By Bergan O’Connell
Executive Theme Editor
Mira Costa’s latest environmentally-friendly irrigation system has been in use for over a year now by using gray water to irrigate plants and grass on campus; Costa has found an outlet through which it can both recycle domestic water and do its part in promoting water conservation in reaction to the ongoing California drought and Manhattan Beach’s city-wide water regulations.
Photos: Gray water system diagrams
Gray water is the water used in the classrooms and bathrooms that is recycled and used to water the plants. The water coming from faucets in classrooms and bathrooms goes through the gray water system and is stored in the mound located in the center of the Mustang Mall and then is used to water plants.
“The gray water system has been beneficial for Costa in conserving water; it was money well spent,” Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said.
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However, some of the water used in the the lab classrooms cannot be used on plants because of the chemicals in it. Classrooms such as chemistry, biology and other lab classes do experiments during which they put chemicals into the drains that could be potentially harmful to the plants and kill them. Contaminated water coming from these classrooms goes into the sewer and ends up at the sewage treatment plant in El Segundo.
“We use a lot of water on campus, so anything we can do to help conserve water is beneficial,” AP Environmental Science teacher Trevor Oystrick said. “Reusing water is such a good idea because no one gets harmed, the plants use the water perfectly. Costa is saving thousands of gallons per week by using the Gray Water system.”
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