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Maintaining your greywater diversion device or treatment system
- Ways greywater can be used
- Greywater diversion devices
- Greywater treatment systems
- Maintaining your greywater diversion device or treatment system
- Protecting your health
After you install your greywater diversion or treatment system you will need to maintain it.
Greywater diversion devices
Screens and filters
The screen on the inlet of your greywater diversion device is important as it removes a variety of materials that may clog your diversion device, pump or irrigation system. If the screen becomes clogged, it means less greywater will get to your garden. Cleaning the inlet screen should only take you a couple of minutes each week.
Irrigation systems
It is important to check your irrigation system works properly as it can become blocked with debris. It is also easy to forget because it is partly located underground.
A way of checking whether your irrigation system is working is the appearance of your plants. If an area of your garden appears to be wilting or dying, there may be a blockage.
Buried irrigation systems can be flushed by removing the cap from the end of the distribution line and flushing with clean water. Drip emitters can be pulled out of the ground to ensure they are working properly.
Refer to the watering systems page for more information about the irrigation system that will work best for you, save water and protect the environment.
Plants & soils
Check the health of your garden regularly. If your plants or soils appear to be showing signs of stress, such as damage to the leaves of your plants, contact your local nursery or gardening expert for further advice.
Refer to our Plant Selector to see the plants most suited to your garden.
One cause of stress on your garden could be the type of laundry detergent you use.
To reduce the impact, choose laundry detergents with low levels of sodium and phosphorus. The lower the levels, the lower the potential impact on your garden.
Opt for liquid detergents as they generally contain much less sodium (salt) than powders. Use detergents that contain less than 20 grams of sodium for each wash.
Choose detergents that comply with the Australian Industry Standard of less than 7.8mg/L of phosphorus. Phosphorus concentrations can usually be found on the label.
The NSW Heath website contains links to more information on sodium and phosphorus in laundry detergents.
Don't divert when raining
There is no need to divert greywater to your garden when it is raining. Additional water increases the chance of runoff from your property.
Waterlogging
Occasionally check the area of garden that is being irrigated with greywater to ensure that it is not becoming waterlogged and that greywater is not running off your property.
| Greywater diversion system maintenance checklist | How often |
| Use environmentally friendly detergents | Always |
| Clean screens/filters | Weekly |
| Monitor plant and soil health | Monthly |
| Monitor soil wetness | Weekly |
| Check irrigation system is not clogged | Monthly |
| Flush greywater system with clean water | Every second month |
Greywater treatment systems
There are several types of greywater treatment systems. Maintenance will depend on the type of system you have chosen to install. Follow the maintenance advice given by the manufacturer as well as any conditions of approval by your local council. For more information on maintenance of greywater treatment systems, visit www.deus.nsw.gov.au.