Thirdcloud Publications Surf City Strand Mag November 2015 | Page 26

Capturing greywater can be as simple as placing a valve on your washing machine discharge and
using that water for your landscape. There are many possible systems which are inexpensive that
could be incentivized by cities and local communities to promote water conservation.
In May of 2013, Chula Vista adopted regulations passing a clothes washer Gray Water ordinance.
The idea of a small county or city tax credit to incentivize the installation of an owner installed
greywater system seems like a reasonable conservation effort, especially before dedicating public
resources to consuming more energy and tripling water costs across the county.
Owner Installed Greywater System
Hands-on workshops and presentations on how to design and construct greywater systems can
be found through Greywater Action—a collaborative of educators who teach residents and trades
people about affordable and simple household water systems that reduce water use.
The public needs to be more involved in California water resource issues according to UCI
Professor Jay Famiglietti, who is also the senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena.
Like Assemblyman Wagner suggested, “we need to look at everything.” At the moment,
greywater conservation ideas don’t seem to be high on the local radar in Huntington Beach. As a
coastal community, we should look to be a leader in fostering a sustainable culture of water—
before launching our own Poseidon.