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Supervisors Order Study on Use of ‘Gray Water’

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In an effort to ease the effects of the drought, Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday ordered the health department to conduct a study to determine how residents can safely recycle household waste water.

Use of so-called “gray water”--from showers, tubs, the kitchen, bathroom sinks and washing machines--is illegal in the county, as well as most of the state. Advocates contend that gray water can help save vegetation that homeowners might otherwise be forced to sacrifice in a drought and can produce considerable water savings.

But many health officials oppose its use because it can spread disease-causing bacteria. Last year, the county Department of Health Services killed a similar proposal. The new proposal, introduced by Supervisor Mike Antonovich, asks county health and public works officials to examine the recycling of gray water through an underground irrigation system, which supporters say would minimize health risks.

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