Greywater is GreenLectures by Art LudwigThursday afternoon, 24 Feb, for participants in the Xeriscape Conference
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Greywater Collection PlumbingWorkshop by Art LudwigFor Plumbers, Contractors and LandscapersSaturday • February 26, 2005 • 9:00am-12:00pm,
$40— Registration Deadline: February 18, 2005
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Greywater
is Green
Lectures by Art Ludwig
Why pollute waterways with wastewater and nutrients, when they can irrigate and feed plants?
Systems for reusing washwater in the landscape can provide superior treatment, save water, and save money.
Reuse of greywater for irrigation is part of a fundamental solution to many ecological problems.
With recent legal changes that allow Greywater systems to be installed without a permit application, New Mexico and Arizona are in the forefront of the Greywater revolution.
This presentation will explain:
- What nature has to teach us about water system design
- How natural systems purify water so spectacularly well
- Efficient use, including radical redesign of fixtures and cascading water through multiple uses
- Systems for beneficial reuse of water and nutrients in wastewater, including Greywater, and blackwater systems
- The benefits of greywater reuse
- Strategies for realizing the immediate and future benefits of greywater in existing buildings and new construction
Greywater Collection Plumbing
Workshop for Plumbers, Contractors and Landscapers
Recent changes to the greywater regulations in Arizona and New Mexico have opened the door for professional installation of greywater systems.
This workshop is focused on the design and installation of greywater collection plumbing from the fixtures in the home to six feet outside of the house.
It is designed for plumbers and people who work with plumbers.
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Workshop objectives:
1) Plumbers attending improve their ability to design and install greywater collection plumbing that:
- Will function reliably for decades
- Is easy to service and flexible
- Will pass inspection
- Will enable the owner or landscaper to make the most of the water with their distribution plumbing in the landscape
- Makes the plumber money
2) Attendees who work with plumbers on multiple greywater systems can support them to achieve the objectives above
3) The state of the art in this new field be advanced by exchange of our respective knowledge and experiences (Art Ludwig is a world expert on greywater but does not know as much as attendees will know about plumbing, New Mexico plumbing codes, or the New Mexico climate).
Greywater distribution plumbing (from just outside the house to the plants) and all other greywater topics, will only be discussed insofar as they relate to greywater collection plumbing.
It is highly recommended that workshop participants attend the free lecture preceding the workshop for an orientation to the broader context of greywater, as this information won't be covered again in the workshop.
The workshop will include:
- Overview of the New Mexico law
- Suggested improvements to NM law
- General design requirements for collection plumbing
- Legal and practical issues with implementation for plumbers
- What works, what doesn't, what's legal and what's not
- Locating diverter valves, diverter valve alternatives
- Combined sources with a single outlet or multiple outlets
- The critical importance of elevation
- Considerations in bidding for greywater jobs
- Coordination with contractors, users and landscapers
- Strategies for homes on concrete slabs
- Strategies for homes with uphill runs to the irrigated area
- Sources for specialized components
Time permitting, we will discuss:
- Gravity drum and drumless laundry complete plumber-installable greywater systems
- Watson wick and branched drain septic systems
- Designs for participant's projects
Questions will follow the class.
The class handout includes:
- Flow chart for bidding, designing and building greywater collection plumbing
- Text of Arizona and NM greywater laws, with suggested improvements
- Freeze protection measures
- Coordination with other building professionals
Participants are encouraged to
- Bring site plans, drawings, and photos of projects you have done or would like to do.
- Read the suggested background material below before hand
There will be books on greywater (see below), diverter valves and Flow splitters (hardware) available for purchase.
Suggested reading & preparation for Greywater Collection Plumbing workshop
The more you've prepared for the workshop, the more we'll all get out of it. Since there is a lot of material to cover in a short time, it will be assumed that participants have already read this key background:
- Stub outs How to inspect or construct legal stub outs for a future grey water system
- Common greywater mistakes
- Builder's GW Guide-book
- Xeri Handout (PDF, 65k)
- Site evaluation form
- GW site assessment checklist-pdf
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The last two items relate to information helpful for designing your particular system. Please write down and bring background information and plans for a system you'd like to build yourself—with luck, your system context and design will get reviewed and improved in class.
Optional further reading:
- Oasis greywater-book
- Branched drain greywater systems
- Eco Design Principles-download
- Wild water wisdom-article
- Fecal coliform counts
- Greywater policy center (New Mexico greywater law, suggested improvements)
- Branched drain in indigenous community
- Manual grey water systems of Huehuetortuga
- Indoor greywater reuse
Suggested background reading for Greywater is Green lecture
The more you've read before the lecture, the more you'll get out of it. Here's a list of suggested reading, in descending order of importance:
- Common greywater mistakes
- Eco Design Principles-download
- Oasis greywater-book
- Builder's GW Guide-book
Optional further reading:
- Wild water wisdom-article
- Fecal coliform counts
- Greywater policy center (New Mexico greywater law, suggested improvements)
- Branched drain in indigenous community
- Manual grey water systems of Huehuetortuga
- Indoor greywater reuse
- How to inspect or construct legal stub outs for a future grey water system
- Site evaluation form
- GW site assessment checklist-pdf
Registration for Xeriscape conference or Greywater Collection Plumbing
Registration and additional information:
Scott Varner/Exec Director
Xeriscape Council of NM Inc
505/468-1021
scott at xeriscapenm.com
http://www.xeriscapenm.com
Registration deadline is February 18, 2005.
About the instructor
Ecological
Systems Designer and Greywater Guru Art Ludwig has probably paid more attention
to Greywater systems the past fourteen years than anyone else on the planet.
He’s written three books and numerous articles on Greywater systems, developed several new system designs, and consulted with New York and New Mexico on their Greywater laws. He’s also worked on water and wastewater systems in twenty two countries around the world.