As the drought continues, people are looking for ways to cut back on water use. Some are looking at using grey water to water their landscape plants, instead of fresh water. Grey water is essentially water from bathtubs or washing machines. It does not include water from toilets. If captured before entering or being mixed with water from other sources, grey water may be recycled and used to water landscape plants.

While this water doesn't need extensive treatment before it can be used for landscape watering, some precautions should be kept in mind. Grey water can contain small amounts of detergent, grease, hair, and other biological contaminants. However, when applied in small amounts, soil organisms can dispose of these contaminants quickly.

One recommendation from the University of Massachusetts is to apply no more than one half gallon of grey water per square foot of soil. For example, if you have a 200 square foot landscape area, 100 gallons of grey water could be applied per week.

Some other recommendations to follow are:

· Apply grey water directly to the ground surface. Do not apply on leaves or other parts of the plants

· Use only on ornamental landscapes. Do not apply grey water onto vegetable gardens

· Compost mulches will help decompose contaminants in grey water.

· If possible, rotate use of grey water with fresh water.

The simplest way to transport grey water is by bucket. Some households have separate grey water holding tanks, but this is rare. If you try to change plumbing to allow access to grey water, check with the local health department before doing any changes to see what the health codes are.