News and alerts

More than 1,100 U.S. counties — a full one-third of all counties in the lower 48 states — now face higher risks of water shortages by mid-century as the result of global warming, and more than 400 of these counties will be at extremely high risk for water shortages, based on estimates from a new report by Tetra Tech for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

"Urine bank" opens in Nepal to increase the use of urine from local urine diverting toilets for fertilizing crops.

The first permitted rainwater harvesting system for indoor use (toilet flushing and laundry) in Berkeley, California was recently installed.

Seattle has its first public composting toilet, in a community garden.

Homes, schools, and cities harvest rainwater to prevent runoff pollution and reduce water consumption. Greywater Action designed and built the first system highlighted in the show at Juan's house in San Francisco.

Gray water's grass roots

In a grass-roots effort, a Los Angeles community pushes the plant-saving practice of reusing water from showers, baths, sinks, and washers.

Read about Greywater Action's class for greywater installer's in the Christian Science Monitor.

LA Times blog article by Susan Carpenter takes a look at the new report out about graywater in California and discusses why the state received a lower grade in graywater education than for policy.

As Californians start looking seriously at using greywater for home irrigation, all roads — or pipes — lead to Art Ludwig

Read more about Art Ludwig and the road to changing the California greywater code.

SF Chronicle article covers a greywater workshop in Fairfax, following the new state guidelines.

 Interview with Laura Allen on Green Talk Radio. 

Thorough article on the process leading up to the new California greywater code in the Bay Area Monitor, by Deia de Brito.

Crap Happens: A GRIST special report about how we dispose of our poop. (featuring Laura Allen's composting toilet)

LA Times staff writer Susan Carpenter comes to a workshop and goes home to build a greywater system.

Article in the SF Bay Guardian.

Short video about Laura Allen's house. In the past few years many of these systems have been upgraded- in particular the wetland aspect of the systems has been removed as the wetland plants were using up a significant portion of the greywater and there was not enough for the rest of the plants.