Reasons of Acceptance and Barriers of House Onsite Greywater Treatment and Reuse in Palestinian Rural Areas

Abstract

In the last twenty years, house onsite wastewater management systems have been increasing in the West Bank’s rural areas. The aim of this research was to reveal, in the context of providing onsite Grey Water Treatment Plants (GWTPs) for wastewater management in the rural communities in Palestine, the local population’s perceptions, in the sense of acceptance of and barriers towards such a type of wastewater management, so as to figure out successes, failures and lessons. The data collection tool was a questionnaire that targeted the households served with GWTPs. The findings show that 13% of the total constructed treatment plants were not operative. The most important barrier as mentioned by 66.5% is odor emission and insect infestation. Then, 25.1% of the implementing agencies never monitor or check the treatment plants, and 59.3% of them monitor and check the plants only during the first 2–3 months. The next barrier is inadequate beneficiary experience in operation and maintenance. Health concerns regarding quality of crops irrigated by treated grey water were another barrier. The results revealed that the reuse of treated grey water in irrigation was the main incentive for GWTPs as stated by 88.0% of beneficiaries. The second incentive was the saving of cesspit discharge frequency and its financial consequences, as stated by 71.3%. Finally, 72.5% of the beneficiaries stated that they had a water shortage before implementing GWTPs, and the GWTPs contributed to solving it. The highest percentage (82.6%) of beneficiaries accepted the treatment units because of their willingness to reuse treated water for irrigation and agricultural purposes. Education level has an impact on GWTP acceptance, with 73% of not educated beneficiaries being satisfied and 58.8% of educated people being satisfied. Islamic religion is considered a driver for accepting reuse of treated grey water in irrigation, according to the majority of people (70%). Women play a major role on GWTP management; 68.9% of the treatment systems are run by men side-by-side with women (fathers and mothers), and 24% are run completely by women. The majority of GWTP beneficiaries (70.4%) are satisfied with GWTPs. Little effort is required for operation and maintenance, with only an average of 0.4 working hours per week. Therefore, house onsite grey water management systems are acceptable in rural communities, but attention should be given to the reasons of acceptance and barriers highlighted in this research.

Cesspits as Onsite Sanitation Facilities in the Non-Sewered Palestinian Rural Areas: Users’ Satisfaction, Needs and Perception

“…The negative perceptions of onsite GWTPs in Palestine were due to the need to separate the house internal black and gray water (GW) conveying pipes; refusal to use the reclaimed GW in garden irrigation; non-availability of external funding; and unaffordable construction costs [24]. Problems related to cesspits are significant from the point of view of health, environment, as well as the social and economic aspects.…”

Graywater Reuse: The Effects on Income and Agricultural Production Sustainability of Family Farming Systems in the Semiarid Region of Ceará, Brazil

“…Some authors reported opposite data on the effect of gray water on yields from some crops: negative effect on the growth / yield and alteration on the chlorophyll content and total crude protein of beans (IKHAJIAGBE et al 2020), presence of toxic elements which can affect a person's health (PINTO and MAHESHWARI,2015), odor emission and insect infestation (THAHER et al, 2020).…”

Light or Dark Greywater for Water Reuse? Economic Assessment of On-Site Greywater Treatment Systems in Rural Areas

“…Thus, they propose that the reuse of greywater should be oriented to 'light' greywater, since the costs of treatment and technological complexity would be lower. However, most of the research has been focused on the performance of treatment systems and their technical characteristics (i.e., [5,[16][17][18][19][20]), while economic aspects that are critical for long-term sustainability have been approached considering particular case studies in different countries of the world [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Furthermore, there are no experiments that have addressed the economic viability of 'light greywater' treatment systems, compared to 'dark greywater' treatment systems.…”