Going a healthy grey
By Chris Simon

Brac Greywater Recycling System Install Team member ChrisThompson stands with a a tank that has been installed in his South Barrie home recently. The system recycles bath and laundry water for use in toilets. It is expected to save his family over 72,000 litres of water per year. For more information, call Thompson at 734-6258.

Chris Thompson is on the cutting edge of water consumption.

As a member of the Install Team for the Brac Greywater Recycling System, he recently placed one of the environmentally responsible machines in his south Barrie home. It's helped cut his family's water consumption by at least 72,000 litres per year, a savings of nearly $250 on his annual water bill.

"This is Ontario's first greywater recycling system," he said, sitting in his home office recently. "We're collecting bath and shower water and filtering it by getting out any solids, hairs and stuff like that.

"We're chlorinating it to city levels and then we store it."

The system recycles shower, bath and laundry water and reuses it for toilet use. It filters out foreign particles and impurities from the bathing and laundry water, then is stored in a large collection tank. The Brac storage tank includes an automatic chlorinating system, keeping the greywater free of odour and bacteria.

Several hundred greywater systems have been installed in homes worldwide. In Ontario, individual municipalities decide whether to permit the equipment in homes.

"The code in Ontario allows the use of greywater for flushing toilets," said Thompson. "It's still a case of working with the inspectors to understand what they require, what they think is safe and how they'd like to do it."

The average household uses 240,000 litres of water each year, with over half of that being allocated for bathing and laundry. Nearly 30 per cent of that household water is used in toilet flushing, while 10 per cent is used for kitchen consumption and drinking. Five per cent is used for cleaning.

However, the system can reduce water usage by about 33 per cent, said Thompson.

"Reducing the flow helps the septic keep up with the demand," he said.

In addition to cost savings, the system also has several environmental and socially responsible benefits, said Thompson.

"The benefit is obviously saving water. There is a financial benefit but the main thing is saving water and playing a part in reducing our footprint and how much we use and the impact on the environment," he said. "If you can reduce the amount you're pulling out of a well, you're going to get a lot more use out of that well."

The system can be installed in new or older model homes. Typically, Brac has been installing the systems in new homes though, since it can help reduce the overall cost of construction.

The system is also recognized by LEED certification environmental standards.

"A certain amount of (LEED) points actually gives the builder benefits towards building permits and other fees," said Thompson.

"Builders can often get a reduction in the builder's permit costs based on having the LEED certification at a certain level."

For more information, visit www.theinstallteam.com.