News and Upcoming Events

Workshop

Jul 14, 2012 - Water Wisdom - Workshop
Jul 21, 2012 - DIY Laundry to landscape workshop and install (SF only) - Workshop
Aug 11, 2012 - Aug 13, 2012 - Laundry to landscape weekend installation (Cotati and Petaluma) - Workshop

News

Apr 29, 2012 - Bay Friendly Landscape Tour features homes with greywater and rainwater systems - News - Link
Apr 26, 2012 - 2nd draft of Graywater and Rainwater Code released- comments needed - News - Link
Mar 12, 2012 - Update on CA greywater code - News
Mar 1, 2012 - CA greywater (and rainwater) code at stake! - News
Feb 5, 2012 - Greywater study- your support needed - News - Link
Feb 1, 2012 - Greywater on "Ask This Old House" T.V. show! - News - Link
Aug 25, 2011 - Rain gardens in This Old House Magazine - News - Link
Aug 2, 2011 - King County Board of Health to allow rainwater as sole source for residential drinking water (Washington State) - News - Link
Jul 27, 2011 - From Laundry to Landscape: Tap into Greywater. in Mother Earth News - News - Link
May 18, 2011 - Greywater Action at the Maker's Faire - News - Link
May 15, 2011 - Hydro-Laboratory in the Tenderloin National Forest - News
May 12, 2011 - San Francisco provides incentives for greywater systems - News - Link
Mar 7, 2011 - In Tucson, saving the bathwater too - News - Link
Feb 9, 2011 - Gray water systems growing in popularity, ingenuity and ease of installation - News - Link
Dec 16, 2010 - Greywater Report looks at wastewater's potential - News - Link
Dec 3, 2010 - A new shade of gray: Paul Mitchell school starts recycling gray water - News - Link
Oct 17, 2010 - Greywater system gets 1st place in eco-renovation projects (LA Times) - News - Link
Sep 30, 2010 - NYC to curb water runoff with blue and green roofs - News - Link
Aug 26, 2010 - A Public Composting Toilet in New York City - News - Link
Aug 19, 2010 - In China, Three Gorges Dam's image showing some cracks - News - Link
Aug 19, 2010 - San Marcos, Texas creates greywater ordinance - News - Link
Aug 17, 2010 - Climate Change: Water and Risk - News - Link
Jul 23, 2010 - Gee Whiz: Human Urine Is Shown to Be an Effective Agricultural Fertilizer - News - Link
Jun 3, 2010 - "Urine bank" Opens in Nepal - News - Link
Jun 2, 2010 - Habitat for Humanity Houses Install Greywater Systems - News - Link
May 13, 2010 - Indoor rainwater system permitted in Berkeley, CA - News - Link
May 7, 2010 - Wyoming updates its greywater policy - News - Link
Mar 26, 2010 - First public composting toilet in Seattle - News - Link
Mar 18, 2010 - Wisconsin bill eases graywater code - News - Link
Mar 18, 2010 - Practice of 'rain harvesting' making a modern-day comeback - News - Link
Mar 11, 2010 - Radical plumbers install greywater systems in East Oakland - News - Link
Jan 27, 2010 - Gray water's grass roots (in the Christian Science Monitor) - News - Link
Jan 4, 2010 - In El Cerrito, Taming runoff - News - Link
Dec 15, 2009 - Sonoma County Water Agency Approves Composting Toilet Pilot Project - News - Link
Dec 4, 2009 - Humanure: Goodbye, Toilets. Hello, Extreme Composting - News - Link
Dec 3, 2009 - Graywater: UCLA gives Southern California a mixed grade - News - Link
Dec 1, 2009 - Report- Graywater: A Potential Source of Water - News - Link
Oct 13, 2009 - Greywater Dominoes - News - Link
Oct 13, 2009 - A Victory for the 'Water Underground' - News - Link
Sep 18, 2009 - State revises standards for reusing wastewater - News - Link
Aug 26, 2009 - Examiner: California gray water laws loosen - News - Link
Aug 25, 2009 - Green Talk Radio- Attacking Water Waste - News - Link
Aug 23, 2009 - Real Drought Relief: State Gives Green Light To Graywater - News - Link
Jul 31, 2009 - The Goods on Greywater - News - Link
May 23, 2009 - San Diego Tribune: New watering source is surfacing 'Gray' users go with flow from bathtubs, washers - News - Link
May 6, 2009 - For some eco pioneers, solving the sludge problem meant getting their hands dirty. - News - Link
May 1, 2009 - Governing Magazine: Shades of Greywater - News - Link
Sep 27, 2008 - LA Times: Gray water: from the washer to the garden - News - Link
Aug 12, 2008 - The Morning Show on KPFA Radio - News - Link
Jul 16, 2008 - East Bay Express: The Greywater Guerrillas say it's time to use less water. - News - Link
Jul 12, 2008 - Oakland Tribune: Blue Skies Ahead for 'Grey' Water Systems? - News - Link
Nov 16, 2007 - ABC News: Using 'greywater' to help the environment - News - Link
Sep 22, 2007 - Greywater Radio - News - Link
Sep 12, 2007 - Green City: Gray-water Guerrillas - News - Link
Aug 21, 2007 - ABC's Nightline: Greywater Guerrillas: No Water Down the Drain in Vain - News - Link
Jul 5, 2007 - KRON News: Greywater - News - Link
May 31, 2007 - NY Times:The Dirty Water Underground - News - Link
May 29, 2007 - Dam Nation - News - Link
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Bamboo irrigated with greywater
Bamboo irrigated with greywater

Bamboo grown with greywater infiltrated into mulch basins.

barrels
barrels
barrels

corn
corn
corn

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hautCT
hautCT

Barrels for humanure
Barrels for humanure

Humanure is moved to barrels for final composting. The barrels are vented (not shown) and screened. Humanure is left for one year to compost, then used as a soil ammendment in the yard.

Corn grown with urine fertilizer
Corn grown with urine fertilizer

Corn grown with urine fertilizer is much larger than the other corn. Urine is a valuable nitrogen based fertilizer.  (photo by Peter Morgan, Aquamor, Zimbabwe).

Double vault dry toilet
Double vault dry toilet

This is a double vault dry toilet. Urine is diverted with a urine diverting toilet seat. A vent releases odors above the structure.

Retrofit composting toilet
Retrofit composting toilet

The floor of this bathroom is a concrete slab, so the composting toilet was built "up".
It includes a urine diverting toilet insert, so that urine and feces are collected separately below the toilet.
An access hatch for emptying the collection containers is located on the outside of the house.

Urine fertilized corn
Urine fertilized corn

Corn grown on the right was fertilized with urine, a high quality nitrogen fertilizer.
The corn grown on the left was not. (photo by Peter Morgan of Aquamor, Zimbabwe)

Bucket to collect humanure
Bucket to collect humanure

This is the collection bucket for the humanure. It is emptied every few weeks into a larger compost bin behind a shed for full composting. The urine has been diverted out with a urine diverting toilet insert.

Collection hatch
Collection hatch

A hatch opens to an enclosed part of the crawl space where the humanure is collected. The urine goes directly outside through the black tube into a bucket. It is diluted with water and used to fertilize the yard.

Urban composting toilet
Urban composting toilet

The prettiest composting toilet in Oakland!  This toilet was built during a full bathroom remodel.
The collection chamber is below the house in a sectioned off area of the crawl space.

Mexican made composting toilet
Mexican made composting toilet

This is the composting chamber of a Mexican fabricated "continuous" composting toilet. Material is added to the top, and composted "humanure" is harvested from the bottom. The chamber faces south and gets heated by the sun to speed up the composting process.

Milpa: corn, beans, and squash, fertilized with humanure
Milpa: corn, beans, and squash, fertilized with humanure

This milpa: corn, beans, and squash, is fertilized with fully composted "humanure". The nutrients excreted from the body are recycled to grow more food, creating a closed loop system.