Greywater Management in Low and Middle-Income Countries - SSWM

1.
Rationale for this Report
and community liquid waste in a hygienic way so as not to endanger the health of
individuals and the community as a whole” (WHO, 1987), is given high priority in
matters relating to public health protection and pollution prevention.
The approach of centralised, water-based sewer systems was applied to attain
considerable public health improvement in urban areas of industrialised countries.
This approach was generally perceived as the right approach to adopt also in
developing countries. However, the cost of such a sewer-based system with its
required piped water supply prevented its application in most poor communities of
low and middle-income countries. On-site sanitation remained the only appropriate
alternative to providing a hygienically safe environment to poor communities. Since
safe disposal of human excreta was rightly perceived as one of the most important
public health protection measures, many development projects focused on the areawide
implementation of latrines, which achieved mitigated success. Despite the
efforts undertaken so far, 2.6 billion people still lack access to improved sanitation
facilities (see Figure 1-1).
Water scarcity, poor
water quality and waterrelated
disasters are the
three main concerns
related to current and
future water resources
(UNESCO, 2003). Improving
water quality and
mitigating water scarcity
are closely linked to
greywater management.
Reuse of treated greywater,
generated by bath,
laundry and kitchen, and
amounting to two thirds
of the total domestic
wastewater produced, could save the limited sources of freshwater. Even if reuse
of greywater is not considered a priority (for reasons of abundance of freshwater
resources or cultural barriers), appropriate greywater treatment prior to its discharge
organic load and up to two thirds of the phosphorous load in domestic wastewater.
Treating greywater before its discharge into aquatic systems will, therefore,
and living conditions of communities relying on these freshwater sources, be it for
Greywater Management in Low and Middle-Income Countries
1