Greywater research from Colorado State

I noticed that the Oregon Onsite Wastewater Association was holding its annual conference in Portland this year. On the agenda were many things related to wastewater (perhaps a "duh" statement) but one item that caught my eye was a couple of presentations by Sybil Sharvell, Ph.D., and Larry Roesner, Ph.D. Dr. Sharvell's talk in particular was interesting because there was some data about cost savings for households in avoided sewer charges and some water quality data. The other interesting thing was that they avoided the use of kitchen sink wastewater altogether. Kitchen sinks were not included in their definition of greywater because greywater that includes kitchen sink water contained organics, nutrients and pathogens at levels that rival blackwater. Therefore, their thinking was, a wastewater stream that would meet the definition of residential strength wastewater should be treated in a full-service wastewater treatment system. The corollary being that the resulting greywater from this approach could be reused on a property with minimal treatment.