Greywater Recycle and Reuse as Service Water.

Greywater recycling is an opportunity of a lifetime to hasten a Circular Water Economy and help mitigate the global water crisis

COMING SOON

Overview

Projections suggest that by 2050, global demand for water will increase by 20 to 30 percent (WWAP 2019) unless consumption patterns shift dramatically. By then, more than half the world’s population will be at risk of water stress. Intense water scarcity could displace as many as 700 million people by 2030 (HLPW 2018)

According to a recent study by NITI Aayog, over 600 million Indians face acute water shortages. In 2019, only 3.29 crore out of 19 crore rural households had access to tap water, and women walked long distances to get water. Access to sufficient clean drinking water is still a significant issue in many parts of the country, and adoption of effective solutions at scale has not happened due to multiple factors (especially in rural areas). The situation has improved dramatically since 2019 due to the governments work in ‘mission mode’ on access to drinking water for all. But a lot still needs to be done.

There is no single fixed optimal solution for all greywater treatment scenarios as the solution is influenced by composition of influent greywater, intended use, volume of greywater to be recycled per day and existing plumbing system. The only constant is that we use only nature-based filters to recycle greywater thereby contributing to a sustainable world.

There is no magic-wand to tide over the global water crisis. But one widely researched albeit highly under-utilised solution is Recycling greywater and using it as service water. Reusing greywater will relieve stress on existing water resources by at least 25 to 30% and defer high value capital investments in new water resources thereby awarding huge savings. Also, more freshwater will then be freed up for use as drinking water.

Greywater recycling is a 3-step process (1) Greywater Collection (2) pre-filtration (3) filtration through layers of filters. After the recycled greywater passes minimum standards for discharge & reuse (BOD/COD/TDS and other parameters), it can be used for non-potable purposes like gardening, toilet flush, recharging ground water, irrigation, construction, cooling water in coolers, dust control, processing water in industries etc.

Status	Ongoing
Estimated end date	December 2030
Geographic coverage	India and other water stressed regions
Focus area	Circular water economy; greywater recycle and reuse
United Nations SDG’s Impacted
Related Ministry	Ministry of drinking water & sanitation Jal Jeevan Mission Sujalam 2.0, Swachh Bharat Mission Ministry of Education Ministry of Environment Forests & Climate Change Ministry of Urban affairs

Objectives

Rising populations, growing economies, and shifting consumption patterns have intensified the demand for water resources at a time when 36 percent of the world’s population lives in water- scarce regions. More than 2000 million people live in highly water stressed countries. Water stress will continue to intensify as demand for water grows.

India is highly water stressed, but more than 95% of the 60 billion litres of greywater it generates every day, is mixed with sewage & discharged into waterbodies or in open, untreated, causing ground water contamination with serious health and environmental consequences.

Our IKIGAI: Design and build low cost, sustainable, effective, efficient and scalable Greywater recycling solutions using natural filters for public places and public institutes. The solution would depend on composition of greywater, volume generated and intended use among other factors. We also run awareness drives, capacity building sessions to improve water literacy among masses through our unique water curriculum.

Highlights

Composition of greywater varies as per variation in quality of supplied freshwater, type of water distribution system (continuous vs intermittent supply), geographical location (rural or urban), source, time of year, living standards, income and user habits, level of occupancy and occupancy rate of building, guests and events etc.
Design (vertical or horizontal, single or multi chamber), size of each filtration layer depends on capacity of treatment system (flow rate), hydraulic retention time, detention period, amount of COD, BOD, TSS, turbidity, pH, and other parameters in influent greywater.
More greywater we treat and reuse, more fresh water/ground water is available for drinking purposes
Encourages reuse; contributing to sustainability and circular economy
More conscientious water use; Less water sent to sewage
Natural filters used hence environmentally friendly
Monitoring their growth for 3 years post-plantation
Economical and efficient system, lower water and electricity bills; delayed capital investment
Ground water recharge with recycled greywater enhances soil quality savesoil, better crops

Impact

Improved water resource management - Increased availability of clean drinking water for millions of people, aquatic ecology and eco systems are restored and improved
Water Quality - Improved ground water table, better water quality. Public health improves, better quality of life.
Water Human development - Triple dividend of Positive economic, social and environmental impact (Win-Win for all). Due to reduced bills, funds available for use in other areas; deferred capital investment in water infrastructure
Water-food – Improved irrigation efficiency leads to better soil thereby giving higher crop productivity
Water economy - Water availability to all contributes to growth of country’s GDP

Project

Govt. school, Sector B1, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi

Greywater recycling capacity of 2000 ltr/day, thereby saving 5 lakh litres of freshwater every year

Govt. School, Pushp Vihar sector 1, New Delhi

Greywater recycling capacity of 1500 ltr/day, thereby saving 3.75 lakh litres of freshwater every year