State to Distribute Brochure on Safe Use of ‘Gray Water’

Don’t let the baby near the bathwater when you’re spraying it on the pansies or the petunias. And if you must pour the pool water on the garden, keep it away from the strawberries and the lettuce.

Never irrigate the landscaping with water that has been used to wash diapers, and check with your nursery to find out what plants can tolerate detergent before you put the wash water in the flower beds.

These little gems of advice were offered Tuesday in a state Department of Health brochure advising drought-stricken Californians on the proper and safe use of so-called “gray water.”

Gray water, according to the pamphlet, is household water that has been used once but can be recycled to stretch out water supplies during a dry spell. Typically, it has been used for rinsing dishes that are washed by hand, for bathing, for filling swimming pools or for rinsing clothes in washing machines.

State water and health officials said the brochure will be distributed to about 1,200 local water agencies, which are being encouraged to mail copies to their customers or enclose them with water bills.

Acknowledging that in many Southern California communities the use of gray water is prohibited, officials from both agencies said the brochure is purely informational and not meant as a subtle hint that local governments should rescind their prohibitions. They said gray water should only be used where local ordinances permit it.

“We are trying to provide some sort of guidelines for how gray water can be used in a way that is generally accepted as safe. I don’t think that (the brochure) will wind up as a sweeping endorsement of gray water, but at least it sets up some guidelines,” said Keith Watkins, chief of the Water Resources Department’s urban water conservation section.

Al Jones, a spokesman for the department’s drought center, said “it is sort of accepted” that some people, particularly those facing severe rationing requirements, were using gray water despite local prohibitions. For these people, he said, the intent of the state guidelines is to prevent “any health problems or damage to plants.”

But in Los Angeles County, where the plumbing code requires that all waste water be discharged into an accepted sewage disposal system, local health officials said they would not advise residents to reuse gray water. They said they were not willing yet to deem safe any use of it.

Ralph Lopez, environmental health deputy for the Los Angeles County Health Department, said his agency will issue a more thorough opinion after it has completed a study ordered by the Board of Supervisors. But in the meantime, he would suggest that residents abide by local codes.

“Our position has been historically that it (gray water) was not to be used, that there were too many unknowns, that we can’t ensure reasonable safety and that we don’t know what it does to the soil and what the long-term ramifications are,” he said, adding, “Now I have to put that side by side with the new orders from our bosses (to conduct the study).”

Jack Petralia, the director of the county department’s bureau of environmental protection, said he had some difficulty following advice in the state brochure because “they put a lot of caveats in it.”

In urban areas where block densities are very high, he said, gray water may have a much different effect than it would in, say, a thinly populated rural area.

State officials, however, said they felt “when care is taken, gray water can be safely used for certain important purposes around the home during a drought.”

Without care, the brochure said, the use of gray water can expose residents to certain “viruses, protozoa and bacteria.” The brochure said some people carry these organisms yet show no symptoms of “the disease they could cause.” It said the organisms can be transferred to water in a bathtub, shower or washing machine.

It cautions that specific guidelines should be followed in applying gray water in areas where children play. It suggests that care should be taken to wash hands after touching gray water and that children should be kept away from where it is sprayed.