Spicy Watermelon
Greywater irrigation at Echo Park Court
Forward-thinkers, iconoclasts, fugitives of the box… It takes a certain type of person to take the plunge, metaphorically of course, and switch to greywater.
Photo: Caitlin Atkinson
For this quiet revolution of a project in the heart of Echo Park, it took two such entities. The first, NICO, a real estate company with a mission to do right by the neighborhood, the people and the planet they serve. The second, Terremoto, a landscape architecture firm blurring the lines between natural and designed space.
The operation involved cutting out as much concrete as possible and replacing it with gardens that will grow together with residents’ existing plants. Many of these plantings will be irrigated with greywater from the communal laundry room, including a diverse set of fruit trees that thrive on it. These include citrus, pomegranate, fig, cherimoya, banana, and lychee.
The system is unique because it works on an “opt-in” basis. Users must activate a timer in order to send greywater to the irrigation system. Once the timer expires, it automatically resets the drain to sewer. Spicy pink signage in the laundry room informs residents of how to operate the system and what products are safe to use.
Photo: Greywater Corps
Big props to NICO and Terremoto for bringing us into the fold and trusting the vision. We couldn’t be more proud of this unique greywater system on a charismatic property, a glimpse into the future of water management in the heart of Greywater Country™.