Greywater reuse inside buildings is a possible way to preserve water resources and face up to water scarcity. This study is focused on a technical-economic analysis of greywater treatment by a direct nanofiltration (NF) process or by a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) for on-site recycling. The aim of this paper is to analyse the cost of recycled water for two different configurations (50 and 500 inhabitants) in order to demonstrate the relevance of the implementation of membrane processes for greywater recycling, depending on the production capacity of the equipment and the price of drinking water. The first step was to define a method to access the description of the cost of producing recycled water. The direct costs were defined as a sum of fixed costs due to equipment, maintenance and depreciation, and variable costs generated by chemical products and electricity consumptions. They were estimated from an experimental approach and from data found in literature, enabling operating conditions for greywater recycling to be determined. The cost of treated water by a SMBR unit with a processing capacity of 500 persons is close to 4.40 euros m(-3), while the cost is 4.81 euros m(-3) with a NF process running in the same conditions. These costs are similar to the price of drinking water in some European countries.

The increasing demand for water and the decrease in global water resources require research into alternative solutions to preserve them. The present study deals with the optimization of a treatment process, i.e. an aerobic fluidized bed reactor and the modelling of the degradation that takes place within it. The methodology employed is based on the hydrodynamics of the treatment process linked to the biodegradation kinetics of greywater coming from a washing machine. The residence time distribution (RTD) approach is selected for the hydrodynamic study. Biodegradation kinetics are quantified by respirometry and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) analysis on several mass quantities of colonized particles. RTD determinations show that there are no dysfunctions in the fluidized bed. Its hydrodynamic behaviour is similar to the one of a continuous stirred-tank reactor. A first-order reaction is obtained from the DOC biodegradation study. A model describing the degradation that takes place into the reactor is proposed, and from a sensitive study, the influence of the operating conditions on DOC biodegradation is defined. The theoretical results calculated from the first-order equation C(t) = 0.593 x C(0) x e(-kt) are compared with the experimental results and validated by a Student test. The value of the kinetic constant k is 0.011 h(-1) in the presence of a biomass carrier. The results highlight that it is possible to design a reactor in order to obtain a carbon content lower than 15 mg C L(-1) when the characteristics of raw greywater are known.

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