Grey water treatment can help meet 35-40% of water requirement

Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail, Managing Director of Ecoscience Research Foundation, has helped many institutions and households set up grey water recycling units. “In a household, almost 60% of waste water generated is grey water — this includes bath, laundry and kitchen water. Around 500 to 700 litres of grey water is generated by a small family. Recycled grey water can be used for gardening or for flushing lavatories and even replenishing the ground water level,” said this soil biologist.

According to this ecologist, a grey water treatment unit can be easily installed in any household. “The rootzone waste water treatment uses canna or colocasia plants. These plants create a rootzone, where organic pollutants are broken down and used as a food source for the microbes in these plants and soil,” he said. 

“The recycled water is filled with nutrients, which is very good for the plants. A simple filtration process can further improve the water quality. Installing grey water treatment units is not expensive and it can reduce the amount of sewage that ends up in the STPs as well as bring down our dependency on good quality water for these chores,” explained Dr Ismail. 

Varun Sridharan, Founder and Director, Greenvironment India, said that grey water recycling plants can help apartment complexes meet almost 35% to 40% of their water usage. However, he pointed out that the awareness is still quite low. “People do talk about grey water recycling but it is not as popular as rainwater harvesting, which was taken up by the government. There are few takers and providers for this service. But grey water recycling, especially for larger apartment complexes, will ensure that residents don’t have to buy water for cleaning purposes or for landscaping needs,” said this entrepreneur, whose start-up was incubated at IIT Madras.

Sanjay Chugh, National Head, Mandated Sales & Business Head, Chennai, JLL Residential, said only large apartments and gated communities are keen on installing grey water treatment plants. “Setting up these units are beneficial to conserve water, especially when there are close to 30-40 apartments or in gated communities. In smaller complexes, setting up a plant is not a viable option. With the concept of green buildings catching up, installing grey water treatment units have become popular, especially in the last few years,” he concluded.