Going green with greywater

Petaluma home is first in the county with a permitted system that uses old wash water for irrigation

Terry Hankins The water Trathen Heckman is showering with will be recycled and used to irrigate the greenery outside his bathroom window once his greywater re-use system is completed. Zoom Photo

GREYWATER WORKSHOP What: a tour and workshop on Trathen Heckman’s “greywater-fed urban oasis.” When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 10 Where: 421 Eighth St., Petaluma Cost: $45 RSVP: 789-9664 or www.daily-acts.org

Got greywater? Everyone does.

The cloudy, soapy stuff that goes down the drains of our sinks, showers and washing machines usually gets mixed in with the same sewage flushed from toilets, headed to the wastewater treatment plant.

Next year, the creation of a new water recycling facility on Lakeville Highway will significantly boost Petaluma’s ability to turn sewage into water suitable for irrigation.

But Trathen Heckman isn’t waiting that long. The founder of Daily Acts and member of the city’s “Green Team” is putting the finishing touches on a household water re-use system that will irrigate his backyard gardens with old wash water — and lower his water bill at the same time.

Heckman’s westside home will be the first in the city — and by all accounts the county — with a legal, fully permitted greywater system.

A network of pipes and a constructed underground wetlands in his back yard will collect drainage from the sinks, showers, clothes washer and dishwasher in his two-bedroom home as well as a granny unit.

The water will flow through a gravel-filled trench — enclosed in a waterproof liner — where bacteria will eat the tiny bits of food and other particles in the water.

Once cleaned, the water will be distributed to three locations in Heckman’s back yard, where the roots of berry bushes, shade trees and other plants will soak up it up.

“Tens of thousands of gallons of water, instead of going away, is being used to grow your food and shade your house,” Heckman said.

He began planning such a system almost a year ago, working with a civil engineer who donated his time to design the project and seeking approval for the plans with the city’s community development department.

Building official Cliff Kendall, who knew Heckman from working on the Petaluma Green Team, said legal greywater systems haven’t taken off in the Bay Area because of a complex plumbing code.

But Heckman’s professionally designed system “made my job easy,” said Kendall, who approved the project.

When it goes online, the system should funnel 36,000 gallons of water a year into the back yard, Heckman said.

The average four-person household in Petaluma uses more than 100,000 gallons of potable water a year, so the savings from a greywater system can be significant, he said.

Heckman is not just stopping at greywater, however. As part of the project, he’s installed a catchment system to capture rainwater running off his roof during the winter, to be stored in a 1,500-gallon tank for summertime irrigation use.

And what he’ll be watering isn’t a small hobby garden — Heckman is growing pomegranates, blackberries, raspberries, edible flowers and more as part of a more sustainable lifestyle.

“The greywater system fits into a larger picture of a sustainable house,” he said.

The system is not yet complete, so Daily Acts is sponsoring a Saturday workshop to give anyone thinking about their own greywater system a tour and even some hands-on experience in putting one together.

Heckman said the total cost of the system hasn’t been tabulated, noting that the use of donated design services and supplies helped offset the price tag.

He purchased about $1,200 of supplies himself but also relied on friends and acquaintances for help with the manual labor.

“It was sort of like a community project,” he said. “A lot of friends came over; we bought them burritos.”

Installing a legally permitted system can come with a higher cost, but it’s worth it to show city officials and water customers that greywater can be a viable conservation method, Heckman said.

“It’s extra effort and expense to go this route, but we wanted to raise people’s awareness about how we use our resources,” he said.

(Contact Corey Young at corey.young@arguscourier.com)

GREYWATER WORKSHOP

What: a tour and workshop on Trathen Heckman’s “greywater-fed urban oasis.”

When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 10

Where: 421 Eighth St., Petaluma

Cost: $45

RSVP: 789-9664 or www.daily-acts.org