Arizona is giving incentives to promote the use of gray water — water that runs down the drains from bathroom sinks, tubs, showers and washing machines — for gardening, composting or landscape irrigation.
Since Jan. 1, a builder installing a system in a new home that allows gray water to be reused can claim a $200 tax credit per house for the plumbing work. A homeowner can get a tax credit for 25 percent, up to $1,000, of the cost of installing a gray water system.
According to the Arizona Department of Revenue, the credit is available for work done in tax years 2007-11.
Val L. Little, director of the University of Arizona’s Water Conservation Alliance of Southern Arizona, called this a major move in the right direction.
Little estimated that up to 35 million gallons of gray water are created every day in Pima County. Most is dumped into sewers, treated, then released into the Santa Cruz River.
Before 2001, dumping used household water onto plants was illegal, but then the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality modified the rules to allow homeowners to reuse water from bathroom sinks, tubs, showers and washing machines.
The rules for using gray water say it must originate on the property where it is used, and uses are limited to gardening, composting or landscape irrigation.
Still banned for irrigation is “black water” from kitchen sinks, where meat and poultry might be washed, and water from toilets.
Contractor Bob Treanor of T-Mac Building & Remodeling Inc. said protecting water resources is important to Arizona’s desert community. “We’re big on saving old homes, using natural materials and putting in systems to save water,” he said. “Water someday could be more valuable than oil.”.
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