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Now legal in Montana!
What is Gray Water?
Gray Water systems allow homeowners to reuse non-septic wastewater from their homes to water their plants and lawns. An average household is able to reuse 50-80% of their water. This system allows people to conserve water, saving from 30%-40% on their water bill. Interested people can install a filtration system in their home to treat water and make it safe for use on plants.
How Does It Work?
Ideally, a seperate set of pipes will be installed for a graywater system. Water from toilets and kitchen sinks will go into the sewer/septic system. Water from all other sources will go into a basic filtration system to removce particles. From that point, the water can can flow back to fill toilet bowls or in a sub-irrigation system to water lawns or trees. Systems, either home-built or professionally made, are started to be approved and installed around Montana since becomimg legal in late 2007.
S.A.V.E. Raffle
S.A.V.E. spent a year traveling around the state with a Gray Water system donated by Brac systems. This W-200 is the tank and filtration system large enough for a household of 3-5 people. The system has already been displayed in Butte, Bozeman, and Helena, and may be in your area soon. The raffle was closed on Earth Day 2008 and the winner will be announced soon.
Legal Status
In Montana's history, gray water systems used to be fairly common. Many old ranchouses have gray water systems as a common sense conservation measure. In recent history, gray water was illegal in Montana until the 2007 Legislative, where S.A.V.E. helped to make this conservation solution legal. Read more about this success story on our blog. The rulemaking process, determining exactly which types of gray water systems are allowed, will begin shortly. We'll be advocating to make it as easy as possible for people wanting to install a system, while keeping it safe. If you are interested, don't hestitate to contact us.
Links
Recent News in Montana:
S.A.V.E. featured on Billings station *Excellent synopsis of gray water, January 2008,
Gray water may help stretch precious resource Butte Montana Standard, December 2007, also in Billings Gazette
New law helping conserve Montana's water Montana's News Station, November 2007
Waste-water bill clears House Helena Independent Record, February 2007 (mid-page)Other Info:
Wikipedia Article - Excellent
overview of Gray Water
Greywater.com - Includes basic diagrams
Gray Water Policy
Center - A collection of other state and national laws regarding gray water.
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