Starting next year, treated wastewater from showers and sinks could be used to flush toilets in Williams Village North, the University of Colorado's green-certified dorm. It's a seemingly simple idea that has been held up by Colorado water law, but a proposed memorandum of understanding between the city of Boulder, which provides water and sewer service to the university, and CU would clear the way for a graywater recirculation program to move forward. The city's Water Resources Advisory Board has already recommended approval of the agreement. The Boulder City Council will consider it Tuesday. The dorm, which opened in fall 2011, houses 500 students near Baseline Road and 30th Street and received top green credentials from the U.S. Green Building Council, becoming the only residence hall of its size in the nation to earn the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum rating for its sustainability features. However, the university hasn't yet been able to take advantage of additional plumbing installed during construction that would allow water from sinks and showers to be captured, filtered, treated and reused for flushing toilets. That's because case law around water rights in Colorado protects downstream users from the potential loss of water that gets reused instead of being returned to the watershed.

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