Michelle Renee Adcock
Biology 4400
Grey water recycling - what is it,
potential for Dominican Campus and
possible barriers.
What is grey water?
Grey water is any water that is used in
kitchens and in lavatories except
water from our toilets. Grey
water is also rainwater which can be collected and be
reused California was the first state to
legalize the use of grey water for irrigating
landscapes. In 1989 grey water was
legalized. It should be said that
approximately 10 permits were issued in the
city of Santa Barbara during 1989 to 1998.
In the county of Santa Barbara a grey water
permit costs $75.00. Grey water turns
to black water when stored or not used for
more than twenty-four hours. (
http://oasisdesign.net) Water when flushed
from our toilets is black water. Both grey
water and black water can not be used as
drinking water. Out of all the water we use,
50% to 80% of the water is wasted and is
called wastewater. Water is taken for granted,
we don ‘t even think about using it or what
would happen if all of the pure water were
no longer available.
Why is water important?
Without water people, animals and plants
could not survive. People need to
have a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day
to survive. Miller says There are no
substitutes for most of its uses and only
about 0.014% of the earth ‘s total water is
easily available to us as soil moisture,
usable groundwater, water vapor, and lakes and
streams. (Miller,296) We are fortunate to have a lot of water but we use
water
faster then it is replenished, and over
load it with degradable and non-degradable
wastes. Which is one of the
reasons we have and use grey water.
Why is grey water important?
When droughts occur grey water is most
useful because we need to water our
non-edible plants so we have enough good
water left to grow food.
Who would have thought that water could be
recycled. But how many people
reuse water? Poverty country ‘s such as
Asia, Africa and Latin America people bathe
and wash cloths in the same water. In
the USA most American ‘s take water for granted.
We too reuse water but not as much as
poverty country ‘s.
How do we use grey water?
Grey water can be reused to water all of our
plants and trees except edible ones.
If we use grey water instead of normal water
we will save water, which then we can use
for drinking water, and watering our edible
plants. Over time we waste a lot of water,
about 50% to 80% to be accurate.
I interviewed Michael Henkes a member of the
Associate Director Facilities Services
of Dominican University. He
has had a couple of conversations with the City of San
Rafael Water Department about grey water
distribution in this area. Grey water is
planning to be used in the near future, but
no dates have been set. We do not know what
the system will cost, nor if the City of
San Rafael, or the Marin Municipal Water
District will be helping to pay the cost of
installation at Dominican University. He
has been preparing by slowly installing
irrigation lines all over the campus. Also,
there are two wells on campus. One
well is on the Convent property and the other one is
at Forest Meadows. They
currently supply irrigation water to most of the campus.
Here on our campus we use city water for
the lavatories, kitchen and also to water the
rest of the campus.
In conclusion, I would recommend that all
new homes and businesses install grey
water systems as it is cheaper to build at
the beginning of structure rather than adding
it to the property in later years. Before this speech I was not aware of the
usefulness of grey water. I’m also glad
that in the near future Dominican University
is planning on using grey water for
irrigation of the many plants and trees.