How can greywater be recycled

How Does It Work? The system collects wastewater from washbasins, showers, and baths. This water is fed into the greywater system to be filtered and pumped into a storage tank. Here it sits until there is a demand, at which time it is then pumped out of the tank for reuse in toilet flushing or irrigation. Once in place, a greywater recycling system is fairly low maintenance and typically only requires an annual visual inspection.

The water is likely to be cloudy. Most greywater systems use the water immediately or within 24 hours. Untreated greywater should not be stored for any longer than this. A greywater system should have a bypass switch so that the greywater can be sent directly into the sewer or on-site blackwater treatment system if there is something in it that house occupants do not want to go into the garden.

Water with faecal matter from bathing very small children should be diverted, for example. There should also be provision for overflow to be discharged to a sewer or on-site blackwater treatment system.

Some proprietary systems have a sensor that diverts greywater if there is already enough water in the garden. Taken weekly over 6 months, greywater samples were tested for the bacteria Escherichia coli E. There are no New Zealand guidelines in this area, but the test results were assessed against South Australian guidelines. The hand basin and laundry sample E. In South Australia, this can be used for residential non-potable uses such as toilet flushing, garden watering and exterior washing, amongst other end uses.

Branched drain systems are time consuming to install, but once finished require very little maintenance and work well for the long term. Kitchen sinks are the source of a fair amount of water, usually very high in organic matter food, grease, etc. Kitchen sinks are not allowed under many greywater codes, but are allowed in some states, like Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Montana.

This water will clog many kinds of systems. To avoid clogging, we recommend using a branched drain system with mulch basins, organic matter collects in the woodchips and decomposes.

Or, the sink water can be drained to a single large plant, or divided to irrigate two or three plants. If you produce more greywater than you need for irrigation, a constructed wetland can help use up some extra greywater.

Wetlands absorb nutrients and filter particles from greywater, enabling it to be stored for longer or sent through a properly designed drip irrigation system though more filtration and pumping is also required. Greywater is also a good source of irrigation for beautiful, water loving wetland plants. In a basic pumped system greywater flows into a large usually 50 gallon plastic barrel that is either buried or located at ground level. Inside the barrel an effluent pump pushes the water out through irrigation lines no emitters to the landscape.

Pumps add cost, use electricity, and will break, so avoid this if you can. In most residential situations it is much simpler and more economical to utilize greywater outside, and not create a system that treats the water for indoor use.

The exceptions are in houses that have high water use and minimal outdoor irrigation, and for larger buildings like apartments. Buckets can catch greywater and clear water, the water wasted while warming up a shower. This can be a major issue where we have droughts, which was experienced quite recently, back in early The greywater can be used in combination with an irrigation system to water the garden automatically.

This is good to have in place because it targets specific areas of your garden so it is a more environmentally friendly way to care for it. Home water irrigation systems vary in complexity, with companies offering whole systems to maximise efficiency by very specific targeting.

This water does not need to be treated with chemicals as any organic material remaining in the water can be absorbed by the plants.

It is not recommended to use this type of water with home grown vegetables. Reclaimed greywater can also be used for washing clothes; again this has to be treated to a similar level as the water used for toilets. And like the toilet greywater, plumbing needs to be put in place to redirect the water to the appropriate place in the house.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Hi can i use the water from the outlet of a septic tank for reusing for clothes washing watering plants flushing toilet?

You cannot use the water from the septic tank for re using. Grey water is specifically water from showers,hand basins and excludes kitchen sinks. If you require you can use it for irrigation by doing simple pipe works or flushing toilets after the treatment of grey water.

Hi Sharon, yes it is fine in almost all cases — we would recommend letting the water stand for a little while if possible in a water butt as microorganisms will begin breaking down any contaminants. Having said that, leaving it too long can cause pathogens to form! So be sensible. Likewise, if you can mix the grey water with water from a water butt connected to a downpipe from guttering, it will help minimise any detergents etc — but as mentioned plants will be fine and also grey water can help kill aphids — so another positive!

Hi we are seeking ways to save water and would appreciate it if you could advise us in regard to using grey water. It is our intention to use grey water to flush the toilet, we intend storing the water in a tank until the water is needed to flush the toilet.

If grey water is stored prior to use and only used to flush the toilet would this be a safe method or would there be a problem with storing the grey water from a health point of view. We have a septic tank and I note that grey water is chemically treated before reuse for flushing toilets.

Is reused and treated grey water suitable for septic tanks, or will it kill all the bacteria breaking down the black Water? Hi, we have a grey water system that takes water from a 2nd storey bath to flush the toilets in our house and for years their was no problem however for the last few months the smell has been unbearable, I had a look at the system and found the pump delivering the chemicals to the tank was faulty, I fixed it and the chemicals are now delivered correctly however the smell persists, what should I do next?

Grey water should be a major consideration but the cost of systems to utilise it will stop most households installing this. If a third of potable water can be saved the cost saving should be used for the installation of a grey water system. The general public would only take up this system if it proved worthwhile, if the potable water had two tiers of charges making it cheaper for those with a grey system installed with the higher tier charged for those without a grey system which would subsidise the cost of the installation of a grey recycling system installed free if charge by the water company.

Can recycled greywater chlorination and filtration be usedfor showering or bathing? Hi Samia. No, it should only be used for flushing toilets — it may still carry some bacteria, so is not safe to wash in. We currently share a septic tank system with our next door neighbour but with new neighbours the system is now failing.

We are looking into a grey water system coupled with a compost loo to effectively go off grid so we do not longer have to use the septic tank — is this possible? We have a rainwater fed system and toilets which are used regularly keep clean but others develop a grime in the pan.