Cross sectoral and scale-up impacts of greywater recycling technologies on catchment hydrological flows.

With the growth of urban areas and climate change, decisions need to be taken to improve water management. This paper reports an assessment of the impact of greywater recycling systems on catchment scale hydrological flows. A simulation model developed in InfoWorks CS (Wallingford Software Ltd) was used to evaluate how river flows, sewer flows, surface runoff and flooding events may be influenced when grey water recycling systems of different number and scale are implemented in a representative catchment. The simulations show the effectiveness of greywater recycling systems in reducing total wastewater volume and flood volume. However, no hydraulic impacts due to implementation of greywater was identified by the model.     

Alternative Water Resources for Rural Residential Development in Western Australia

Rainwater collected from residential roofs and greywater generated from domestic uses except toilets are viewed as possible substitutes for high grade water sources which supply nonpotable indoor uses and irrigation in Australia. This paper searches for alternatives by adopting roofwater and greywater in residential envelope as per Australian water standards. A water balance model Aquacycle was applied to determine storage capacities and to evaluate the percentage reduction in water supplying, stormwater run-off and wastewater disposal, as well as volume of rainwater use and greywater reuse. This study provides the results of greywater recycling, which contributes to the greater saving of mains water supply than rainwater use, and which reduces more than half of the wastewater to receiving waters in the rural township of Cranbrook, Western Australia. The results of this study provide greywater usage (maximum reduction 32.5%) more significantly reduces scheme water supply than rainwater harvesting (maximum reduction 25.1%). Use of greywater on individual residential lots has the dramatic effect for drainage system by reduction approximately 54.1% or 88.1 m³/lot/year. The results of rainwater use analysis show explicitly that rainwater tanks are much more effective in intercepting roof runoff, with the maximum stormwater reduction 48.1% or 68.3 m³/lot/year. This research endeavours to offer a typical paradigm for an integrated water system in the rural residential sectors.     

Cost effectiveness of centralised and decentralised storm water treatment

As part of a research & development project commissioned by the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia's Ministry for the Environment and Nature Conservation, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (MUNLV) an examination is being carried out of the general possibilities for centralised and decentralised treatment storm water runoff to be discharged into (canalised) receiving waters and the costs ensuing from this. The examination of the different options is being carried out under real conditions, with the Briller Creek (Wuppertal/Germany) and Müggen Creek (Remscheid/Germany) catchment areas being used as models. The range of investigations deals with a comparison between 'decentralised, semicentralised, centralised' storm water treatment, centralised storm water treatment involving a separate sewer and parameter-specific pollution based storm water runoff control. In the framework of the research project each of the variants is to be elaborated and the costs are to be calculated so as to permit a comparison between the different system designs. In particular, the investigations are to take into account the actual requirements to be met by storm water drainage systems involving separate sewage systems.     

Strategien und Potenziale zur Energieoptimierung bei der Wasserwiederverwendung

The energy and materials derived from treating sewage are becoming increasingly important worldwide and are thus progressively considered resources rather than a disposal problem. This is also apparent in the growing interest in recycling water from municipal wastewater for both non-potable and potable purposes, supplementing the drinking water supply in the latter case. However, the energy consumption of about 0.9–1.8 kWh/m³, required to recycle drinking water, is not insignificant. Due to the lack of national as well as international standardized regulatory specifications for recycled water quality, very different technical solutions for potable water reuse have been deployed worldwide. Therefore, energy-saving measures often can only be applied to internal operational optimizations and the achievable savings are rather limited. Strategies for integrated energy recovery, the increased use of anaerobic biological processes and combined heat and power (CHP) for water recycling are hence very promising. These provide opportunities for internal power provision and therefore options to reduce the specific energy requirements for potable water reuse to well below 1 kWh/m³, despite the necessary treatment processes. However, the greatest potential for energy-efficient water recycling is at the regional planning level. Recycling water is only attractive where local freshwater resources are insufficient or there is a dependency on imported water, and it is the significantly more cost-effective option than the treatment of brackish or sea water.     

Implementation of sustainable sanitation in existing urban areas: long-term strategies for an optimised solution.

If technologies for decentralised sanitation and reuse (DESAR) and for natural stormwater management should at least partially replace existing systems, then intensive reconstruction work becomes essential. A conversion can only be realised successively over a long period due to high construction and financial expenses and requires new strategies. This paper presents the development and practical implementation of a mathematical tool to find an optimised strategy for the realisation of alternative and more decentralised drainage and sanitation concepts in existing urban areas. The succession of construction measures (e.g. the implementation of decentralised greywater recycling) for the whole period of consideration is determined based upon a mathematical optimisation model on the condition that the favoured future state is known. The model describes the complex interdependencies of the urban water and nutrient cycle and enables the minimisation of both financial efforts and ecological impacts on the way toward the future state. The results of the implementation for a rural area in Germany show that the mathematical optimisation is an adequate instrument to support decision-making processes in finding strategies for the realisation of sustainable urban water management.     

Adapting to Less Water: Household Willingness to Pay for Decentralised Water Systems in Urban Australia

In South East Queensland (SEQ), extended periods of drought and unprecedented population growth have resulted in a water strategy reliant on permanent water conservation measures. As a result, there has been increasing emphasis on the installation of decentralised water systems at the household level, in particular, rainwater tanks and greywater systems to ease the water shortage stress. Results from a survey of 590 households in SEQ reveal that willingness to pay (WTP) for rainwater tanks and greywater systems range from $800 to $7,400 and from $1,700 to $14,100, respectively. When compared to the actual market price, WTP is substantially lower and subsidies will be required to encourage adoption. Nonetheless, a subsidy of $500 can lead to 100 % uptake of greywater diversion devices. Hence, the policy implication is that not all devices are preferred and subsidising greywater diversion devices would lead to the highest level of uptake with the least amount of subsidy spending.     

Rainwater and greywater harvesting for urban food security in La Soukra,Tunisia

This paper presents the findings of an integrated household water treatment and reuse system for agriculture in La Soukra, Tunisia. The researchers found that the system has an internal rate of return of 17% and a net present value range from USD 26,000 (at a 5% discount rate) to USD 11,000 (for a 10% discount rate). Benefits included more water for irrigation, reduced costs to service providers, increased agricultural production from greenhouses and expanded agricultural options. These results suggest that investments in rainwater harvesting and greywater treatment at the farm level can increase the financial feasibility of peri-urban farms, which are often faced with pressure from urban growth. The systems can also help build household resilience to broader environmental change by lowering the exposure of farmers to burdens associated with infrequent access to water and poor-quality soil.     

旧半刚性基层材料性能的试验研究

分析旧半刚性基层材料性能对于再生利用具有一定的指导作用。选取4个不同工程施工现场提取的旧半刚性基层材料对其原材料各项性能及其水稳再生后的强度进行系统的试验分析,并与天然碎石和规范标准进行比较,评价其再生可能性及适用性。结果表明:旧半刚性基层材料经铣刨后,集料表面有砂浆裹附且产生了新的断面,这有助于再生材料强度的增强。集料级配满足传统悬浮密实型级配范围的要求。集料中残留的活性已基本丧失,再生骨料仍具有一定强度,集料吸水性较好。旧半钢性基层材料水稳再生后的强度满足规范中各等级公路底基层的强度要求。     

Using molecular tools to assess biofilms in onsite systems.

Onsite sewage treatment is growing in diversity, and in regulatory control across Australia. This is occurring for both blackwater and greywater treatment, as the drought impact deepens and more of the community are exposed to options for 'managing' their own water. Regulators in each State are drafting and implementing Guidelines to cover a range of on-site system scenarios. In addition, more and more decentralised options are being tendered for sewage management in the commercial world. In this project we aim to use novel molecular tools, in combination with traditional physical/chemical/biological methods, to understand onsite treatment in a more detailed manner. The system tested is a new peat based biofilter which can be used for greywater or blackwater application, and can be retrofitted to current sewage systems. This project has been based on the AquaReuse greywater system for demonstration purposes, showing the strength of the information gained from the use of novel tools. The two systems investigated are installed at a caravan park in New South Wales (NSW) and a domestic residence in Tamborine, Queensland (OLD). A 20-week intensive sampling and analysis program was followed. The project monitored standard analytes such as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), suspended solids (SS) and thermotolerant coliforms (TC). Additionally, we studied the biological community using fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) on a monthly basis and full-cycle ribosomal RNA analysis (rRNA) for one sample to assess the biological community inhabitants. rRNA analysis at the NSW facility demonstrated a highly diverse biological community, in keeping with its long established operating period. In contrast, FISH analysis at the OLD installation showed a less diverse and younger community. rRNA and FISH identified organisms that are mostly associated with nutrient removing functions.     

A Decision Support Methodology for Integrated Urban Water Management in Remote Settlements

This paper describes a decision support methodology for the selection of a wastewater treatment system based on integrated urban water management principles for a remote settlement with failing septic systems. Thirty-two service and treatment technologies options were considered, these included: (i) conventional gravity sewerage, (ii) common effluent drainage, (iii) community sewage treatment plant based on various technology options (lagoon treatment, Living Machine®, sequencing batch reactor, membrane biological reactor, rotating biological contactor, recirculating textile filter, extended aeration) with and without urine separation, greywater diversion or treatment and reuse at household scale. The options were assessed using a framework that considered technical, economic, environmental and social factors relevant to the local community and associated stakeholders (water utility, government agencies) and tools such as engineering design, life cycle assessment and multi-criteria analysis for evaluation of overall sustainability. Adoption of a systems approach allowed the identification of benefits and trade-offs among stakeholders creating opportunities for adoption of more innovative treatment options and maximisation of the sustainability of the service. The treatment option that maximised the social, environmental and economic benefits for the settlement consisted of individual households adopting greywater treatment, storage and reuse, urine separation and a community wastewater treatment plant with recirculating textile filter technology. This solution provided the required sanitation, increased the sources of water supply to residents, satisfied environmental regulator requirements, minimised nitrogen discharge to waterways and provided an option for beneficial reuse of urine for neighbouring farmers at a cost and management needs acceptable to the water utility.     

Combined membrane bioreactor (MBR) and reverse osmosis (RO) system for thin-film transistor-liquid crystal display TFT-LCD, industrial wastewater recycling.

In TFT-LCD industry, water plays a variety of roles as a cleaning agent and reaction solvent. As good quality water is increasingly a scarce resource and wastewater treatment costs rises, the once-through use of industrial water is becoming uneconomical and environmentally unacceptable. Instead, recycling of TFT-LCD industrial wastewater is become more attractive from both an economic and environmental perspective. This research is mainly to explore the capacity of TFT-LCD industrial wastewater recycling by the process combined with membrane bioreactor and reverse osmosis processes. Over the whole experimental period, the MBR process achieved a satisfactory organic removal. The COD could be removed with an average of over 97.3%. For TOC and BOD5 items, the average removal efficiencies were 97.8 and 99.4% respectively. The stable effluent quality and satisfactory removal performance were ensured by the efficient interception performance of the UF membrane device incorporated with biological reactor. Moreover, the MBR effluent did not contain any suspended solids and the SDI value was under 3. After treatment of RO, excellent water quality of permeate were under 5 mg/l, 2.5 mg/l and 150 micros/cm for COD, TOC and conductivity respectively. The treated water can be recycled for the cooling tower make-up water or other purposes.     

Integrated systems analysis of persistent polar pollutants in the water cycle.

Persistent polar pollutants (P3) are difficult to degrade in standard waste water treatment plants. As a result, they end up in the effluent and are emitted to the surface water. In some areas, this problem is aggravated through "closed loop recycling", causing concentrations of P3 in surface water to build up over time. This could cause violation of (future) EU regulations. In the P-THREE project, various alternative waste water treatment techniques are investigated regarding their effectiveness in eliminating these substances, especially membrane bioreactor treatment and advanced oxidation processes, MBR and AOP. The integrated systems analysis which is the subject of this paper assesses these techniques in a broader systems context: (1) the life-cycle of the P3, (2) the life cycle of the WWTPs, and (3) the WWTP life cycle costs.     

Sustainable sanitation and water in small urban centres.

The objective of this paper is to review the global trends in urbanization with respect to availability of adequate sanitation and water supply services. Urbanization is unrelenting and rapid increase in the urban population in the less developed countries is of major global concern regarding this topic of sustainable sanitation and water. Most global urban growth is in the smaller cities and in the developing world. Half the urban developing world lacks adequate water and sanitation. Global urban access to waterborne sanitation is not affordable and thus is not a realistic option so alternative approaches are necessary. The treatment of drinking water cannot be a substitute for sanitation. In order to achieve sustainable sanitation, a change in attitude about human excreta and use of water is required. Essential features of a sustainable sanitation system are: containment, sanitisation and recycling. To improve water supply, we need to improve management practices, use full-cost pricing, introduce watershed approaches to protection and provide improved sanitation. Small urban initiatives need to go beyond the traditional sectors and new initiatives are required like on-site urban ecostations, source-separation of urine and faeces, decentralised greywater treatment and integration of sanitation into the cost of housing.     

公共建筑与住宅建筑非传统水源利用技术分析

对在公共建筑与住宅建筑中利用非传统水源的技术进行了比较和分析,着重研究了雨水、中水和海水利用技术,指出了各项技术的优缺点和适用条件。结果表明,采用雨水利用技术时,可以因地制宜采用与直接利用、渗透、调节等功能相关的技术组合;采用中水回用技术时,可采用有发展前景的膜生物反应器技术,也可采用生物接触氧化或混凝沉淀等技术;采用海水利用技术时,可根据各种技术特点选用多级闪蒸、低温多效、反渗透等技术,另外,用清洁能源淡化海水是海水淡化技术的发展方向。实践中选用非传统水源利用技术时,应综合各种因素,进行全面比较。     

Assessment of the reliability of an on-site MBR system for greywater treatment and the associated aesthetic and health risks.

This study analyses the reliability of an on-site MBR system for greywater treatment and reuse. To achieve this goal simulation was performed based on the IWA ASM1 model which was adapted to describe biological and physical mechanisms for MBR greywater treatment based systems. Model results were found to agree well with experimental data from an on site pilot greywater treatment plant, after which the calibrated model was used in a Monte Carlo mode for generating statistical data on the MBR system performance under different scenarios of failures and inflow loads variations. Effluents quality and their associated risks were successfully estimated.     

水电蓄能运行在促进和发展循环经济中的作用

当前我国水电开发速度很快，较好的电源站点在20年内将开发殆尽，会影响水资源的持续开发。因此水利水电要与其他资源一道和谐相处、共谋发展。水利水电的蓄能运行是在电网中利用非峰荷剩余电能抽水蓄能，以供峰荷时再次发电或供水灌溉，形成水资源、能源和其他资源的相互转换、相互支持、以丰补歉、循环再生利用，必将在促进和发展循环经济中发挥很大作用。     

Microbiological water quality in a large in-building, water recycling facility.

The Thames Water recycling plant at the Millennium Dome, London, reclaimed three sources of water: greywater from the washbasins, rainwater from the Dome roof and groundwater from a borehole on site. These were pre-treated separately, and the mixed stream filtered using ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. Monitoring for indicator microorganisms was undertaken throughout the plant and in the reclaimed water distribution system, as well as ad-hoc monitoring for the presence of pathogens in the raw waters. Treatment to the level of ultrafiltration was more than adequate to produce a water quality meeting existing worldwide reclaimed water guidelines for toilet flushing. Owing to the excellent quality of the water leaving the plant, no significant microbiological growth was observed in the reclaimed water distribution system during the year. The raw greywater exhibited a higher faecal bacterial load than the rainwater and groundwater, as predicted from more human contact (i.e. hand washing). Environmental strains of Legionella were observed in the three raw greywater samples analysed for pathogens, as was Cryptosporidium, Giardia and faecal enterococci. The rainwater had relatively high levels of faecal bacteria, probably of avian origin. Giardia was detected in one rainwater sample confirming the potential for this water source to contain pathogens.     

An integrated approach for improving the wastewater discharge and treatment systems

Since treatment plants have been built all over Germany during the last decades, the water quality of receiving streams has been improved remarkably. But there are still a lot of quality problems left, which are caused e.g. by combined sewer overflows (CSO), treatment plant effluents or rainwater discharges from separate sewer systems. At present different efforts are undertaken to control sewer systems in order to improve the operation of urban drainage systems or more generally, design processes. The Emschergenossenschaft and Lippeverband (EG/LV) are carrying out research studies, which are focusing on a minimization of total emissions from sewer systems both from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and from CSO. They consider dynamic interactions between rainfall, resultant wastewater, combined sewers, WWTP and receiving streams. Therefore, in an advanced wastewater treatment, a model-based improvement of WWTP operation becomes more and more essential, and consequently a highly qualified operational staff is needed. Some aspects of the current research studies are presented in this report. The need and the use of an integrated approach to combine existing model components in order to optimize dynamic management of combined sewer systems (CSS) with a benefit for nature are outlined.     

Greywater Reuse in Urban Agriculture for Poverty Alleviation

Abstract

Although Jordan has a human development index higher than most developing countries, about seven percent of its population earns less than the international poverty line of one dollar (US$) a day. Furthermore, because of its scarce water resources and rapidly growing population, the poor, who are increasingly moving to cities, face growing food and water insecurity. This paper describes a pilot project that allowed the poor in Tufileh, Jordan, to reuse untreated household greywater in home gardens. The women of the community used small revolving loans to implement simple greywater recovery systems and set-up gardens. The project allowed the community to offset food purchases and generate income by selling surplus production, saving or earning an average of 10 percent of its income. Had the households used municipal sources for this supplemental irrigation, on average, they would have used 15 percent more water and had 27 percent higher water bills. Moreover, the project helped community members gain valuable gardening, irrigation, and food preservation skills. Women on the project report feeling more independent and proud because of the income they generated, the skills that they gained, and their enhanced ability to feed their families. An environmental impact assessment demonstrated that the quality of the untreated greywater was adequate, and the negative impacts on soil and crops were negligible. Nevertheless, this could change if greater volumes of greywater are reused. A follow-up project will increase greywater recovery, pilot simple treatment devices, and improve gardening practices and production.