What Is Greywater and How to Dispose of It While Camping
The short version: greywater is the used water left over from washing yourself, your dishes, or your clothes. Outdoors, you dispose of it by straining out food particles, carrying it at least 200 feet from any water source, and scattering it widely over the ground — never pouring it into a stream, lake, or a single spot.
What greywater is
Greywater is any wastewater that isn’t from the toilet — the soapy, food-flecked water from dishwashing, bathing, or laundry. It looks harmless, but it carries soap, food, and oils that pollute water and attract wildlife if you dump it carelessly.
How to dispose of greywater outdoors
- Strain it first. Pour through a bandana or fine strainer to catch food bits and hair. Pack those out with your trash.
- Get 200 feet from water. About 70 paces from any stream, lake, or spring — the same buffer you use for washing itself.
- Broadcast, don’t pool. Fling the water in a wide arc across a broad patch of ground so it filters through soil instead of sitting in one place.
- Keep it away from camp and trail. Scattered greywater shouldn’t run back toward water, tent sites, or the path.
Make less greywater in the first place
The less soap and food in your wash water, the less impact it has. Use a few drops of concentrated biodegradable soap, eat your meals down, and scrape cookware before washing. Biodegradable soap breaks down in soil — which is exactly why greywater goes on land, not in water. (More on that in is biodegradable soap safe for rivers and fish?)
Common questions
Can I dump greywater in a cathole? No — catholes are for human waste. Scatter greywater on the surface, well away from water.
Is greywater okay if the soap is biodegradable? Only on land. Biodegradable soap still needs soil microbes and time to break down, so it must never go directly into water.
How far from a lake is safe? At least 200 feet — farther if the ground slopes back toward the water.
Related from Nature Buff: Buff Bar — unscented biodegradable camping soap · Is biodegradable soap safe for rivers and fish? · biodegradable camping soap guide
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