Homeowner achieves three major benefits after making simple upgrade to his home: 'I feel like I'm doing something real'

If there were ever a stone that could kill three birds at once, Eric Haas threw it nearly two decades ago.

The Guardian profiled the 62-year-old educator, who has managed to slash his water bills, save the environment, and prepare for emergencies with one simple upgrade of his Oakland, California, home.

Haas and his family moved to the Bay Area in 2007 because he wanted a place to "focus on water conservation and other low-carbon-footprint projects." He was inspired by his experience teaching in Liberia during the 1980s, where he became conscious of his energy and water consumption.

Haas hired a local contractor to install a rainwater and gray water collection system that can store up to 4,000 gallons of water. That reserve is then filtered and used for toilets, washing machines, and watering most of his garden. He can also save the runoff in the event of an emergency, such as a fire or earthquake.

Meanwhile, the gray water system reroutes the water used in the shower, bathroom sink, and washing machine to his vegetable garden and six fruit trees in the backyard.

"I feel like I'm doing something real and concrete, and every time I hear the greywater pump go on or when I hear the pump from our rainwater system go on to fill up the washing machine or toilet, that's water that I'm not taking from the system and that matters," he told the Guardian.

According to Haas, his family averaged just 39 gallons of water a day in 2024 — about 70% less than the 139 gallons a typical household in their region would use. Their water bill is also "a fraction of what it used to be," and he estimated that they save about $220 a year relative to the average family.

The entire project was simple to set up, as he needed to purchase rain barrels, have the ground leveled, and have the water collection system connected to the existing water infrastructure. It cost him around $15,000 and took a week to complete.

That investment has been worthwhile for Haas, who has witnessed the effects of the planet's overheating in the 18 years of living in Oakland.

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His supply, which used to last for years when he first installed the tanks, depletes in just 10 months. Additionally, the rainfall is so sporadic and inconsistent that his tanks remain empty during the dry season and overflow during the wet season.

And with California enduring an extreme drought spelled by destructive storms, the state has experienced everything from devastating wildfires to shrinking lakes and once-in-a-thousand-year floods.

Some California residents have taken steps to become more sustainable and combat this issue, like installing solar panels or building a cob house. For Haas, though, having a rainwater and gray water collection system "is relatively easy to do" and would have long-term benefits for the homeowner and the environment.

"Every time it rains, I love to go out and look at the gutters and see how much it's pouring into the system," he added. "It brings me joy to interact with the natural environment in this small way in my urban house."

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