Legalization in California: Greywater

With thanks to Laura and the Greywater Guerrillas. 

Begin forwarded message:

On July 30,  the Building Standards Commission voted to pass the new
California greywater code (Chapter 16 in the CA Plumbing Code).

This was passed as an emergency measure due to the drought and water
shortages faced in the state.

The code will be going through a public review process for the next 45
days. The opposition (the plumbing union, and some building officials)
will be writing in negative comments about the code. People who support
having a simple, safe, and accessible code will also need to write in
comments to help ensure the code is not changed during the comment period.

Importantly, the CA department of Public Health spoke in full support of
the code, citing water shortages and degrading quality of fresh water
being a much greater health concern than any potential issue with
greywater.

Lastly, local jurisdictions will be allowed to make greywater more
restrictive, which many will want to do. Now is a good time to start
conversations with your cities and counties about how they can help
support safe and accessible reuse of greywater.

Summary of the new code (as it's written now)
*no permit needed for a washing machine system if the system followed
health and safety guidelines outlined in the code

*no permit for a singe fixture (one shower) if guidelines are followed

*mulch basins allowed (instead of gravel)

*other systems are separated into "simple" and "complex" depending on the
quantity of water. There are less requirements for "simple" systems.
*depth of discharge is 2 inches under mulch (it used to be 9" under dirt)