A monitoring of environmental effects from household greywater reuse for garden irrigation

Abstract

The option of reusing greywater is proving to be increasingly attractive to address the water shortage issue in many arid and semiarid countries. Greywater represents a constant resource, since an approximately constant amount of greywater is generated from kitchen, laundries, bathroom in every household daily, independent of the weather. However, the use of greywater for irrigation in particular for household gardening may pose major hazards that have not been studied thoroughly. In this study, a 1-year monitoring was conducted in four selected households in Perth, Western Australia. The aim of the monitoring works is to investigate the variability in the greywater flow and quality, and to understand its impact in the surrounding environments. Case studies were selected based on different family structure including number, ages of the occupants, and greywater system they used. Samples of greywater effluent (showers, laundries, bathtub, and sinks), leachate, soil, and plants at each case study were collected between October 2008 and December 2009 which covered the high (spring/summer) and low (autumn/winter) production of greywater. Physical and chemical tests were based on the literature and expected components of laundry and bathroom greywater particularly on greywater components likely to have detrimental impacts on soils, plants, and other water bodies. Monitoring results showed the greywater quality values for BOD, TSS, and pH which sometimes fell outside the range as stipulated in the guidelines. The soil analyses results showed that salinity, SAR, and the organic content of the soil increased as a function of time and affected the plant growth. Nutrient leaching or losses from soil irrigated with greywater shows the movement of nutrients and the sole impact from greywater in uncontrolled plots in case studies is difficult to predicted due to the influence of land dynamics and activities. Investigative and research monitoring was used to understand greywater irrigation in households. Greywater quality is very site specific and difficult to predetermine or control except for the use of some recommended household products when using greywater. Investigative and research monitoring was indicated that greywater quality is very site specific and difficult to predetermine or control except for the use of some recommended household products when using greywater.

Multi‐component Filters for Domestic Graywater Treatment in Village Houses

“…Therefore, the graywater treated by the filtration system was acceptable for discharge upstream of the drain. In comparison with different natural filtration systems for graywater, Mohamed et al (2013b) studied the efficiency of a natural filtration system consisting of a gravel‐sand pretreatment layer followed by a natural peat layer as the primary filter medium to treat kitchen wastewater by percolation. The study found that the quality of the treated wastewater complied with the limits of Standard B of the Malaysian EQA.…”

“…Indeed, the name Parit Raja means “king of drains,” so named because this site contains many drains. The untreated graywater may create an ideal environment especially for pathogenic bacteria to proliferate and provide a breeding environment for insects (Mohamed et al 2013a, 2013b).…”

“…The increasing development in countries with high populations is associated with several impacts on the environment resulting from human waste. A common impact that has adverse effects on the environment is graywater, which is defined as any wastewater (other than black water) generated from domestic activities such as washing dishes, washing, and bathing (Al‐Gheethi et al 2015, Mohamed et al 2013 a, Al‐Mashaqbeh et al 2012, Anda et al 2010, Schäfer et al 2006, WHO 2006). Graywater represents the greatest potential source of domestic water storage in dwellings, accounting for as much as 50‐80% of total water use.…”

Impacts on soil quality from long-term irrigation with treated greywater

“…Al-Hamaiedeh and Bino (2010) indicated that salinity, sodium adsorption ratio and organic content of soil increased as a function of duration of greywater usage at the Al-Amer villages in Jordan. An Australian study showed that salinity, SAR, and the organic content of the soil increased as a function of time and affected the plant growth (Mohamed et al 2013).…”

Assessment of Grey Water Disposal and Different Treatment Options for Domiz Camp in Duhok City

“…The reported values of sodium were significantly higher than the control samples and this is owing to the use of cleaning products by the refuges inside the camp which contains high level of sodium (Mohamed et al, 2013;Revitt et al, 2011). Furthermore, Gross et al, (2005);Travis, et al, (2010) have reported that high level of sodium will cause soil hydrophobicity and impact the soil structure negatively as well as impact the capacity of the soil to support plant growth.…”