Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 25, 2013

B4

HOMES

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 25, 2013 


USING GRAYWATER 

IN YOUR HOME LANDSCAPE

Feel comfortable financing your home purchaseTurn to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage — a lender of integrityRely on the long-standing strength of a well-established lender. Wells Fargo 
Home Mortgage would like to assure homebuyers we remain sound and 
continue to provide a wide range of high-quality mortgage and home equity 
products.
• As a mortgage industry leader, we are committed to helping as many 
customers as possible enjoy homeownership.
• As a responsible lending leader, we work closely with customers to explore 
and explain options, helping them find home financing for their individual 
budgets and homeownership goals.
• As a recognized loan-servicing leader, we work hard to help customers 
stay in their homes in times of financial difficulty, reaching out with possible 
options based on specific circumstances.
Count on usLet Wells Fargo Home Mortgage help you find home financing options 
that may serve your immediate needs and sets the stage for long-term 
homeownership.
Contact me today for a free consultation.
Reliability — Our solidPriorityBuyer® preapproval 
can ease home purchase 
uncertainties1Stability — Wells Fargo has 
provided financial services 
for more than 160 yearsREV 3/13104205 - 31/501. A PriorityBuyer® preapproval is based on our preliminary review of credit information only 
and is not a commitment to lend. We will be able to offer a loan commitment upon verifcationi 
of application information, satisfying all underwriting requirements and conditions, and 
providing an acceptable property, appraisal, and title report. Preapprovals are subject to change 
or cancellation if a requested loan no longer meets applicable regulatory requirements. 
Preapprovals are not available on all products. See a home mortgage consultant for details. 
Information is accurate as of date of printing and is subject to change without notice. Wells 
Fargo Home Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ©2012 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. 
All rights reserved. NMLSR ID 399801. 
Marc Anthony Schurer 
Sales Manager 
Cell: 626-390-4107 
1022 E. Huntington Dr 
Duarte , CA 91010 
www.marcshomeloans.com 
marc.schurer@wellsfargo.com 
NMLSR ID 448062 
Graywater is untreated household 
waste water which has not come 
into contact with toilet waste. 
Graywater ncludes: used water 
from bathtubs, showers, bathroom 
wash basins, and water from clothes 
washing machines and laundry 
tubs. 

Graywater does not include: waste 
water from kitchen sinks, dishwashers, 
or laundry water from 
soiled diapers. 

Graywater is distributed subsurface 
and will efficiently maintain lawns, 
fruit trees, flowers, shrubs and 
groundcovers. It can be used to irrigate 
all plants at your home except

vegetable gardens. 

Why Use Graywater?

Are you tired of watching your 
bathing and laundry water go down 
the drain when it could be put to 
good use on your landscape? Now it 
is safe and legal to reuse that "graywater" 
to conserve water consumption. 
In addition to conserving 
water and probably reducing your 
water and sewer bills, you will also 
be "drought-proofing" your landscape 
by using graywater. 

Since more than half of your indoor 
water can be reused as graywater, 
during shortages, when outdoor 
watering may be restricted, you 
will have a constant source of water. 
With landscapes valued at between 
5 percent and 10 percent of 
the value of a home, this back-up 
supply of water may be an important 
economic insurance policy for 
you. Furthermore, the nutrients in 
graywater may be beneficial to your 
plants.

According to Sierra Madre’s Director 
of Public Works, Bruce Inman, 
“The primary residential water use 
(up to 75%) is for irrigation. To 
the degree that treated gray water 
can be substituted for fresh water 
the consumption component of 
the customer’s water bill would be 
reduced.”

The seven steps to follow to put 
graywater to use in your landscape 
are:

1. Investigate the permit process

2. Prepare a plan

3. Design the graywater system

4. Submit the plan for review

 and approval

5. Install the system

6. Arrange for system inspection

 and approval

7. Use, monitor and maintain

 the system

If you decide not to do some of 
the steps yourself, you can hire a 
landscape contractor to install the 
irrigation system or a plumbing 
contractor to install the plumbing. 
They will follow this same process.

Graywater System Types

Laundry-to-Landscape. This is the 
only type of system that can be 
installed in California without a 
permit. Washing machines are typically 
the easiest source of graywater 
to reuse because graywater can be 
diverted without cutting into existing 
plumbing. The laundry-to-
landscape system is low cost, easy 
to install, and requires very little 
maintenance.

A Branched Drain system is similar 
to the laundry-tolandscape system 
with branching pipes. Branched 
drain systems are time consuming 
to install, but once finished, require

very little maintenance and work 
well for the long term. 

Simple System. A shower is a great 
source of graywater. Usually, it produces 
a lot of relatively clean water. 
Gravity-based shower systems are 
simple and effective. If your yard 
is located uphill from the house, a 
pumped system will be necessary. 
These systems require a permit in 
California.

Complex System. These are pumped 
systems. If you can’t use gravity 
to transport graywater (your yard 
is sloped uphill, or it’s flat and the 
plants are far away) you will need a 
“drum with effluent pump” system. 
The water flows into a large (usually 
50 gallon) plastic drum that is 
either buried or located at ground 

level. A pump is used to push the 

water out through irrigation lines 
(no emitters) to the landscape. 
Pumps add cost, use electricity, and 
will break, so use a simpler system 
if possible.

Protect Health

The Graywater Standards require 
that graywater not surface and that 
human contact with graywater be 
avoided. When graywater is used, 
always follow these rules:

Don't drink or play in graywater.

Don't mix potable (drinking) water 
with graywater.

Don't allow anything that may be 
eaten to come into contact with 
graywater.

Don't allow graywater to pond on the 
surface or run off the property.

Grow Healthy Plants

A very small percentage of plants 
may be damaged by graywater, 
most of these are listed below. Too 
much sodium or chlorine could result 
in leaf burn, chlorosis (yellow 
leaves), and twig die back. Boron 
can be toxic to plants at levels only 
slightly greater than is required for 
good plant growth. Symptoms of 
boron toxicity include leaf tip and 
margin burn, leaf cupping, chlorosis, 
branch die back, premature leaf 
drop, and reduced growth.

 Plants that would probably do well 
with graywater irrigation are (partial 
listing):

Oleander 

Italian Stone Pine

Bougainvillea 

Purple Hopseed Bush

Fan & Date Palms Oaks

Rose Arizona Cypress

Rosemary Cottonwood

Agapanthus Olive

Bermuda Grass Ice Plant

Honeysuckle many native plants

Australian Tea Tree Juniper

(Excerpts of this article taken from the 
CSGP and the State of California’s Graywater 
Guidebook http://www.water.
ca.gov/wateruseefficiency/docs/graywater_
guide_book.pdf. Have questions 
about a systme? Call GEM Plumbing 
626-355-3496)


DON’T RISK IT

When listing your home, you may need to move before a sale takes place. If you vacate the home, it’s very important 
that you notify your insurance company, because many homeowner policies have a “vacancy clause” that 
goes into effect once the home is unoccupied, usually for more than 30 to 60 days.

Insurers see different risks in vacant homes, like vandalism, systems failures, or other liabilities. In most cases, 
you’ll simply purchase an endorsement to your existing policy, but different insurers have different options, and 
if an endorsement is not available, you can get a separate “vacant-home” policy.

It may be an additional cost, but it’s called “insurance” for a reason, and could save you a lot of money down the 
road. If you don’t notify your insurance agent about vacating your home, they could reject any claims you file for 
property damage or liability, or accuse you of insurance fraud.

It may be tempting to just hope that your home will sell within 30 to 60 days after you have to move out, but it’s 
critical to speak with your insurance agent before you move to discuss your options. They may even pro-rate and 
refund part of your premium if you sell before the end of the policy’s term. It’s a small price to pay to protect your 
home and your peace of mind.