The Sustainable Industries Top 10 Green Building Products awards recognize companies that are innovators, pioneers and proven performers in creating high-quality, high-value and resource-efficient products. Brac Systems was named one of the Top Ten Green Building Products of 2007. Below is the article as it first appeared in the August 2007 Supplement to Sustainable Industries.

Brac Systems Gray Water Recycling Systems

Question: Why do we use clean drinking water to flush our toilets?

Answer: We don’t have to.

Sustainable Industries judges were unanimous in their praise for Brac Systems’ Gray Water Recycling System as a great example of a gray water system. Water that goes down non-toilet drains throughout a home or office is filtered, disinfected with readily available chlorine pucks, then stored in a tank. Flush the toilet and the renewed water is pumped up to the bathroom.

By most estimates, Brac’s system can cut indoor water use by 30 percent. And because the storage tank is about the size of a household hot water tank, it is easily installed in existing homes, as well as new construction. “Well-designed gray water systems like the Brac are important, and I wish more people knew about the logic behind using such systems,” wrote one judge.

“Not all building codes permit the use of gray water systems, but gradually that’s changing,” says Blair Gautschi, Vice President of Brac Systems. “King County, Wash., and Los Angeles both recently approved gray water systems for use in residential construction, and most open-minded officials have greeted us with open arms,” he says.

The company says it also has a system specifically designed for commercial applications in the works, and has recently been designing a large-capacity system for use in a correctional facility [see “Green Building Goes To Prison,” Sustainable Industries, Nov. 2006].