Passive, non-electric greywater disposal systems for over 30 years

Greywater or graywater is household waste water from all household plumbing fixtures except toilet and garbage disposal, which is considered blackwaterRural homeowners with individual sewage disposal septic systems commonly divert at least washing machine water away from their septic tank. With less water passing through, the septic tank has more time to digest waste and settle-out solids. Plus, soaps and detergents have a negative effect on beneficial bacteria health. Diverting graywater away from your septic system leach field reduces loading, increasing waste treatment effectiveness and greatly extending system life expectancy. Phosphate rich soaps and cleaning chemicals are pollutants when discharged directly into waterways, primarily because they accelerate algae growth, which in turn leads to oxygen depletion for fish and other marine life. The beauty of this 'pollutant problem' is mild household cleaning supplies are excellent sources of liquid fertilizer for plant nutrition. Passive, non-electric direct disposal or root-level recycling of greywater with NSF standard 46 filtration conserves ground water while making best use of waste water fertilizer potential. 

Sterilizing greywater on-site to the point where it can be reused for above-ground yard sprinklers or flushing a toilet is rarely cost-effective. Should your county require sterilization of greywater effluent to meet local building codes, an economical option may be to add an in-line "automatic chemical feeder" for chlorine cakes. Building department (or your engineer) is responsible for helping you find the correct part, but can be the same as used for chlorinating swimming pools. National Sanitation Foundation NSF/ANSI standard 350 and 350-1 onsite graywater reuse systems exist, but they are complex, expensive toys with way too many electrical components, moving parts, replacement filters, and fixtures that will eventually fail and have to be repaired, then good luck finding replacement parts. And then there is the family health and public liability risk from a poorly maintained NSF350 or 350-1 onsite graywater reuse system when surface watering your lawn. Even drip irrigation systems are not practical due to calcification problems with small spray holes on drip irrigation emitter lines. Greywater IS, however, excellent for reuse in rural passive, non-electric direct disposal or sub-surface root-zone irrigation of trees, privacy hedges, and ornamental planterbeds. Low-tech gravity drainage 'septic' settling filter basin tank systems like our greywater kit, have been standard practice for generations, disposing of used water right back into the aquifer after it percolates through the ground for treatment. It is harmful for septic tank operation to inject phosphate laden, bacteria killing soaps that will disrupt digestive function and force you to have the tank pumped more often.

do-it-yourself greywater design tips and rules of thumb

Always install a settling basin with filter in-line before leach field or drain pit
Greywater tank up to 10 feet away and leach fields 20+ feet from foundation
Avoid exposing greywater tank lids - best to cover with soil, pavers, or mulch
Always install a cleanout in sewer line near home foundation for servicing
Slope four inch pipe 1/8 to 1/4 inch per foot, never any steeper before tank
Bed all pipe and tank in at least six inches of gravel to prevent frost issues
Never drain directly atop bare ground or spray greywater with yard sprinklers
When reusing graywater for plants, add nitrogen since that nutrient is missing
Never use 'septic treatments' as they do more harm than good to leach field
Use liquid soaps and avoid harsh detergents, bleach, disinfectants & cleaners
Never install geotextile fabric on the bottom of leach pit or drainage trench


$879 Greywater Disposal Kit includes free design consultation along with complete system parts:

*  Settling Basin complete with UV resistent lid and rubber gaskets for the four inch diameter inlet and outlet pipes
*  Free Hole Saw kit to drill perfect 5 inch diameter inlet and outlet holes in settling tank (2-1/2, 3, 3-1/2, 4 & 5 inch bits)
*  Tank Fittings kit includes 4" threaded cleanout assembly, beveled inlet & outlet pipes, inlet drop tee, and three couplers
*  Graywater Filter with versa-tee housing & handle kit is 'self-cleaning', never needs replacement - just rinse off with hose
*  2 sink strainers large wire mesh for kitchen sink and one small sink strainer to prevent solids for getting down the drain
*  One Drywell kit complete with 4 inch diameter sanitary tee inlet fitting, green surface vent grate, and 6' by 6' geofabric
*  4' by 30' Geofabric for lining the sides of leach pit hole prior to installing gravel under and around the drywell assembly
*  24 anchor pins heavy-duty 8 gauge 1/6 inch diameter 0.157 wire large 8 inch long by 2 inch wide for holding fabric in place
*  Free Consultation practical advice to ensure graywater project success in any residential location, in any climate

Septic and greywater systems should use crushed washed aggregate, not round river rock. Minimum 'nominal' 3/4 inch is typical and often referred to as a #57 crushed. Up to 1-1/2 inch aggregate can be used, but it gets harder to shovel and may not be quite as effective for septic system effluent treatment. Avoid 'pea gravel', chips and fines, dirt and sand. Avoid using larger gravel or round river rock. Gravel smaller than 3/4 inch will fall through the one inch knock-out holes in side of drywell. Never put gravel on the inside of the drywell, only around the exterior.

While possible for a greywater system to not have a settling filter basin tank and just install two drywells in-series, longevity is always compromised. Grease traps under sinks, filter on the washing machine discharge, and screens in all sinks will help reduce sediment and fats, but not eliminate the need for a settling tank that can be pumped. Your county health department dictates local rules and building regulations, but generally, one must always have a settling filter basin to catch solids and fats. Should local code not apply to your project, it is still very wise practice to prevent particulates from entering the leach field or pits (drywells), forming bio-mat, and eventually clogging soil and stopping percolation. For over 30 years, we have been providing much the same system with excellent feedback. Always check with your building department to confirm local regulations prior to planning any septic (greywater) system to confirm what is required for your property. The Natural Home is not an engineering firm; we do not provide any engineering services, soil testing or on-site work.

"Are we allowed to install this greywater system on our property" or "what size does the leach pit have to be" are not questions we can answer for you. We have been providing much the same non electric greywater system parts for over thirty years now, but we do not follow constantly changing city, county, and state building regulations. The Natural Home is not an engineering firm; we do not provide any engineering services, soil testing or on-site work.


Flow director valve allows one half of your greywater leachfield or orchard to go fallow for a few months to revitalize soil, prevent overloading, and reduce the growth of bio-matting. This is a critical design advantage. Graywater effluent can be split 50/50 between the two outlet pipes OR you can alternate the flow 100% to one side. Three director valves will allow splitting between four separate lines, giving you the option of allowing 1/4 of leach field to go dry seasonally. Four inch flow director splitter valve kit for $107 comes complete with adjustment handle, riser, coupler, and four inch threaded access cap. Special staggered hubs on the ‘versa-tee’ will accommodate both Sch40 or thin wall SDR35 sewer drain pipe. Distribution boxes and tee fittings off-level by as little as 1/8 of an inch will be drastically less than equal 50/50 split. But with director valve, even at 1/8 inch tilt, flow directer delivers relatively equal flows (+/- < 1.3%). Click for flow director details.  

Greywater flow director valve tee kit includes coupler, riser pipe, threaded cleanout and adjustment handle kit 
Graywater flow director valve tee shown with handle kit allows greywater to split 50/50 or 100% in only one direction

Geotextile soil filter fabric for drainage pits and leach fields

Never install plastic 'visqueen' sheeting or cheap non-woven 'weed barrier' landscaping fabric in place of professional grade heavy-duty woven geotextile fabric for greywater system leach fields or drywell leach pits. Besides longevity, the problem with using visquene plastic sheeting or cheap weed barrier non-woven materials, is they suffocate the soil, ultimately causing anaerobic soil conditions, biomat formation, root rot, and molding issues. Plastic sheeting becomes brittle and tears within a few years and the adhesive bond holding non-woven weed-barrier fabric threads together eventually decomposes, slipping, ripping and tearing, and allowing sand and soil to migrate into the gravel drainage layer of leach field or French drain. Invest in our professional grade woven geotextile fabric with a full 35 mil thickness and extra heavy-duty five ounce per square yard weight and 12 gallons per square foot per minute water permeability. Our superior polypropylene fabric will never rot and will effectively work indefinitely when not exposed to sunlight. Longevity and durability is a function of heavy-duty weight and tough woven construction, versus non-woven weed barrier fabrics which tend to fall apart over the years.

Geotextile fabric pricing, installation details, and design tips


$879 Greywater Disposal Kit includes free design consultation along with complete system parts:

*  Settling Basin complete with UV resistent lid and rubber gaskets for the four inch diameter inlet and outlet pipes
*  Free Hole Saw kit to drill perfect 5 inch diameter inlet and outlet holes in settling tank (2-1/2, 3, 3-1/2, 4 & 5 inch bits)
*  Tank Fittings kit includes 4" threaded cleanout assembly, beveled inlet & outlet pipes, inlet drop tee, and three couplers
*  Graywater Filter with versa-tee housing & handle kit is 'self-cleaning', never needs replacement - just rinse off with hose
*  2 sink strainers large wire mesh for kitchen sink and one small sink strainer to prevent solids for getting down the drain
*  One Drywell kit complete with 4 inch diameter sanitary tee inlet fitting, green surface vent grate, and 6' by 6' geofabric
*  4' by 30' Geofabric for lining the sides of leach pit hole prior to installing gravel under and around the drywell assembly
*  24 anchor pins heavy-duty 8 gauge 1/6 inch diameter 0.157 wire large 8 inch long by 2 inch wide for holding fabric in place
*  Free Consultation practical advice to ensure graywater project success in any residential location, in any climate

$879 Greywater Disposal Kit includes free design consultation along with complete system parts:

*  Settling Basin complete with UV resistent lid and rubber gaskets for the four inch diameter inlet and outlet pipes
*  Free Hole Saw kit to drill perfect 5 inch diameter inlet and outlet holes in settling tank (2-1/2, 3, 3-1/2, 4 & 5 inch bits)
*  Tank Fittings kit includes 4" threaded cleanout assembly, beveled inlet & outlet pipes, inlet drop tee, and three couplers
*  Graywater Filter with versa-tee housing & handle kit is 'self-cleaning', never needs replacement - just rinse off with hose
*  2 sink strainers large wire mesh for kitchen sink and one small sink strainer to prevent solids for getting down the drain
*  One Drywell kit complete with 4 inch diameter sanitary tee inlet fitting, green surface vent grate, and 6' by 6' geofabric
*  4' by 30' Geofabric for lining the sides of leach pit hole prior to installing gravel under and around the drywell assembly
*  24 anchor pins heavy-duty 8 gauge 1/6 inch diameter 0.157 wire large 8 inch long by 2 inch wide for holding fabric in place
*  Free Consultation practical advice to ensure graywater project success in any residential location, in any climate

Last updated on February 29th, 2024

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