Dealing with greywater

While your waterless compost toilet will eliminate blackwater discharge from your household, you'll need to consider what you do with the greywater from your kitchen, laundry and bathroom.

Over the past 30 years, VIROtech has developed guidelines to help you build a simple, inexpensive greywater system which many local councils are now happy to approve.* Greywater systems are very site-specific and must be designed to suit your soil type, slope and proximity to water courses, but it could be as simple as some perforated poly pipe along a row of trees. Talk to us about a system for your place.
*Local council approval is required prior to installation.

Simple & Inexpensive
​The diagram below shows a typical design using standard plumbing fittings, but is only appropriate if the block meets certain criteria regarding soils, slope, water courses, etc. The sub-surface irrigation can be built with commonly available plumbing materials, and VIROtech is happy to help you adapt these simple principles to your particular block with the help of a geo-tech. 

​The first rule is DO NOT store greywater. When you put greywater in a tank the anaerobic bacteria population explodes and creates odours, so the greywater is best dispersed into the soil immediately. If your block is suitable, it can be used to irrigate trees and shrubs, but we don't advise using it on your vegetable garden.

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Councils will usually require an 'Onsite Sewerage Management System' application for your household. The application is more likely to be approved if it is drafted by a suitably qualified geo-tech, so we suggest you engage a local who has experience with your landscape and local council. Some geo-techs will work from a set of design templates, which may not take into account the fact that you are not flushing toilets. Look for an open minded geo-tech, and put them in touch with VIROtech if they'd like to discuss the project.

​If your local council is reluctant to approve your system, VIROtech is happy to lobby them on your behalf using terms they can relate to and are comfortable with. Remember some sites may not be deemed suitable for a simple greywater system.

Nature Clear Greywater Pre-Filter
The filtration tank, which is less than 1 cubic meter in size, consists of a pine bark coarse filter on top of different grades of sand and gravel. The filter cloth is provided but due to freight costs the sand and gravel should be sourced locally. Sample bags of these are provided with the system to assist with your selection of the correct grade materials.

The pine bark traps large particles not caught in the grease trap plus lint from the washing machine. The sand filter catches still finer materials, polishes the water and reduces the organic content of the water. The pine bark is separated from the sand by filter cloth. The filtered material and bark will compost over time and should be removed every twelve months and replaced with fresh bark, available from your local garden nursery.

The improved condition of the greywater will extend the life of your land application area - in other words you can dispose of your greywater in the same place for longer. 

The GWPF may not be a requirement for council approval, but can sometimes convince an otherwise sceptical council officer that you have put some careful thought into your greywater system - thus avoiding the need for a more expensive system and the associated running costs. 

Greywater Flow Diverter
Some greywater systems may work better if the effluent is not directed to one area but dispersed across multiple areas. Our greywater flow-diverter automatically rotates supply to up to 6 separate areas as required.

This is sometimes useful when the area required to disperse all your greywater is not available at one location, or where you'd like to direct some of it to specific sites - e.g. orchards or gardens.

The valve is flow activated and can operate with as little as one metre of head. The hydraulic operation means no external power is required.