Reusing greywater

Greywater is wastewater from baths, spas, hand basins, showers, washing machines, laundry tubs, kitchen sinks and dishwashers.

Greywater is only used for flushing toilets, washing machines (except laundry tubs), watering gardens, washing cars, filling ornamental ponds, fire fighting purposes and industrial purposes.

Reuse of kitchen wastewater is not recommended due to the large amounts of grease, fat, food waste and detergents.

All plumbing and drainage work involving greywater must be carried out by a licensed plumber and/or drainer.

Requirements

Plumbing and drainage work in recycled water suburbs, (like any other area), must be carried out by a licensed plumber and/or drainer and in accordance with the New South Wales Code of Practice Plumbing and Drainage, Australian Standards AS/NZ 3500, Sydney Water and NSW Health installation requirements.

The NSW Guidelines for Urban and residential Use of Reclaimed Water describe the NSW Health requirements for plumbing and use of recycled water.

For detailed information on Sydney Water's recycling requirements and initiatives refer to:

• Sydney Water's Recycled Water areas: plumbing guidelines (PDF - 0.94MB)

Installation

When installing non-drinking water installations in a property, it is critical that there is no cross-connection between the drinking and non-drinking water supplies within the property.

There are generally two preferred methods (PDF - 0.11MB) for re-using greywater, diversion and treatment.

All greywater diversion devices must be an approved type as registered on the NSW Department of Health website.

Greywater treatment systems must be accredited and listed on the NSW Health website.

All installed greywater treatment and diversion devices must be inspected by NSW Fair Trading.

Inspection

All recycled water installations must be inspected by NSW Fair Trading.

Information on NSW Fair Trading's inspection process can be found at the NSW Fair Trading website.

To book an inspection, call NSW Fair Trading on 1300 889 099.

Training

NSW TAFE provides training on the installation of non-drinking water supplies. The training course Plumbing For Urban Water Recycling Schemes (PDF - 63KB) , is contained within the National Plumbing Service Training Package (CPC08).

The aim of this training is to teach plumbers, designers and council health inspectors how to reduce the possibility of cross connections in recycled water areas.

Further information about the course is available on the NSW TAFE website.