Determination of volume of wastewater generated in a university campus

Abstract

The development of wastewater reuse schemes has been greatly slowed down by the lack of adequate wastewater generation data. Most data sources on wastewater generation provided by international organizations are mere estimates ofa nation’swastewater generation pattern and can only go a long way in explaining the wastewater situation of that nation. Intensive wastewater reuse schemes for futuristic purposes would require collection and storage of wastewater data for effective planning. This study identifies and closes that gap in a University campus where there is a high demand of water for daily use. Flowrates of wastewater being discharged into the environment was determined over a period of time using a standard weir and a level measuring tool. From this, the volume of wastewater generated was calculated. The results show that about 1,529,288 liters of wastewater was generated daily in the University campus. From this value, the water consumption rate of the university community was estimated to be 1,911,610 liters of water daily. From these findings, the wastewater generated within the Covenant University campus could be sufficient for agricultural, urban and other municipal reuse schemes. The environmental, economic and public health benefits from wastewater recycling are enormous and thus more attention must be given to its generation, treatment, disposal and reuse.