Rainwater and greywater
Making the most of every drop.
Water is a very precious resource in a country as dry as Australia. Using grey or rainwater in and around your home is an easy and effective way to save Victoria’s precious water supplies.
Rainwater
Not only is rainwater free, but there are no restrictions on when or where you can use it and there are bucketloads of other benefits too.
Installing a rainwater tank to collect runoff from your roof is a great way to:
save precious drinking water
reduce bills
ease the pressure on our stormwater drainage system
reduce overland flow that causes flooding
help the environment by reducing the number of pollutants flowing into waterways and the Bay
and it can even add value to your home.
Use rainwater for:
watering your garden or lawn at any time
washing your car
or you can even connect it to your toilet for flushing.
Discover more about rainwater tanks in this factsheet.
The future of rainwater storage
We've developed smart rainwater tanks that release water when heavy rainfall is predicted. This helps to reduce the risks of large, less frequent flood events. While it's not available yet for individual homes, we're rolling out our Tank Talk technology at our Aquarevo development in Lyndhurst. You can learn more about the technology from our commercial arm, Iota.
Greywater
Greywater is wastewater from your bathroom and showers, bath tubs and washing machine that you can use to water your garden. It doesn’t include kitchen greywater, or any laundry water that could be contaminated (such as from washing cloth nappies).
Greywater systems let you reuse water, which is beneficial for the environment and your wallet.
Greywater collection
The good thing about greywater is that we produce it on a daily basis. You can divert it to the garden with minimal cost and effort in a number of different ways, from simple buckets in the shower to complex reuse systems for domestic plumbing.
Find out more on the renew.org.au website.
Use the safest source of greywater possible. The safest is from the rinse cycle in your washing machine, the wash cycle is the next safest, followed by bath or shower water.
Keep water safely out of reach of children, dogs and people and put it where it's needed by your plants - at the roots.
Avoid spraying or hosing with greywater – your plants’ leaves don’t like it.
Water your ornamentals and orchards, but not your leafy green edible plants.
Don't let the greywater run off your property to the street or your neighbours’ property.
Don't store greywater for more than 24 hours.
In Victoria you don't need a permit to install a diversion only system in a sewered area. In unsewered areas make sure to check with your local council on whether you need a septic tank alteration permit.