Thread: Grey Water Tank

Originally Posted by some_one

I recently went to a local hardware store, where they had a fancy diagram about various filter that go before water goes into a rain water tank, how important are those things??

Depends on what sort of sh*t lands on your roof... in short - if you've got trees dropping leaves on the roof, then you need a)gutter guard b)leafeaters; if you've got animals of just about any sort, then you need a first flush diverter of some sort (There are the commercial ones, and then there are the 'build your own').

It also depends on what you're using it for. I only water the garden with mine, so as long as it doesn't jam the pump I'm happy, whereas my brother feeds his to his 1 year old son, so he's got the whole works, and still boils it or puts it through a filter jug before he drinks it.


Some_one, what are you using the water for? What sort of roof do you have? how many downpipes feed the tanks? What is likely to land on your roof?

Quick update - have now found a couple of pallet tanks for $80 each - that's the sort of price that is reasonable for 1000L (x2!) Hope the deal goes through ok

My grass is looking very green these days - had to mow it today, was getting way too long!

Can you share the source of those cheap tanks?

Friend of a friend, but I'll check (once I get mine ) if there are more available for forum members.

yeah im a plumber some of the stuff in this post is pretty dangerous,

Heres a few tips,
Do not let any waste water stagnate for too long it can attract vermin, insects and even kill you.

Do not connect the washing machine to the extension hoses they sell at bunnings , some NOT ALL washing machines will burn out the pump alot faster if it is overloaded by having too much length. instead connect the hose to the outlet of your laundry sink so that it drains away properly.No point breaking your perfectly good washing machine is there.

The reason your installation needs to be inspected is because it is HUMAN WASTE and if your soaking area is too small then you can present a significant health risk to those around you. You need at least 200 sqaure meters of area to soak,
Do not let small childeren play on the soakage area for shower, bath or kitchen sinks, at all ever FULL STOP,
If the water in the pipes does not empty compleatly every time it is used you may as well have just left it in a bucket it is just as dangerous as stagnant water.

In most areas rain water and stormwater can be done by you as they are not plumbing systems they are included in the building code, however you need a plumber if you connect it into your sytem because you may backflow into the mains under certain circumstances,

Im not here to give you guys a headache, but many think they know better but dont, ill start a new post for you to ask questions to a liscenced trades man, however if its not good for you to do it be prepared for me to tell you so.

Have fun,

Thanks for the heads-up Rhett.

Hi Guys,

Have followed with great interest! I too have done something along the lines that Stuart has done with his grey water system (nowhere near as intricate).

As my 'storage' bin is above the level of the whole block, I only used a cheap pond pump as I didn't have to worry about pumping up hill (head). Clogged the inbuilt filter after a few weeks though! In the process of creating a pre filter system similar to Stuart's!

Would recommend, if you can do it with you washing machine, is to only catch the final rinse as the first rinse is mega full of lint, detergent etc! Bit of mucking around but I think worth it long term.

Also check out "Euca" detergents - very low sodium and phosphorus. http://www.lightningcleans.com.au/index.html

I am about to get my 14000 litre tank in from a plumber mate, but I do have a bit room to put it - only a 3m diameter foot print. Main purpose for us is to keep the vege garden etc alive and kicking through the hotter months, and I will look at plumbing into the house as well for the loo and washing machine etc.

Great thread! Thanks for all the thought and input on this very important topic!

Stuart was going to let forum members know if there were more tanks? Humm did I miss something?

those cage tanks are sold at:

A & R Recycling Pty Ltd
1485 Hume Hwy Campbellfield VIC 3061
ph: (03) 9357 2900,

on the Hum highway just up from the Western Ring Road crossover.

Second hand so the price is pretty cheap, but I forget the exact price.

Thanks mate I will suerly give em a ring and find out more.

Cheers.

So, Wilr86 your first 6 posts are all recommending a new product.... suspicious.... I take it the Wil is short for Wilson, and the R for Richard, as on the Contact Us page: http://www.gardenresq.com.au/contactus.htm

Product looks ok though. Looks neat and compact. More details on the quality of the pump would be important, and the same for the filter. Without an assurance that these are high quality, its just a box with holes in it.

AFAIK, Brisbane City Council and QLD state govt haven't yet approved any grey water systems, so not a lot of potential here. Shame as I have a couple of clients waiting for grey water systems.

Queensland Government have approved Diversion systems. Here is the link:

http://www.lgp.qld.gov.au/?id=4077

That's good then, cos I"ve got one of these: http://environmentshop.com.au/Produc...s.asp?PID=2909

I"ll take photos tomorrow, but here's what I did:

Of course I didn't get it approved or use a plumber....

I decided to just use the bath water, as its our highest single volume usage (5 of us at home including 2 small children), its the cleanest water we throw away, and contains the least ugly chemicals.

I think the Nylex is a pretty good half way option. It cost about $130, took half an hour to install, and had kept selected parts of the garden alive. My main issue is that it doesn't store any water - the tank is only 5 litres or so, so its not great for a gravity fed system. The Nylex instructions say you should bury a 90mm slotted pipe under your yard, which is a great idea, if you thought to do it before you built the house, or landscaped the yard...

Originally I just plugged one of Bunnies $20 washing machine water diverter hoses into the Nylex diverta outlet which worked ok, but meant the grey water had to be spread on the surface which isn't good, especially with little kids who ust have to pick up the end of the hose to see whats in it.

At the moment its connected to a 20 litre water barrel with 13mm irrigation pipe connected to it, which goes out to 100mm dripper spikes (like these http://www.wisewally.com.au/) I've got it watering a small veg garden at the moment and it seems to be working a treat.

The real plan is to get one of these barrels http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=014 and connect it to about 4 or 5 runs of 13mm pipe spread around the garden to maximise water distribution. I'll get some sponge from Clarkes rubber to put in the top to add an extra filter, as well as the filter inside, and then I will get rid of the Nylex Diverta.