What is Greywater?
Greywater can be defined as any domestic wastewater produced,
excluding sewage. The main difference between greywater and sewage (or blackwater) is
the organic loading. Sewage has a much larger organic loading compared to greywater.
Some people also categorise kitchen wastewater as blackwater because it has quite a
high organic loading relative to other sources of wastewater such as bath water.
People are now waking up to the benefits of greywater re-use, and the term
"Wastewater" is in many respects a misnomer. Maybe a more appropriate term for this
water would be "Used Water".
What Can Greywater Be Used For?
With proper treatment greywater can be put to good use. These
uses include water for laundry and toilet flushing, and also irrigation of plants.
Treated greywater can be used to irrigate both food and non food producing plants.
The nutrients in the greywater (such as phosphorus and nitrogen) provide an excellent
food source for these plants.
What Are The Benefits of Greywater Re-use?
Re-using water does not diminish our quality of life, however
it can provide benefits on many levels.
Two major benefits of greywater use are:
- Reducing the need for fresh water. Saving on fresh water use can
significantly reduce household water bills, but also has a broader community
benefit in reducing demands on public water supply.
- Reducing the amount of wastewater entering sewers or on-site treatment
systems. Again, this can benefit the individual household, but also the broader
community.
How Is The Greywater Treated For Re-use?
There are many ways by which to treat greywater so that it can
be re-used. The various methods used must be safe from a health point of view and not
harmful to the environment.
Some examples of natural greywater treatment systems are presented below.
The systems shown above rely on plants and natural microorganisms to treat the
greywater to a very high standard so that it can be safely re-used. The main advantage
with these types of systems is that they treat the greywater naturally, and also
enhance the local environment because of the attractive plants used and the fauna
attracted to them.
There are other natural systems available to treat greywater. The type of system
selected will depend on the specific application, and selection would be considered
on a case by case basis.
What Can SET Do For You?
If you are unhappy with all that greywater going down the drain
and your expensive water bills, why not contact us. We can design and install a
greywater treatment and recovery system for you. We are able to provide treatment
systems which will allow you to reuse your water many times over whether it be for a
single home, a community of residences or a commercial business.
Our systems are SAFE and SIMPLE and rely on NATURAL means to treat the water.
NO chemicals are used or needed!
We can also advise on simple water conserving measures that you can use that will
also significantly reduce your consumption of water.
What About Treatment of Sewage?
We are also able to advise you on appropriate means of treatment
for sewage if you are not connected to a sewerage system. When direct composting of
sewage is neither possible or preferred, there are other options to allow for the
natural and safe treatment of this wastewater, whilst at the same time getting the
benefit of the water and nutrients in the wastewater.
Please contact us if you are unhappy with conventional systems that use chemicals
and need a lot of time, maintenance and energy to keep them operating. These systems
can also breakdown and may be noisy. There are natural safe alternatives that perform
reliably at next to no operating cost.
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