Earlier this year, I was browsing through pitches on Spot.Us and came across one by freelancer Deirdre Newman regarding the development of high-speed rail in California. The topic fit nicely into the coverage area of the Bay Area Monitor, the newsletter that I edit for the nonprofit League of Women Voters of the Bay Area, and so I donated the money required to procure rights on the proposed article. With Spot.Us members covering the remainder of Deirdre's costs, she was able to produce an excellent piece that I published in April.
Pleased with the results of this experience and encouraged to again take advantage of this innovative tool, I posted a pitch of my own on Spot.Us, hoping to connect with a reporter who could write an article for the Monitor about graywater. This is a subject that the League has been enthusiastic about studying, and it proved of interest to the Spot.Us community as well. Funding for the article piled up relatively quickly, and more than half a dozen freelancers threw their hats into the ring. I'm sure each of them could have handled the job well, but only able to choose one, I offered the assignment to Deia de Brito, who proved herself more than up to the task.
Deia put in a tremendous amount of research and was able to skillfully integrate her findings into a fluid narrative, providing useful details about graywater practices, a comprehensive history of their application in different regions, and an impressive amount of interview material from some of the most high-profile sources around. I am excited to have published her article and believe that Monitor readers will find it educational and thought-provoking. All in all, the second go-round with Spot.Us demonstrated to me once again what a great idea this venture into community-supported journalism really is.
Beyond reflecting on the collaborative process that Spot.Us has allowed me to enter into as an editor, I also would like to take this opportunity to supplement Deia's article with some additional information that she alluded to but did not have room to include in full. As she explained, the California Plumbing Code has been updated to eliminate the red tape that has previously inhibited the installation of residential graywater systems. In her article, she noted: “The new code will allow homeowners to install single fixture systems (which collect graywater from one plumbing fixture) as well as clothes washer systems without obtaining permits, as long as they follow 12 simple requirements.” Since readers may be curious to know what those requirements are exactly, all 12 follow below, courtesy of the California Department of Housing and Community Development:
Note: A city, county, or city and county or other local government may, after a public hearing and enactment of an ordinance or resolution, further restrict or prohibit the use of graywater systems. For additional information, see Health and Safety Code Section 18941.7.
As most people were heading to the beach or Fourth of July picnics and barbeques last Saturday, reporter Andrea de Brito joined the Spot.Us Blog Talk Radio show to provide a midway report on The Goods on Gray Water, which is on its way to getting published in the Bay Area Monitor.
Gray water is the by-product of our showers and laundry machines, which can be safely used to irrigate lawns and gardens, flush toilets and save gallons of city water. Given California’s ongoing battles with drought and water shortages, why isn’t gray water more widely in use?
One reason is the permitting process required to install gray water systems and the depth regulations for water piping in gardens, which often run too deep to benefit the plants above. However, according to de Brito, it’s much easier to use gray water in the Bay Area than in Southern California, and it may get even easier statewide as California continues revising its code.
Hear from Andrea de Brito yourself as she reports on a water recycling system that may become an essential part of California’s future.
Posted by Spot. Us on 07/09/09
