Public attitude towards graywater reuse: Gaza Strip as a case study

Abstract

The use of graywater in households has become increasing popular. Socio-economic aspects of graywater vary from one place to another and they need to be investigated in order to predict whether graywater use can be accepted by people. The aim of this study is to investigate the social response in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, toward the reuse of graywater in households. Results of 511 surveys among residents of the Gaza Strip revealed that about 84% of the interviewed people accepted the idea of using graywater. Knowing that installing a graywater system would cost about USD500.00 per family, people reversed their acceptance of 84% and the rejection rate reached about 90%. The situation returned back to the 84% acceptance rate when it was known that the cost paid by the resident would only be USD50.00, with the rest of the cost to be contributed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The study also revealed that water outage seemed to be the most compelling reason behind the feeling of having a water problem, which is encouraging for the future of graywater use because graywater can be a good alternative during times of water outage.