What Greywater Action does

Greywater Action is a non-profit educational collaborative founded in 1999 and headquartered in Sacramento, California, that teaches residents and tradespeople how to design and install household water conservation systems. Its instructional scope spans three integrated domains: greywater reuse, rainwater harvesting, and composting toilets, with content available in English, Spanish, and Chinese. The organization is led by a small core team including Laura Allen and Cleo Woelfle-Erskine, both of whom hold publishing credentials, and operates with 1-10 staff.

Its core product set is content- and education-centric rather than technology-centric. The portfolio includes self-paced online courses hosted on the Gurucan platform (introductory classes free, paid advanced tiers), an active community Q&A forum covering greywater reuse (187+ threads), composting toilets (21+ threads), and rainwater harvesting (15+ threads), and a professional installer business directory. Published works span five titles across Storey Press, Timber Press, and Soft Skull Press, covering greywater irrigation, rain gardens, water-wise home practices, and water-justice literature. The organization also produced the San Francisco Graywater Design Manual for Outdoor Irrigation in partnership with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and conducted the largest known empirical U.S. study of residential greywater systems (83 systems, 14,565 gallons saved per household per year, 99% user satisfaction).

The business model is hybrid non-profit: book royalties through Amazon and Storey Press (retail distribution), freemium online courses on Gurucan, recurring donation flow via a Qgiv-powered giving page, and project-based fees for technical manuals and municipal deliverables such as the SFPUC design manual. The go-to-market is content-first and community-led — free resources, multilingual web pages, and the forum drive top-of-funnel awareness; books and courses capture bottom-of-funnel intent; the installer directory closes the loop by connecting educated homeowners with certified tradespeople. The organization serves four primary segments: individual homeowners, tradespeople and installers, low-income communities through its Environmental Justice Coalition for Water partnership, and communities of color through water-justice programming.

Name

Greywater Action

Legal name

Greywater Action

Website

https://greywateraction.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Greywater Action is a non-profit educational collaborative that teaches homeowners, tradespeople, and underserved communities how to design and install household water conservation systems covering greywater reuse, rainwater harvesting, and composting toilets through online courses, books, a community forum, and technical manuals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Education Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Education, Capacity Building & Community Engagement (BPADALAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) (BPAGABAC)

Keywords

• Greywater system education
• Rainwater harvesting training
• Composting toilet education
• Household water conservation
• Sustainable water infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: Sale of published books including Greywater, Green Landscape, The Water-Wise Home, Creating Rain Gardens, Dam Nation, and Urban Wilds through retail channels like Amazon and Storey Press
2. Online Courses: Revenue from online classes teaching residents and tradespeople about household water systems. Introductory classes are free, with paid courses for deeper learning
3. Donations: The organization accepts donations to support their educational mission and community empowerment work
4. Technical Design Manual: Development of technical resources like the San Francisco Graywater Design Manual for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Greywater Action is a collaborative of educators that teaches residents and tradespeople how to design and install affordable household water systems covering greywater reuse, rainwater harvesting, and composting toilets. It delivers this through free and paid online courses, published books and technical manuals, a community Q&A forum, and original research on residential greywater systems. Revenue is generated from book sales, online course fees, donations, and technical manual development contracts.

Product overview

Greywater Action is a collaborative of educators offering educational resources and services focused on sustainable household water systems. The organization's portfolio includes free and paid online courses teaching greywater system design, a community Q&A forum, a professional installer directory, and published books/manuals on water conservation. Key publications cover greywater irrigation, rainwater harvesting, rain gardens, and water-wise home practices, alongside a technical design manual developed for municipal use and a research study on residential greywater systems in California.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Average household saves 14,565 gallons per year
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• San Francisco Public Utilities CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreywater Action developed the San Francisco Graywater Design Manual for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Laura Allen served as lead author. This is a technical resource for homeowners and professionals installing greywater irrigation systems.
• Environmental Justice Coalition for WatercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership to facilitate greywater, rainwater harvesting, and ecological sanitation workshops in low-income communities and communities of color as part of water justice work.
• Occidental Arts and Ecology Center's WATER InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrock Dolman, Director of the WATER Institute, has provided blurbs for Greywater Action publications and works within the same sustainable water education ecosystem.
• Storey PresscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublisher of Greywater Action books including Greywater, Green Landscape and The Water-Wise Home by Laura Allen.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Pacific Institute: Oakland-based water research and policy nonprofit producing studies and reports on water use, comparable to Greywater Action's evidence-driven research approach but operating at a larger policy scale.
• Surfrider Foundation: National water-quality nonprofit with a large grassroots chapter network, beach and watershed programs, and education initiatives that overlap with Greywater Action's community-driven water education model.
• Water.org: Large international WASH nonprofit that combines education, financing, and partnerships to expand water access — a broader-scale counterpart to Greywater Action's water justice and education work.
• River Network: National nonprofit hub supporting local watershed groups through training and resources, comparable to Greywater Action's role as an educator and convener in the household water space.

Direct peers

• TreePeople: Los Angeles-based environmental nonprofit focused on urban watershed health, rainwater capture, and community education, with comparable curriculum and a similar nonprofit funding base to Greywater Action.
• Dig Deep (formerly Water for Humans): Water access and water justice nonprofit combining community education, technical installations, and policy work — closely aligned with Greywater Action's water justice programming in underserved communities.
• Watershed Management Group: Tucson-based nonprofit offering hands-on workshops, certifications, and community programs in rainwater harvesting and greywater, mirroring Greywater Action's education-plus-community model.
• Center for Watershed Protection: Nonprofit that produces technical research, manuals, and training on stormwater and watershed practices, comparable to Greywater Action's research-and-manual approach for residential water systems.
• Ecology Center: Berkeley-based nonprofit offering sustainability education, household water and waste resources, and community programming directly comparable to Greywater Action's residential sustainability curriculum.
• Oasis Design: Founded by Art Ludwig, Oasis Design is a long-running educational publisher focused on greywater reuse and rainwater harvesting, with books, design manuals, and consulting directly comparable to Greywater Action's curriculum.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Greywater Action