“Graywater is a great thing,” effuses Ron Duncan, conservation and customer service field manager for Soquel Creek Water District. “We call it wastewater when it goes down the drain, but it’s not. It’s a resource waiting to be had.”
Water conservation is hot these days, especially in light of talks over a desalination plant that many say would be unnecessary if we were just more careful with water. Recycling graywater—which runs from bathroom sinks, showers and washing machines—is one such conservation measure.
But do people actually want to bother? The SCWD offers a rebate to its customers who capture graywater and use it to irrigate landscapes. The money’s been on the table since July. And yet not one customer has come forth to take advantage of it. Officials aren’t sure why.
“We worked with a whole host of people through the Central Coast Greywater Alliance, we put information about it on our website and Ecology Action’s website, we ran monthly ads,” Duncan says, ticking off a host of promotional activities. “This is the trick: finding out what are the barriers to customers.”
He says the barriers are usually money and time. “And this is a new technology. It might be that it’s scary,” he adds.
Under the program, water district customers can receive a $75 rebate for each graywater system they install—up to three—for a total of $225. Eligible connections include washing machines, bathtub/showers and bathroom sinks.
The recycled water must then be used at least two inches under mulch or other groundcover. Graywater is safe to use to irrigate below ground (except on root crops or edible crops), but it cannot be sprayed.
The problem could be in the math. The simplest system—pumping water from your washing machine into pipes that irrigate the landscape—costs about $150 for materials and $500 to have someone install it, Duncan says. It will generate around approximately 2,500 gallons of water and save you $20 a year on your water bill—an underwhelming savings from a dollar point of view. More elaborate systems run several thousand dollars, can save around 10,000 gallons and cut the annual bill by $100.
Staff analyst Shelley Flock says she thinks the newness of the program—and money—explain the lack of rebates to date. “For me, personally, I’m saving my money and putting it into doing fixture replacements first, where I’ll get more savings than from graywater,” Flock says, adding that fixture replacement is spendy. “An upgrading to an efficient washer—that’s close to $1,500 for a new washer. It’s expensive for a lot of people.”
Still, water district officials—who regularly hear about conservation as an argument against desalination—hope that ultimately these same conservation-minded customers will step up.
“Water is so valuable; it’s kind of a commodity and a resource,” Duncan says. “There is something to be said for individuals trying to have more sustainable behavior not from a money standpoint, but from a lifestyle standpoint.”
For more info go to www.soquelcreekwater.org/content/graywater-rebate
