Characterization of greywater by appliance: pattern of discharge along the day

Abstract

To improve water resources sustainability it is imperative to consider different approaches of water management, such as water reuse strategies. Greywater decentralised reuse seems to be more advantageous than total wastewater reuse, since it is less polluted and so, it is easier and cheaper to treat. To guarantee the success of a greywater reuse strategy it is necessary to know in detail the available flow by appliance and its variation along the day, as well as its quality. The diurnal variation of activity for each major appliance is studied in this paper, as well as, the typical medium volume associated to each discharge, in order to derive volume distribution graphs per domestic device. Additionally, a range of quality parameters were determined in order to reach pollutographs per appliance. This will give important information to the greywater reuse management.