Last week, I attended Confluence, a water conference in northern Colorado. Several local representatives and water companies were present to discuss what they are doing to help the water shortage. Some of the discussion topics were pretty interesting, particularly the ideas of reusing “grey” water and replacing traditional lawns with indigenous plants that use less water.
“Grey” water is wastewater from the showers, bathtubs and clothes washing machines. It does not include wastewater from toilets, kitchen sinks or dishwashers. As water has become more scarce, it is important to find ways to use grey water in our daily lives. The more we utilize our water in secondary ways, the more we can conserve a limited resource. We are starting to see this in new office buildings – a great example is the Salesforce building in San Francisco. Their system is one of the most comprehensive in a high-rise tower and is expected to help the company meet its goal of cutting its water use in half.
Traditional “turf” lawns are a large part of the problem as half of the water being used in Colorado is for landscaping. There is a turf replacement program that is paying Colorado homeowners and local business owners to switch from the traditional green grass lawn to native grasses. These native grasses have adapted to the soil in the local environment, and they are able to grown without much water.
Change is always hard but it’s exciting to see what is being discussed in my area to help. It’s started the conversation in my neighborhood and that’s a good first step. Let’s keep taking about water…
Photo Credit: Juliet Studness
Source Cited
Graywater Systems – Utah State University Extension. https://extension.usu.edu/permaculture/files/Graywater-Systems.pdf.
Sisson, Patrick. “Facing Severe Droughts, Developers Seek to Reuse the Water They Have.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Aug. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/business/drought-water-reuse-development.html.
Swanson, Conrad. “Cash for Grass: Colorado Bill Would Pay to Abandon Lawns.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 12 Mar. 2022, https://apnews.com/article/climate-business-colorado-lifestyle-water-use-4e4f0fdc97d65d12c9aef39c22cd8840.
Water Literate Leaders of Northern Colorado Program. “BizWest Events.” Confluence, https://events.bizwest.com/confluence/.