"dave weil" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 01 Jun 2004 13:48:55 GMT, ben boorman
wrote:

"building codes" or "city codes" or "county codes" set up how you can do
various things to your property. You cannot set up your plumbing to use
"gray water" in areas that may come in contact with people. Such as
your yard, etc... Many newer homes have some sort of filtering system
to allow for that usage. No matter how clean one is, the fact of
getting clean means somethings are washed off. If you are using
bathwater on your yard, do you want your kids rolling in some elses
discards....

You *do* know that soil is naturally *full* of bacteria of all types,
right? Are you afraid of using compost and other "hot" materials as
fertilizers? As you walk barefoot through your yard, you are sloughing
off skin. Yes, I'm using overstatement, but so are you. For the amount
of "skin" and other undesirables would be very slight in a bucket
designed to catch stray water in a shower, unless you're STANDING IN
IT, of course (which was the original suggestion that you responded
to). As to grey water from *bathwater*, I'd be far more concerned
about the detergent level damaging my plants than I would about
potential health hazards from sloughed off skin (we're not talking
about unprocessed raw sewage after all).

" You cannot set up your plumbing to use "gray water" in areas that may
come in contact with people"

This doesn't mean using it for gardening purposes. Check out the
Arizona guidelines. They prohibit this sort of use but allow it for
gardens, composting and lawn irrigation. See your next statement,
which is what we're talking about, after all.

http://www.oasisdesign.net/greywater...ex.htm#arizona

Gardens do not seem to be that much of an issue here, but the codes were
written with safety in mind. Please don't disparage me from wanting you
to live a long healthy life.

Ummmm, I have a hard time seeing how using shower water in my garden
is going to prevent me from living a long life. Having said that, we
don't have drought problems where I live, so it's not something that
I'm going to be doing any time soon.

Still, I'd suggest that you take your own advice and do some research
before you make global sweeping generalizations. There are many
municipalties that are now allowing grey water for gardening purposes
during droughts.



There are many communities in the perennially drought stricken West that
*require* the use of grey water on landscaping, and they are beginning to
look at black water recycling as well. There are NO "building codes" that
deal with the use of greywater in the garden, just discharge of it into a
city's rainwater sewer system, which is prohibited because of the possible
phosphates contained in the greywater have to be treated, wheras the
rainwater does not. The phosphates contained in modern "soaps" (which are
actually chemically detergents) are minimal and won't harm your garden
plants. It has zero to do with "bacteria". Sounds like a little OCD talking
there.