Recycled Water for Home Landscaping OKd : Conservation: L.A. City Council passes ordinance to allow filtration systems. Aide to a dissenter predicts ‘environmental disaster.’

Angelenos will be permitted to use recycled water from their bathtubs, sinks and washing machines to water the family garden under an ordinance approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles City Council.

The residential “gray water” ordinance creates a strict set of guidelines for installing plumbing and filtration systems to process water for landscaping irrigation.

City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, the chief proponent of the measure, said that a test system installed at her Venice home has cut her water bills in half. “And now I don’t even have to think about my trees,” she added. “I just go out and pick the avocados.”

Systems for home water recycling can cost from several hundred dollars to as much as $5,000. Proponents argue that the equipment quickly pays for itself in lower water bills.

Galanter said the systems will also reduce water usage in the drought-prone city and help spur a new industry for designers and installers.

“Living in a desert, we cannot afford to use water only once,” Galanter said, adding that water from Northern California and the Colorado River is becoming increasingly costly and scarce. “People who think we are going to be able to keep importing all our water are living in a time warp.”

Los Angeles officials have been trying to encourage water recycling for more than four years.

It was a Los Angeles pilot project, in which Galanter participated, that helped persuade the state that the systems could be operated without contaminating the soil or exposing people to germ-laden water. The project found that soil around the filtering systems was not contaminated. And people are not exposed to the reclaimed water, because it is typically distributed by underground drip irrigation.

The path for the city’s legislation was cleared in the last year when the state Building Standards Commission added gray water systems to the Uniform Building Code.

The council Tuesday essentially agreed to impose the state code in Los Angeles.

Not everyone is convinced the gray water systems are a good idea. Councilman Hal Bernson cast the lone vote against the ordinance. Bernson deputy Francine Oschin said the law will lead to a proliferation of poorly installed and maintained filtration that will “send hair dye, bleach and detergents into our back yards.”

She said the result will be an “environmental disaster.”

Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties all have ordinances permitting gray water systems. Santa Barbara County, where water shortages are the routine, even requires them for new homes on larger lots. The Los Angeles County law applies only in unincorporated areas. Many other communities, schools and other institutions use reclaimed water--sewage that has been treated--to water parks, golf courses and roadway landscaping.