[quote=esmith]if they are not done properly there are serious health risks. The water cannot be airborne and there are a litany of safety measures to put in.
Would it be safe and healthy to sit on that grass, or eat vegetables that were watered with gray water? If not, it mostly defeats reasons to have the lawn in the first place.
Agribusiness uses over 80% of CA’s water consumption. Of that, Cotton,rice and alphalfa take the lions share.
Shocking if true. Why would we grow such a water-intensive crop as rice in CA?[/quote]
1st, grey water is fine if you treat it right. So, you took a shower, washed your self with some shampoo, and then used the water to water your grass. And suddenly it isnt safe to sit on grass watered with what you washed off yourself?
Food is alittle more tricky, since you will be ingesting it, but the majority of residental water is used outside, and the vast majority of that is used for lawns. The few who have gardens could still water with pottable water and wed fix any water problems.
2nd. I can use the same argument about rice about lawns. “Why should we be growing water hungry grass lawns in CA?” At least growing rice gives us food stuffs and economic output. What does your lawn do for the state?(Please dont mistake this for support of rice, or alfalfa for that matter. But this isnt as simple as many want it to be. Everyone has benifited from the era of cheap water. We need to make some hard decisions, and not just blaim everyone else because we dont think it will affect us.)