The California Building Standards Commission adopted new code language for residential graywater reuse effective August 4, 2009. The changes were supported by the State Department of Public Health. They authorized two types of graywater system without the requirement for local building permits: clothes washers and one single-fixture systems¹ (i.e., fixtures to a common drain). On January 12, 2010, the California Building Standards Commission approved a modification to the emergency graywater standards, which amended the permit exemption from a “single-fixture system” to a “clothes washer system,” which does not require cutting of the existing plumbing piping. More information is available online at:
http://www.hcd.ca.gov/codes/shl/graywater_emergency.html.
It is important to note that a city, county, or city and county or other local government may, after a public hearing and enactment of an ordinance or resolution, further restrict or prohibit the use of graywater systems. In addition, an exemption from construction permit requirements is not considered authorization for any graywater system to be installed in a manner that violates other provisions of the California Plumbing Code or any other laws or ordinances of the enforcing agency such as the local health department.
In short, while the change is designed to facilitate the use of graywater with less rigorous permitting requirements and costs, cities, counties or other local governments can adopt more restrictive standards including registration of graywater systems, permits for the systems, or even prohibiting the systems entirely.
The District encourages customers to contact County of Santa Barbara Environmental Health Services or the City of Goleta for further information about local permitting requirements.
County of Santa Barbara Environmental Health Services: www.sbcphd.org/ehs (805) 681-4900
City of Goleta: www.cityofgoleta.org (805) 961-7500
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¹ Single fixture system is defined as a graywater system collecting graywater from one plumbing fixture or a single drain which collects graywater from more than one fixture in a one- or two-family dwelling.
Laundry to Landscape graywater DVDs are available for purchase at Goleta Water District at a reduced cost of $8 each. DVDs are also available at the Goleta and Santa Barbara Libraries.
On June 15, 2010, the Goleta Water District and the City of Santa Barbara hosted a Laundry to Landscape graywater installation workshop. The workshop was taught by Greywater Action and Oasis Design and was limited to twenty participants. To see pictures, click here. (PDF; 393kb)
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©2009 Goleta Water District