Anyone know if there are any goofy Calif rules regarding diverting washing machine water to a container for watering the lawn? In my case I only use off-the-shelf liquid detergent and no softener or bleach.

If some special Kooky Calif rule soap is required and it works OK, I would gladly switch if that keep from having to dump so much water down the drain.

Thanks in advance.

Bob

On 9/22/2014 2:51 PM, Guv Bob wrote:

Anyone know if there are any goofy Calif rules regarding diverting
washing machine water to a container for watering the lawn? In my
case I only use off-the-shelf liquid detergent and no softener or
bleach.

If some special Kooky Calif rule soap is required and it works OK, I
would gladly switch if that keep from having to dump so much water
down the drain.

Thanks in advance.

Bob


That is a question to ask your local Department of Public Health or
Department of Environmental Health (the department name depends in what
city or county you live). As long as you have no runoff from your
property, you likely do not need a waste-water discharge permit; but
this is something the "health department" should be able to answer.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

Guv Bob wrote:
Anyone know if there are any goofy Calif rules regarding diverting
washing machine water to a container for watering the lawn? In my
case I only use off-the-shelf liquid detergent and no softener or
bleach.

If some special Kooky Calif rule soap is required and it works OK, I
would gladly switch if that keep from having to dump so much water
down the drain.

Thanks in advance.

Bob


I cannot answer about your local goverment rules you would be in a better
position to ask them rather than an international group.

As far as using grey water goes it is not recommended that you store it, or
if you do only do so for a short period of time. The risk is that if it is
left around microbes will start to grow and it may become more dangerous.
Recommended grey water systems distribute directly on to the garden where
the chance of the bugs in it taking over from those in the soil is very low.

Aside from microbes another consideration is the amount of salts in your
cleaning products. Many washing-up and laundry cleansers have high amounts
of sodium carbonate. This can raise the pH of your soil and sodise it . It
depends on the amount applied, the type of soil you have and the amount of
clean water applied to flush the salts out but it could kill your soil or
greatly reduce its fertility.


--
David

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