Todd Jarvis on The Color of Water in Oregon: A Perspective on Graywater

Todd Jarvis, Associate Director of OSU's Institute for Water and Watersheds, blogmeister of the Rainbow Water Coalition, and a good friend, gave an informative Power Point presentation on graywater in Oregon before a small (15) but enthusiastic group at the second meeting of the Oregon Section of the AWRA. 

Todd is a member of the Oregon  Graywater Advisory Committee, which is currently grappling with developing recommendations for the treatment, disposal, and reuse of graywater that are protective of public health and the environment.

Todd's training as a mediator will no doubt come in handy. Could be as much fun as dealing with exempt wells!

But Todd failed to address the most critical issue of all: is it graywater, greywater, gray water, or grey water?

That issue could make the donnybrook over groundwater vs. ground water seem tame.

Download a copy of his presentation. Check out the Oregon Legal Graywater Association.

C:\Fake Path\Oregon Greywater Slide Share

View more presentations from Oregon State University.

"That makes sense. Why use one word when two will do?'" -- A consultant, to an impetuous young hydrogeologist (moi) who insisted he use hydraulic conductivity instead of permeability in a proposal (1983).

Comments

[Todd Jarvis]

Dear Avni:

Thank you for your message. It is always wonderful to meet a *follower* of the Rainbow Water Coalition.

It is interesting to read of your research project, especially given the timing of some of the recent RWC blog postings regarding student projects in Pennsylvania where their research found that greywater slowed plant growth.

However, many of the other student projects that I have followed on my blog have shown the exact same findings as your project - that greywater promotes plant growth. The following are some of the student projects that are comparable to yours with some of the same results:

http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2012/04/12/grey-water-project-a-winner

http://www.sungazette.net/arlington/people/local-students-take-top-honors-in-regional-science-engineering-fair/article_b1908a6a-6855-11e1-aed0-0019bb2963f4.html

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/179955#.Tir0P83xOr0

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/117761123.html

One RWC Commenter indicated the following:

Did you ask a soil scientist? There's a real good chance that this kitchen sink water, with its organic constituents, is one of the best, or certainly not the worst, things we could do to the soil. As science will tell you, organic matter builds structure in the soil. Structure allows for maximum water retention, toxicity filtering, diversity of life, fertility....

Some soaps are not plant friendly:

http://rainbowwatercoalition.blogspot.com/2012/01/safe-soap-study.html

I think the increased growth in plants using greywater is related to the phosphorus that is found in the *soapy* water, along with some of the nutrients in kitchen sink water (food particles that degrade) as described in this article on a PhD research project:

http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/10050613-roots-meshed-waste-materials-could-clean-dirty-water.html

Also, tap water typically has chlorine and other disinfection by-products that can slow plant growth.

Another RWC Commenter indicated the following:

Use bleach when you wash and you can just kiss your plants and your soil goodbye. Greywater is okay as long as people use environmentally friendly products for their soaps, etc...

* * * * * *

I am hopeful this information is useful to your project and that you will share your final report and presentation with me so it can be profiled as one of the many Grey(t) Greywater Student Projects on the RWC!

Happy Holidays and thanks for reading the RWC!

Todd
_ _ _

[Avni Limdi]

I am an eighth grade student and for my science fair I studied the impact of Graywater on an indoor ornamental plant and grass. I am seeking assistance to interpret the growth data I have collected. In my experiment the grass watered by graywater (prepared and collected from Kitchen sink and laundry room sink prepared using regular detergents) showed better growth than grass specimens watered using tap water. I also studied graywater prepared using Biodegradable detergents (prepared in the Kitchen sink and laundry room sink) and the grass watered using the BGW showed the most growth. I can share my data if necessary, do let me know if you can help me understand why grass watered using graywater showed growth better than grass watered using regular tap water.

[PAUL F MILLER]

According to the Arizona Dept of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) website, Arizona has a bona-fide "greywater" rule currently in place. And they do...! It goes something like this ... WE WON'T ASK ANY QUESTIONS & WE WON'T ENFORCE ... so do as you damn well please...

As an active stakeholder in the rule making and revision process in Arizona I find it amusing that exceptions were made to our vaunted RULES to accommodate Pima (Tucson) County as they have a storied history with greywater usage in their county, but, oops it doesn't follow the rules demanded in the other 14 Arizona counties

And moreover, ADEQ chooses not to enforce any of its RESIDENTIAL wastewater rules choosing instead to delegate it in the form of an unfunded mandate to the respective counties all of which are precariously short of funds.

Bottom line the GREYWATER rule in Arizona is DO IT in any manner ... pollute if necessary ... because no one will be looking ... it's called the HONOR system ... and you know how well that works ...

Respectfully submitted,

Paul F. Miller