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'Down the pipe'
City working on grey water recycling planSimon Whitehouse Northern News Services Published Thursday, January 12, 2012
"In the next few years, certainly," he said. "It makes a lot of sense. I'm on a trucked system and there is very little going out of our place because there is only two of us. But of what there is there, why can't you filter out what is being used in the washing machine and then run it through the toilets or whatever?" Grey water is generally defined as laundry water, bath water, and bathroom sink water and is commonly recycled in parts of the southwestern United States and Australia where water is scarce. The topic has been notable in recent council discussions surrounding the General Plan, which lays out broad plans for the city over the next decade, including housing developments. Last week, the municipal services committee omitted a portion of a plan for a potential 30 waterside residences on Grace Lake. The plan would have included the use of greywater systems and the recycling of a minimum of 50 per cent of water delivered to the home by trucked services. While councillors agreed the omission was needed because the listed items were too specific for the General Plan, it was suggested the topic would be appropriate for future discussions for the housing units' development scheme or zoning bylaw. Because the housing units would require using trucked-in water services, it could be proven that grey water recycling systems could be hugely beneficial for conserving water, saving utility costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from truck delivery. Catherine Soroczan, an Ottawa-based senior researcher with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Sustainable Housing and Communities Group who heads a committee that has specified national requirements for grey water piping into the National Plumbing Code, said the needs for grey water recycling systems vary in Canada. There may be needs that drive implementation of the systems in the North, she said. "Water re-use is going to happen in places where water provision is really costly or where water is already scarce," she said. "I get calls from places like the Prairies where they say the water allocation rates are almost maxed out. A developer wants to put in a big development, but can't get the water allocation. They want to see how they can reduce reliance on the municipal water supply by doing this kind of reclaimed water. "It depends on where you live and what the driver is for your particular region. Canada, as big as it is, is going to have different drivers for different areas." Van Tighem says the main challenge of allowing grey water systems into residential development has been that until recently it has not been in the plumbing code. He says this has caused problems for residents seeking home insurance from the Canada Housing Mortgage Corporation. While Soroczan says recent updates have better specified piping requirements, there is work to be done to the code this year that will better "verify the treatment performance of these types of systems." "This is so that consumers and regulators can be confident that the systems they use are certified to perform as required," she stated in an e-mail. "Once this standard is completed it is anticipated that regulators will require it before letting grey water systems to be used. At some later date it will likely also be referenced in the plumbing code (which is updated every five years)." Currently, the National Plumbing Code 2010 states that grey water systems must meet "purple piping" requirements, which are pipes identified as carrying non-potable water. This prevents potable water pipes from being cross-connected. "You don't want to connect your drinking water pipes with your grey water pipes otherwise you will get sick if you drink this accidentally," she explained.
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