Southfield, MI Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Section 5.60-D, headed as the city's rainwater harvesting provision, doubles as Southfield's local greywater reuse standard. Paragraph A requires anyone designing a reuse system to first identify how the water will be used, indoor greywater reuse or outdoor irrigation, and to calculate the actual water need against expected precipitation and refill frequency before sizing anything. The critical safety requirement is in paragraph D: where cisterns are used to supplement greywater needs, the ordinance mandates a parallel conveyance system that keeps reused stormwater or greywater physically separate from the property's other potable water piping, and it flatly bars connecting a reuse system to the domestic or commercial drinking water supply.

Paragraph E adds that household water demand has to be factored in whenever a system is sized to supplement residential greywater use, so a reuse system can't be undersized relative to what the household actually needs elsewhere. Paragraph F requires every pipe or storage unit in the system to be clearly marked "Caution: reclaimed water, do not drink," a labeling duty aimed squarely at preventing someone from mistaking reused water for the potable supply. Screens to filter debris (paragraph G) and protection from direct sunlight to limit algae growth (paragraph H) round out the maintenance-side requirements that keep a greywater system functioning as designed rather than becoming a standing-water or cross-contamination hazard on the property.