Water storage - what is greywater
Many times I have been asked the question " what is greywater" ?
I will try my best to explain the term 'greywater' or as some people spell it 'graywater' as it is used in Australia!
In Australia any waste water that comes from domestic activities like the laundry washing machines, kitchen dishwashers, showers and baths is called 'greywater' and it can be recycled in the home, using approved methods.
Greywater can be used for watering the garden, and in wetlands using a filtering method.
It has been estimated through research that greywater makes up on average 65-70% of the waste water generated in domestic homes.
Water from toilets containing human waste is termed as Sewage and can not be used as greywater and has the very apt name of 'blackwater' indicating that it does in fact contain Human Waste!
In Melbourne where I live Treated Water from the Sewage treatment plants is now being piped to new housing estates and supplied along with the normal potable water to all new homes in the estate.
The treated water is supplied in purple colored pipes and can only be used for watering the garden and is not to be used inside the house or for drinking
Storing and Recycling greywater
The diagram shows how the water from the bathroom basin can be diverted, filtered and fed into the Toilet cistern saving hundreds of litres of potable water from being flushed down the toilet.
In other Hubs I will describe different methods in use for Storing and recycling Greywater.