Greywater

Rainfall in WA has been declining since the 1970s, which means we have to work together to reduce water use and reuse water.

A greywater system can help you save water by irrigating your garden with water from the bath, shower, washing machine, and laundry trough. Some systems are also approved to use water from kitchen sink.

Installation of a greywater treatment system in your home requires approval by your local government and there are legislative requirements you need to be aware of. Follow the simple steps to installing a domestic greywater system:

1. Read the Code of Practice for the Reuse of Greywater in Western Australia 2010 (PDF 1.3MB) (The Code). All greywater reuse systems must meet the legislative requirements of The Code.
2. Check that the system is approved for use in WA - WA approved systems.
3. Lodge an Application to Construct or Install an Apparatus for the Treatment of Sewage (DOC 303KB) with your local government. It is an offence to install and use a wastewater system without an approval and “Permit to Use” from the local government.

Refer to the Local Government Directory (external site) for your local contact details.

Approval is not required if you are:

• reusing greywater via greywater diversion devices (GDD) for watering garden via sub-surface irrigation. All GDD products must be WaterMark certified to ensure they are fit for purpose and authorised for use in plumbing and drainage installations.To check currency of the GDD certified products go to the WaterMark Certification Scheme Product Database. Refer to the Code for calculating land application areas.
• reusing greywater via manual bucketing, refer to the Code for more guidance.

Commercial schemes

For large commercial greywater reuse schemes including multi-dwellings using greywater for in-house uses such as toilet flushing refer to the Guidelines for the Use of Recycled Water in Western Australia (PDF 2.06MB).

Further information

For further information, contact your local government Environmental Health Officer.