Greywater System For Solving Water Woes In Apartment

Apartment owners and its residents need to be aware of managing water and techniques to bring down consumption of water. The proper way to manage water and solve water woes in apartment are reducing water consumption, recycling water and reuse recycled water. Greywater system is one of the solutions for water woes of an apartment. Recycled Greywater can be used to clean floors, toilet flushing and watering garden.

What is Greywater?

An apartment owner or resident of apartment need to know what is Greywater, advantage of recycled Greywater and methods of recycling Greywater. Greywater is wastewater from non-toilet plumbing systems such as hand basins, washing machines, showers and baths. Greywater composes 50–80% of residential wastewater generated from all of the house’s sanitation equipment (excepting toilets). By capturing Greywater and using it in an appropriate manner as an alternative to your water supply, you can reduce your water consumption.

Difference between Greywater and toilet water

Greywater is wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing. Greywater differs from water from the toilets which is designated sewage or blackwater to indicate it contains human waste. Black-water or water from the toilets is the wastewater that comes from the toilet (after you use it) or from highly concentrated chemicals.

In most cases, blackwater cannot be treated and reused in the home without a dedicated blackwater recycling system or Sewage Treatment Plant. Greywater typically breaks down faster than blackwater and has lower levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. Most Greywater is easier to treat and recycle than blackwater, because of lower levels of contaminants. By capturing Greywater and using it in an appropriate manner as an alternative to your water supply, you can reduce your water consumption. Your water account will reflect this reduction in water use and there will also be positive environmental outcomes.

Installing Greywater System

Waste water generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dish-washing, and bathing collected in a tank. For individual homes, you can use any kind of water tank to store Greywater in-ground, bladder or poly tanks are all fine. However, bear in mind that you’ll need two tanks – one to store the incoming grey water and one for the treated water. Try to use Greywater the day it is collected or the high bacteria count will cause objectionable odors. It’s illegal to store Greywater for more than 24 hours, so if you want to store it for use in the home, it has to be treated. For apartment complex, you can either adopt Greywater system for each individual flat or collecting Greywater from all apartments to one tank and treating Greywater by aeration or freshening, filtration and ‘polishing’ to get it to Class A standard, which is required for indoor home usage.

Investing time and equipment in a system designed to filter, store, and possibly disinfect Greywater may make water reuse a more convenient practice. The type of filter required for a Greywater system depends largely upon the amount of Greywater to be filtered and the type of contaminants present. A slow sand filter will treat approximately 0.05 to 0.13 gallons per minute per square foot of surface area. Multi-media filters are filled with a variety of media in order of increasing size, for example, fine sand, coarse sand, gravel, stone, and wood chips, to a total depth of 2 1/2 to 3 feet. Before buying a filter, determine whether it is a gravity filter (for low volumes) or a pressure filter (for flow rates greater than 20 gallons per minute).

Chlorine and iodine are two chemicals used to disinfect water. Several devices are available commercially that dispense appropriate amounts of iodine or chlorine (in solid or liquid form) to a water system. In a settling tank, solids and large particles will settle to the bottom, while grease, oils, and small particles will float. The remaining liquid will be reused. A settling tank also allows hot water to cool before reuse.

A screen of 10 mm opening is provided at the inlet of the tank to remove the large suspended particles / debris from the waste stream. The Greywater is then pumped to the aeration tank by using a submersible pump having cutter mechanism. In the aeration tank, chlorine is added to ensure chemical treatment of the waste water. Aeration of the waste stream not only ensures aerobic conditions, but continuous mixing of the effluent. The aerated effluent is filtered using a Multigrade Pressure Filter to remove finer suspended solids prior to reuse. Chlorination is added in the final collection tank too for final polishing.

If you know the procedure involved in Greywater system or recycling water, it is easy to install a Greywater system for individual homes as well as commercial complexes. Greywater recycling system includes process of collecting Greywater, removing the large suspended particles / debris, aeration or freshening, filtration and ‘polishing’ to get it to Class A standard, which is required for indoor home usage. Treatment process can include filtering, settlement of solids, flotation and separation of lighter solids, anaerobic or aerobic digestion and chemical or UV disinfection.

Communal greywater systems are generally more cost effective than those installed in single properties. Greywater systems have the potential to save a third of domestic mains water usage. The method and standard of treatment in a greywater system will vary with the size of the system. Pipes and supply points on the greywater system must be clearly labelled in order to avoid confusion with the mains drinking water.In order to collect and distribute the greywater, a separate internal waste water drainage system must be fitted.  The water is stored in a tank from where a distribution system takes it, by a pump or gravity, to the toilets.

Studies have suggested a significant portion of water is actually consumed by non-residents such as maids for washing utensils and cleaning apartments, drivers and car wash persons for washing cars, gardeners for watering plants and housekeeping staff for cleaning common areas. A lot of these persons are simply unaware of basic water conservation practices. Greywater systems can help you save 35% to 40% on your annual water bill, and while saving money, you will also help save the environment and provide a better future for your children and future generation. The recycled water, which we will refer to as grey water, is strictly used for your toilet or for irrigation, and cannot get in your drinking-water system.