BILLINGS - Gray water doesn't sound thirst-quenching, but according to the S.A.V.E. organization, it's very useful when it comes to conservation. Gray water is not recycled water, but it's very reusable; however it's only legal to use it in 13 states, Montana being the latest to legalize it. S.A.V.E., Student Advocates for Valuing the Environment, was in Billings Saturday to explain the ways to reuse gray water.
Gray water comes from your shower, bathroom sinks, washing machines and dishwashers, as opposed to black water from kitchen sinks and toilets. Basically, it's safe to use for under ground irrigation, but not water you would want to drink or come in contact with. In October of 2007 Montana became the 13th state to legalize the use of gray water. According to representatives for S.A.V.E., who worked to make it legal, you can reuse up to 80 percent of the water consumed in your house-hold. That means money savings and saving the environment. Ivy Bryan is a Billings resident and she showed up to S.A.V.E.'s presentation to learn more. "It's money savings and conservation because in a drought situation, we use so much water to water lawns and if we could reuse that, that would really help," says Ivy.
Getting equipped to use your gray water will take some money upfront. Your pipes have to run so that black water and gray water stay separate. Then you have to buy a system that distributes the water, they run about 2-thousand dollars. Theresa Keaveny is on the Board of Directors for the Good Earth Market, and she's also interested, but not sure about the cost. "Don't know if it would pay out for me in the short term, but I would want to read the literature and see what's possible", explained Theresa after the presentation. Implementing the system when building new homes will make the cost less noticeable, but in a renovation, it may seem pricey. Matthew Elsaesser of S.A.V.E. says, "We all understand we need to value our water, besides savings there's the bigger issues".
Now that S.A.V.E. has helped make it legal to use gray water, they want to spread the word about it, and they're traveling around Montana, doing just that. If you want to learn more about the use of gray water and enter a raffle to win one of the systems, you can access S.A.V.E.'s website by going to www.kulr8.com and clicking on connections.