Abstract
A year-long study was conducted to assess the quantity and quality characteristics of greywater generated from different sources of an Indian household. The effect of source separation on greywater quantity and pollutant load contribution was also assessed. Composite samples were collected separately over a period of 24 h from each of the greywater source, namely hand basin, bathroom, kitchen, and laundry, and were analysed for different physico-chemical and microbiological parameters. The mean greywater generation averaged 62 L per person per day. Quantitatively, kitchen and bathroom greywater contributed 37 and 31% of the total greywater volume, respectively, while hand basin and laundry greywater accounted for 11 and 21% of the total greywater generation. Kitchen greywater contributed about 60% of the organic load in terms of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), while laundry greywater was the major contributor of heavy metals and PO4-P loads. Hand basin and bathroom greywaters were the major sources of total coliforms. The analysis shows that separation of kitchen and laundry greywater is beneficial as it reduces pollutant load considerably.
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We acknowledge Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Sophisticated analytical Instrument facility (SAIF), IIT Bombay for results related to metals.
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INS performed the experiments and analysed the results. MMA guided the whole study and was a major contributor in preparing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Shaikh, I.N., Ahammed, M.M. Quantity and quality characteristics of greywater from an Indian household. Environ Monit Assess 194, 191 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-09820-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-09820-0