San Diego has approved gray water rules leading neighbors to tap into a water source they
already use it allows folks to soak landscaping without using drinkable water.
>>> Steven Bailey has a passion for tropical fruit but it is thirsty and so are the other
plants that he grows.
>>> I wanted to be able to have a living fence and be able to produce fruits and vegetables
and I can know where my food is coming from.
>>> Bailey is passionate about being frugal so he started to think about ways to feed
his garden without paying huge water bills.
One answer was using the water from his washing machine in his garage.
>>> If I want it to go to the landscape the arrow shows to the landscape, if we need to
use bleach we turn the valve this way and our arrow goes to the sewer.
>>> That PVC pipe feeds several trees in the side yard and he's tapping into water going
down the shower drain a quick visit to the space hold the key.
>>> We put in a threeway valve, Jacuzzi valve and it's off to the sewer, thus the landscape.
>>> Adding in his rainwater tank that captures runoff from his roof and he says he only pays
for water during the hotest part of the summer.
>>> Feeding gray water to landscaping could save a household 16,000 gallons of water a
year.
>>> If we can get multiple residents throughout San Diego inspired, shown how to do it on
their own we can have a significant savings.
>>> Robinson has launched the gray water challenge, he wants 365 households to put gray water
systems in this year.
>>> Each household has a perennial spring that's built into it, if we can tap into it
we have yearround water that is otherwise going to waste.
>>> The goal is to save 5 million gallons next year and city Councilmember lightener
points out it's a good idea.
>>> Your demand to save money is an incentive and your garden can be watered with your laundry
water.
>>> She pushed for the city to make it easier to install these systems, systems that use
less than 245 gallons per day wouldn't need a permit and residential homes wouldn't need
a permit.
>>> They do not want the water pooling and ponding and overflowing into your neighbors
area, so it has to be able to perk.
>>> This is a trench for doing this.
>>> Candice knows the system is daunting, she has gone through it, the process took
more than a year but the result is greening her garden.
>>> We use very little potable water I have a shower gray water system, laundry gray water
system and six sets of tanks on the property, set up at different points so those can water
the landscape and I have a rain garden, bio swells and we have great soil.
>>> She says care needs to be taken to do this right.
She worries that a few poorly installed systems could prompt the city to roll back advances
that are being made.
Erik Anderson KPBS news.