Welcome, Greywater, to the Garden

Summer 2022

Oh, summer: delightful warm air, tomatoes swelling on the vine, fragrant blooms on an evening stroll. When it’s warm and rainless, how is your garden looking? Dry? Or, if lush, might you feel a little guilty for sending drinking water outside to your plants? There is a drought on after all.

I have a secret. And I hope you all find it out. You’re sitting on a river of water. Hidden. Humble. Untapped. It flows under your feet as you make breakfast, get dressed, and brush your teeth. It flows past your thirsty plants, off to mingle with your neighbors’ water. Some people call it wastewater, but shouldn’t we only call it that if we waste it?

A simple greywater system irrigates a southern California landscape. Photo credit: Leigh Jerrard, Greywater Corps

Water draining from showers, bathroom sinks, and washing machines is called greywater. This gently used water is not potable—not clean like drinking water—but can be a great source for irrigation. Water from toilets is not greywater and not suitable (or legal) for home-scale reuse.

By sending greywater into our landscapes, we use the same...