rainwater harvesting. They should be setting an example of how water harvesting is the way that we are going to create a sustainable water source in San Diego.

Write Up on Sheepless.org

Scott Ballum of Sheepless.org came to visit with me at one of my clients houses last week. He wrote a little article about H2OME on his website. It's a great resource.

http://sheepless.org/magazine/shorts/accidental-entrepreneur-saving-san-diego-one-roof-time

Free Screening of Tapped

Just wanted to let you know that SD Coastkeeper, Food & Water Watch, and
Pure Water Technologies are encouraging folks to join us for a free, yes
free, screening of Tapped at Ultra Star Cinema next Wednesday.

Tapped is a documentary about the bottled water industry and examines the
social, economic, and environmental impacts of bottled water. I get to see
a lot of films about water pollution and bottled water, but this is
definitely one of the best films I've seen on the subject.

The screening is next Wednesday, Nov. 18th at 7 pm if you are interested.
Please RSVP by emailing rsvptapped@gmail.com if you plan to attend the
screening. Please see the attached fliers for more info, and feel free to
forward this email to friends.

Greywater Policy Position from: The Sustainability Alliance of Southern California

Dear Fellow Sustainability Advocates:

During our regular meeting on October 27, the Sustainability Alliance of Southern California adopted the following official policy position regarding graywater use in Southern California:

"It is the policy of the Sustainability Alliance of Southern California to promote maximum implementation of graywater systems in Southern California. We encourage all jurisdictions within Southern California to proactively support regulatory approval for graywater systems and that incentives, including cash rebates, sewage rate reductions, or reduction in water rates, be evaluated."

We are taking this position of support for graywater reuse for a number of reasons:

1) Simplest way to reclaim and reuse a valuable resource without expensive treatment and re-distribution.

2) Provides a readily available water source for irrigation of yards and greenbelts.

3) Conserves our most precious resource—fresh, potable water.

4) Cuts down on the amount of electricity needed to move water to and throughout our region.

5) Reduces the amount of wastewater that needs to be treated at publicly owned treatment works resulting in less effluent disposed of through ocean outfalls.

6) Less water treated translates to a reduction in related treatment costs and chemicals used in the treatment process.

Supporting this policy now makes sense because...

1) California is in a declared State of Emergency due to extended drought conditions and much needed, potable water is used to irrigate residential landscapes.

2) Statewide legislation supporting use of graywater was recently incorporated into existing building codes, 'opting in' every municipality for graywater use. To opt out, a municipality must hold a public hearing and show just cause for restricting or eliminating graywater use.

a) SB 1258 (which was signed into law in September 2008) directed the Housing and Community Development (HCD) agency to propose building standards for the construction, installation, and alteration of graywater systems for residential indoor and outdoor uses to the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC). Existing graywater standards contained in the California Code of Regulations, Title 24, California Plumbing Code, Part 5, Appendix G were based on requirements for private sewage disposal. These standards were found to be overly prescriptive and antiquated and not readily usable by people seeking to install graywater systems for the purpose of water conservation and reuse.

b) The emergency graywater regulations, which added Chapter 16A, Part I "Nonpotable Water Reuse Systems,” were approved by the CBSC on July 30, 2009. The emergency regulations were subsequently filed with the Secretary of State on August 4, 2009, effective immediately upon filing.

The two most significant changes in the new regulations:

1) Single Fixture Systems (such as clothes washers) no longer require a permit and

2) Irrigation lines no longer have to be buried 9 inches, but can simply be placed under 2 inches of mulch.

Irresponsible Greywater Reporting

I was just forwarded this article by a friend. The first instinct is to think: great! someone is talking about greywater in the media. But this is the kind of unfortunate stuff that is going to give greywater a bad name, and make California policymakers rethink their new leniency in their code policies.

One of the first things the article talks about is watering lawns with greywater. That is one of the big no-nos of greywater use! Bacteria that exists in the greywater can multiply and breed and a lawn is something that is normally a traffic area. Even if it's just ornamental, there are animals that can run across it, the occasional person that may make use of it for sitting on, playing on, whatever. Greywater is best used in mulched basins that are an unattractive place for animals and people to be in, usually because they have plants growing in them. Or greywater can be infiltrated underground.

Art Ludwig, the widely accepted greywater guru, on his website specifically indicates lawn irrigation with greywater as a mistake. Please use greywater responsibly! This is what he says:

Error: Use of grey water for irrigating lawns

The only proven safe and reliable way of irrigating lawns with grey water is through underground drip tubing supplied by a backwashing sand filter type system; far beyond what most residences are likely to install. Unfortunately, turf accounts for the bulk of the irrigation need in the typical landscape, and lawn grey watering is by far the most prevalent violation of common sense grey water safety rules.

This is awkward to write. Do I criminalize thousands of grey water users who see no harm in what they are doing, or do I condone a marginal activity?

If the lawn receives traffic, by applying grey water to the surface you are short circuiting the all-important purification step (see health rulespages 4, 8), inviting direct contact with untreated grey water and the possibility of transmitting pathogens. The likelihood of transmitting disease is small (it would be laughed off in most developing countries) but it exists. The nightmare scenario: the day care center that "saves money and the environment" by irrigating the lawn with diaper wash water, which a dozen toddlers from other families then play in (I know you think I'm making this up, but I saw it at my daughter's very highly regarded day care; they were just trying to do the right thing and spaced out a bit about the context).

If the lawn doesn't receive traffic, then it is less risky to irrigate it with grey water but it shouldn't be a lawn in the first place; the only legitimate reason to have one of these resource hogs is that they are more fun to play on than, say, a gravel and cactus garden. A better solution would be to replace the un-trafficked lawn with something else and irrigate that with grey water, if it needs irrigation at all.

Besides the health issue, grey watering a lawn is a pain in the rear. The system almost universally used is a hose from the washing machine or house plumbing which is moved around. Since the water has to be applied within the root system to benefit the plant, you have to move this hose to numerous locations in a very small grid, as compared to say, a large fruit tree, which would benefit from water left to dump anywhere within an area of hundreds of square feet.

Perforated pipe under the lawn will have efficiency in the single digits, and leave some areas completely dry.

Preferred practice

We suggest that you replace most of your turf with something else, replace what's left with a water-conserving grass such as Tall Fescue, watered with the freshwater you save from using grey water elsewhere, or just let your lawn go dormant when there's not enough rain to sustain it.

Exceptions

Lawns can be irrigated well and safely through subsurface drip ($1500 on up. 300 gpd grey water generation/irrigation need is the break even point where such a system starts to make sense).