What is Graywater?
Graywater is used water without toxic chemicals and/or excrement. Sources include water from laundry machines, bathroom sinks, showers, and bathtubs.
Graywater in California
Residential graywater usage is legal as found in chapter 15 of the California Plumbing Code. All release points must be covered by two inches of mulch, rock, or soil, and cannot:
- Leave the site (no runoff)
- Be used in sprinkler systems
- Be stored for more than 24 hours
- Be accessible by children or pets
- Be used on root crops or crops that contact the soil
- Have excrement or toxic chemicals
Graywater Systems
Laundry to Landscape (L2L)
- Clothes washer diverter valve
- Gravity fed without pump
- No permit required
Simple
- 250 gallons per day or less
- Includes a pump or surge tank
- Permit required
Complex
- 250 gallons per day or more
- Pump, surge tank, and filtration
- Permit required
