Water recycling

Water is a precious resource and should be used as many times as possible before being returned to the water table.

Domestic Recycling
Most homes today have clean or whitewater delivered from a central delivery point. The water is used and then returned via a sewage system to a central colection point. The sewage is treated and then delivered to a river or the ocean.

This is very wasteful.

Homes should have greywater pipes.

Water would enter the house as whitewater, suitable for drinking or washing. Used whitewater would be collected from the house and processed into greywater. Processing would require sterilization and the removal oils and soaps. The resulting greywater would then be returned to homes. The greywater would be used for toilets and lawn watering. Used greywater would be pumped out as blackwater for sewage reclamation.

This would increase some costs in home building. There would be more plumbing in homes. Instead of one set of water and sewer, there would be whitewater and greywater to a home and yellowwater and blackwater from a home. Likewise there would be twice as much pipe exiting a home. The long term gains in recycling water would be immense.

Homes that are connected to well water instead of public water should try to utilize greywater on site.

Greywater should be processed at a central public plant when possible because it will be cheaper. Otherwise each home will need to develop and maintain facilities. A central plant can be specialized and take advantage of new developments and new technologies. Also a central plant can sterilize the greywater which would be very difficult for individual systems.