RESIDENTIAL GRAYWATER REUSE STUDY

Introduction

In arid regions of the U.S., water conservation and reuse are issues that receive a great deal of public attention. The search for ways to responsibly use and reuse water is vital to the sustainability of the water supply and thus the future of these areas. Wastewater treatment and reuse is one of the best water conservation options available to communities located in arid areas. Many large scale reuse efforts have been developed, such as the watering of golf courses with treated municipal effluent or the use of effluent for groundwater recharge (Asano, 1998). But the potential for wastewater reuse is not limited to large-scale projects supplied by community wastewater treatment facilities. It is also available to individual homeowners. Graywater recycling offers a way in which people can save and reuse the wastewater generated in their own home.

To add to the understanding of and clarify the issues surrounding the safe and effective use of household graywater, in 1998 the Water Conservation Alliance of Southern Arizona began an in depth study of residential graywater reuse in the greater Tucson area. The study, supported by the Arizona Department of Water Resources, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, looked at two separate aspects of graywater usage in the area: 1) the number of households currently using some portion of the graywater they generate and 2) the water quality of the residential graywater being generated and how that water quality affects the soil that is irrigated with that water. What follows are the results of this study.