A Tucson, Ariz., city advisory committee is pushing for all new homes to be outfitted with plumbing systems capable of delivering greywater from bathrooms, laundries and kitchens to outdoor landscaping.

According to theArizona Daily Star, the committee also wants the Tucson City Council to require developers of shopping centers and other commercial projects to harvest rainwater for at least 75 percent of what is used for trees, grass and shrubs.

These proposed ordinances, which would take effect in June 2010, are likely the first of their kind in the United States. “They see them as ways to increase water conservation as population grows and pressure increases on the region's limited water supplies,” theStarreports.

Critics cite costs and development discouragement, and the fact that the new ordinance would ignore a much larger number of existing homes.

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