How to treat grey water for home use

1. What kind of tank?

You can use any kind of tank to store grey water: in-ground, bladder or poly tanks are all fine. However, bear in mind that you'll need two tanks - one to store the incoming grey water and one for the treated water.

2. How to treat grey water

It's illegal to store grey water for more than 24 hours, so if you want to store it for use in the home it has to be treated. Grey water treatment systems put the water through a process of aeration, filtration and 'polishing' to get it to Class A standard, which is the standard required for indoor home usage.

3. What can I use the grey water for?

Once the treatment process has taken place, you can use the grey water for things such as clothes washing and toilet flushing.

4. Council regulations

Council approval is required to install grey water treatment systems in a domestic setting. Some grey water recycling companies may do the application for you. There are often council fees involved, which can be anything up to $500. The rules differ from state to state and council to council, so do some research into the rules for your particular area.

5. How much is this going to cost?

The treatment systems cost around $7000, and on top of that you'll need to purchase two tanks. Therefore, to treat grey water in your home, a fully installed system is likely to cost between $8000 and $10,000.

6. Can this system be installed in an existing home?

Yes, but installing a grey water treatment system in an existing home is likely to cost you more because the pipework will need to be diverted. Installing a system in an existing home could cost up to $14,000.

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