Sustainable wastewater management for underdeveloped communities - a hands-on method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of greywater

Abstract

The quantity of greywater produced in urban areas of Dhaka city in Bangladesh is around 96-112 litres per capita per day which is 60%-70% of the average water supplied. This huge amount of greywater could be recycled via a separate distribution system to meet water demand for greywater toilet systems, gardening and irrigation. The quality parameters of collected greywater samples ranged for pH between 6.67 to 7.92, conductivity between 548 to 999 μS-cm−1, turbidity between 54 to 435 NTU, colour between 28 to 367 (Pt-Co Unit), BOD5 between 60 to 299 mg-L−1 and COD between 135 to 751 mg-L−1. It is estimated that an annual savings of 59 million Taka (about 728,300 USD based on $1 = 81 Taka as of 4/13/2017) could be achieved in a chemical and purification process if greywater is recycled for this community. This practice of recycling greywater is a step toward sustainable wastewater management for underdeveloped communities struggling with capital and dwindling freshwater sources.