Oklahoma Grey Water Code

This code still needs to pass the Senate, however (fingers crossed!) it is approved as is.

With specific allowance for rainwater to be introduced into the greywater irrigation system, it is the most advanced, yet simple code in the US.

Outcome based, rather than proscribing methods, this code should be THE model for all US States considering new codes or reconsidering old codes. Well Done Oklahoma!

Oklahoma HB 1575 passed by the House of Representatives 03/08/2011, sent to Senate, due for enactment 11/1/2011

Section <2-6-101>.  For purposes of this article:

  1.  “Disposal system” means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations and force mains and all other devices, construction, appurtenances and facilities used for collecting, conducting or disposing of wastewater, including treatment systems;
  2.  “Drainage basin” means all of the water collection area adjacent to the highest water line of a reservoir which may be considered by the Department to be necessary to protect adequately the waters of the reservoir.  The area may extend upstream on any watercourse to any point within six hundred (600) feet of the highest water line of the reservoir;
  3. “Gray water” means untreated household wastewater that has not come in contact with toilet waste and includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers, washbasins, clothes washing machines and laundry tubs, but does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks, kitchen dishwashers or laundry water from the washing of material soiled with human excreta, such as diapers;
  4. “Indirect discharge” means the introduction of pollutants to a publicly owned treatment works from a nondomestic source;
  5. “Pollutant” means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agribusiness waste discharged into waters of the state;
  6. “Public water supply” means water supplied to the public for domestic or drinking purposes;
  7. “Reservoir” means any reservoir, whether completed or in the process of construction, whether or not used as a water supply, and whether or not constructed by any recipient of water therefrom;
  8. “Sludge” means nonhazardous solid, semi-solid, or liquid residue generated by the treatment of domestic sewage or wastewater by a treatment works, or water by a water supply system, or manure, or such residue, treated or untreated, which results from industrial, nonindustrial, commercial, or agribusiness activities or industrial or manufacturing processes and which is within the jurisdiction of the Department;
  9. “Small public sewage system” means a nonindustrial wastewater treatment system which has an average flow of five thousand (5,000) gallons per day or less;
  10. “Treatment works” means any facility used for the purpose of treating or stabilizing wastes or wastewater.  “Treatment works” shall be synonymous with “wastewater works”; and
  11. “Water supply system” means a water treatment plant, water wells, and all related pipelines or conduits, pumping stations and mains and all other appurtenances and devices used for distributing drinking water to the public and, as such, shall be synonymous with waterworks.

SECTION 1.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section <2-6-107> of Title <27A>, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

The Department of Environmental Quality shall not require a permit for applying less than two hundred fifty (250) gallons per day of private residential gray water originating from a residence for the household gardening, composting or landscape irrigation of the resident if:

  1. A constructed gray water distribution system provides for overflow into the sewer system or on-site wastewater treatment and disposal system;
  2. A gray water storage tank is covered to restrict access and to eliminate habitat for mosquitoes or other vectors;
  3. A gray water system is sited outside of a floodway;
  4. Gray water is vertically separated at least five (5) feet above the groundwater table;
  5. Gray water pressure piping is clearly identified as a nonpotable water conduit;
  6. Gray water is used on the site where it is generated and does not run off the property lines;
  7. Gray water is applied in a manner that minimizes the potential for contact with people or domestic pets;
  8. Ponding is prohibited, application of gray water is managed to minimize standing water on the surface and to ensure that the hydraulic capacity of the soil is not exceeded;
  9. Gray water is not sprayed;
  10. Gray water is not discharged to a waterway;
  11. Gray water use within municipalities or counties complies with all applicable municipal or county ordinances enacted pursuant to law; and
  12. A gray water storage system which complies with the provisions of this section may allow for rainwater to be introduced into the system.

SECTION 2.  This act shall become effective <November 1, 2011>.

Passed the House of Representatives the <8th> day of <March>, 2011.