Using gray water at home: Arizona department of environmental quality's guide to complying with the type 1 general permit.

              Permit Eligibility and
Usage Requirements
  The general permit is meant for private residential
use only. Gray water must be used on the site
where it is generated and cannot be accessed by
the public.
  Under this permit, gray water can only be used for
irrigation – not for dust control, cooling or other
water uses.
  Spray irrigation is not permitted due to the poten-tial
for inhalation or drifting off-site.
  Gray water flow must be less than 400 gallons per
day.
Because individual towns, cities or counties may have more
restrictive local ordinances, please check with local adminis-trative
authorities to gather information they may have
regarding gray water use.
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
1110 West Washington Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
www.adeq.state.az.us
Printed on recycled paper
Using Gray
Water at Home
Updated March 2003
Publication No. C 01-06
The rule can be found in Title 18, Chapter 9, Article 7.
To obtain a copy of the gray water rule, you may down-load
it at www.sosaz.com/public_services/title_18/
18-09.pdf or call the nearest ADEQ office.
The Arizona Department of
Environmental Quality's Guide
to Complying with the New,
Simplified Type 1 General Permit
Contacts for Gray Water Information
What is gray water?
In this new rule, gray water is defined as wastewater,
collected separately from your sewage flow, that origi-nates
from a clothes washer, bathtub, shower or sink,
but not from a kitchen sink, dishwasher or toilet.
The Old vs. the New Rule
The Old Way...
Many people were discouraged from using gray water by
previous requirements to submit specific design plans
for ADEQ review and meet the chlorination, sampling
and filtering requirements necessary to remain in com-pliance,
so they did not apply for the required permits.
The New Way...
To make the process easier for homeowners who want
to use gray water at their homes, ADEQ developed the
new rules with stakeholder input. Many of these rules
are based on the results of a gray water study conducted
in the Tucson area, which you can view at
www.watercasa.org/research/residential/resindex.htm.
The basic requirements to use gray water at your home
are simple:
  Residents must adhere to the guidelines for a
Reclaimed Water Type 1 General Permit. A Type 1
General Permit requires no formal notification to
the department, no review or design approval, and
no public notice, reporting or renewal.
  Although you don’t have to apply to receive a for-mal
permit for permission to use gray water, you
must abide by the 13 best management practices
(BMPs) listed in this brochure, which were devel-oped
to protect public health and water quality.
Type 1 General Permit BMPs
Follow these best management practices to
comply with Arizona's rules for gray water use
  First and foremost, avoid human contact with gray
water.
  You may use gray water for household gardening,
composting, and lawn and landscape irrigation, but
it should not run off your own property.
  Do not surface irrigate any plants that produce
food, except for citrus and nut trees.
  Use only flood or drip irrigation to water lawns and
landscaping. Spraying gray water is prohibited.
  When determining the location for your gray water
irrigation, remember that it cannot be in a wash or
drainage way.
  Gray water may only be used in locations where
groundwater is at least five feet below the surface.
  Label pipes carrying gray water under pressure if
confusion between gray water and drinking water
pipes is possible.
  Cover, seal and secure storage tanks to restrict
access by small rodents and to control disease-carrying
insects.
  Hazardous chemicals, such as antifreeze, mothballs
and solvents, cannot be in gray water. Do not
include wash water from greasy or oily rags in your
gray water.
  Gray water from washing diapers or other infec-tious
garments must be discharged to a residential
sewer or other wastewater facility, or it can be dis-infected
prior to its use.
  Surface accumulation of gray water
must be kept to a minimum.
  Should a backup occur, gray water
must be disposed into your normal
wastewater drain system. To avoid such
a backup, consider using a filtration system to
reduce plugging and extend the system’s lifetime.
  If you have a septic or other on-site wastewater dis-posal
system, your gray water use does not change
that system’s design requirements.
Matthew Hodge
Reuse Coordinator
(602) 771-4743
(800) 234-5677
mh6@ev.state.az.us
Tom Adams
Community Assistance Specialist
(928) 773-2722
(877) 602-3675
tpa@ev.state.az.us
Linda Cline
Community Outreach
Coordinator
(520) 628-6716
(888) 271-9302
lph@ev.state.az.us
Claudia Colosio
Community Assistance
Administrator
(520) 770-3125
(888) 271-9302
cec@ev.state.az.us
ADEQ has community liaisons
located throughout the state to
assist residents in rural commu-nities.
To find out how to con-tact
the community liaison near-est
you, call the regional office in
your area. In addition to provid-ing
ADEQ-specific information,
your community liaison can also
suggest a specific person in your
county government to contact
about gray water.
New regulations for use of all
types of reclaimed water
became effective Jan. 16,
2001. They include guidelines to
make using residential gray
water simple and affordable.
Gray water use will help you save money and
conserve Arizona’s valuable water. Central Office
(Phoenix)
Northern Regional
Office (Flagstaff)
Southern Regional
Office (Tucson)
Community
Liaisons