New pilot project looks at recycling water waste in the Region of Waterloo

The Region of Waterloo is launching a new pilot project to reuse greywater in households with an innovative Hydraloop filtration system.

The Hydraloop greywater system is said to be the first of its kind in Ontario and is supposed to save homeowners tens-of-thousands-of litres of water annually.

Greywater within your home will be collected from things like shower water and can be reused used for things like toilets and washing machines. 

"Even if the homeowner does nothing at all, if they’re not even being cognitive of their water use when they’re having showers or washing their clothes, they can save a minimum of 10,000 gallons of potable water, which is around 40,000 liters in a year," said Melissa Lubitz, the business development director from Hydraloop.

Right now, greywater in many homes flows from your draining system into city pipes. These devices have been installed as part of a pilot project with the Region of Waterloo and developer Activa. It will collect, clean and redistribute the water into your home.

“The region of waterloo has groundwater sources that are really limited and precious. So we’re always looking for ways to reduce the water use in the community,” said Water Programs Supervisor with the region, Dan Meagher.

These devices going into new construction homes in Kitchener, where the plumbing has been designed to work with the Hydraloop system.

Each unit currently costing the region around $5,000 USD for the pilot project.

"If the home is designed with the plumbing configuration set up to direct greywater to a greywater recycling device, then Hydraloop devices can be installed after the home is already built," said Lubitz.

Since the device is installed at the construction phase, the only cost to the homeowners is a UV filter, every two years, for around $200, according to officials with Hydraloop.

“We had to look at how we create the plumbing within the house to accommodate the Hydraloop because we want all out showers and baths sinks to funnel into this, so it just took a little bit of work but like everything as you start doing it, more and more, you become more efficient at it,” said Tony Giovinazzo, the C.E.O of Activa, the development firm behind the construction project.

Over the next year, data will be collected by the Region of Waterloo from the first few devices which will be used for the regions water supply strategy. The team at Hydraloop is hoping to to work with more local municipalities and developers to get the ball rolling on the future of greywater recycling.