One way people have tried to cut their water consumption by half, as the governor asked, has been to reuse water from their washing machines, sinks, showers, and bathtubs. Turns out it’s illegal. This N&O story has two takes on the issue
one from the “public health” perspective
“Just think of the reason you’re washing your body,” [the aptly eponymous program coordinator at the state Division of Environmental Health, Barbara Hartley] Grimes said. “You’re washing off waste. You’re washing off pathogens.”
the other from the common sense perspective:
[Stacy Murphy, a Durham resident said] “I don’t think I’m exposing any families to cholera or infectious diseases by saving the bath water 24 hours and then flushing it. It’s probably time to get together with health departments and legislators and try to work out more reasonable approaches.”
Grimes defended the gray water ban by citing “ancient times when waste was tossed out castle windows into murky moats below,” according to the article. And it’s against the law to use elephants, gray or otherwise, to plow cotton fields.
