Sacred water! Graywater in SB, our modest history with it & thoughts on it.

Quick shameless plug, if you haven't voted yet for the SB Indy's Best of Issue, please do! We have been nominated for best contractor. Click Here to vote ( let it load > scroll down to housing > contractor > vote for us and 20 more categories if you can). We would be honored for you to take the time to vote for us!

Now on to something way more important and essential to life on earth as we know it, WATER.

I have a history with graywater growing up in SB. My dad was an independent licensed plumber here for about 40 years. We had some pretty cool guerrilla graywater practices in our little downtown carriage house growing up. Rinse cycles on the washing machine all went to water our beautiful bouncy green grass, leaving purple lint patches around the yard. Warming water in the shower and sinks was always collected in 5 gallon buckets and used for flushing the toilet or watering orchids. It was weird and quirky, just like my dad, but that was my normal growing up and it laid the foundation for water reverence for the rest of my life. If I took too long a shower my dad would always make a point to say "Lake Cachuma just called, they said they are running low on water." Big teenage girl eye rolls usually followed.

I am all grown up now. I still try (most of the time) to take short showers. I collect warming water in 5 gallon buckets and flush the toilet/water our orchids with them. I worry about our watershed. I am intrigued, concerned and confounded by the graywater policies of our great city and state. Graywater regulation and failing under-funded leaking water infrastructure is something I am not very educated on. It is also something I am very interested in and want to write a lot more about so stay tuned for this graywater journey we will be embarking on!

I have been baffled why local building code, with such severe drought being the new normal, doesn't actually have an aggressive graywater plumbing requirement for all new construction and remodels.

So much necessary building code around fire, what about water? There is a need. In my humble opinion, there should be very low barriers to large scale graywater use. People who are investing such large amounts of money on updating their homes, should also keep water conservation top of mind for generations to come. All plumbers should be extensively trained in it as part of their licensing. We should be saving every last drop of water we can.

A very quick Google search has revealed a few things to me that I want to share with you:

1. Graywater is legal in single family homes in California. Read about it here. Question I am left with: why not multifamily and commercial as well? Perhaps it is? More to come.

2. The City of Santa Barbara has a link to graywater options on their website. Here it is.

3. Sweet Water Collaborative is an epic local non profit who's mission is to demonstrate how to live in balance with our local watershed using regenerative, waterwise landscape practices. They provide education, workshops, and trainings for sustainable water management. Please check them out and support. We are hoping to bring them in to give a training to our design and project management team on how, as a company, we can take more of a leadership role in water conservation with our clients.

4. Water Wise SB is an amazing resource as well check it out for vendors and other paths to incorporating the magic of graywater into your life.

Thank you for reading this, have a fabulous weekend, enjoy life, and keep in touch.