The Next Phase of CRE Environmental Awareness: Water Reuse

July 1 marked enforcement of a building requirement passed last December in Sacramento, California. New construction of 10,000 square feet or more requires a graywater system for subsurface irrigation. At 50,000 square feet, add separate additional piping to “supply water closets and urinals using onsite treated nonpotable graywater.”

Expect to see more. Potable water is a geographically nuanced problem and is growing, particularly in relatively dry areas that have seen large influxes of additional population.

The term graywater may be unpalatable, but no one is suggesting that people ingest such water, at last yet. But there are many uses of water that don’t require the same quality people would expect from a tap. Graywater is described as “gently used” water from such sources as outflows from sinks, showers, or washing machines. It doesn’t include water that has been in significant contact with human waste. So, it’s relatively safe to handle and can be used for such things as flushing toilets or watering landscape.

It’s not something where the federal government is likely to step heavily. As the Environmental Protection Agency says: “EPA does not require or restrict any type of reuse. Generally, states maintain primary regulatory authority (i.e., primacy) in allocating and developing water resources. Some states have established programs to specifically address reuse, and some have incorporated water reuse into their existing programs. EPA, states, tribes, and local governments implement programs under the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act to protect the quality of drinking water source waters, community drinking water, and waterbodies like rivers and lakes. Together, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act provide a foundation from which states can enable, regulate, and oversee water reuse as they deem appropriate.”

Then there is this, from the Yale School of the Environment:  “The concept is to equip new commercial and residential buildings as well as districts, such as neighborhoods and universities, with on-site recycling plants that will make water for nonpotable use cheaper than buying potable water from a centralized source. By driving down demand for potable water, which is costly to filter, treat, and distribute, the units will help manage water more efficiently. It is, many experts believe, the future of water. Eventually it’s hoped that buildings will be completely self-sufficient, or “water neutral,” using the same water over and over, potable and nonpotable, in a closed loop.”

San Francisco required this of new buildings with more than 100,000 square feet in 2015. “To demonstrate its technology, Epic Cleantec, a water recycling company, has even brewed a beer called Epic OneWater Brew with purified graywater from a 40-story San Francisco apartment building,” Yale wrote.

On average, water and sewer bills are up 50% over the last ten years and still climbing, as the New York Times noted from some third-party research. Some cities like Phoenix are hiking rates, and when it comes to property-related taxes, the CRE industry can be a prime target. Even if not for potential regulation, looking to water recycling could become necessary to contain costs.