English abstract
Oman as an example of an arid country, has very limited water resources. It is largely dependent on groundwater from wells to supply water for domestic, agriculture and industrial processes. Recent increases in environmental concerns have led to the reuse of greywater (GW) to become a more valuable alternative option to reduce the amount of freshwater use and of contaminated wastewater discharge in to the environment. The over all objective of this study was to assess the quantity as well as the quality, of greywater produced from a typical Omani house and its potential use for irrigation and other purposes. Specific objectives were to to assess the variation of greywater quality and quantity within a site & in-between different sites to recommend possible guidelines for greywater reuse in Oman. Water meters were installed in two sites: Barka (site one) and AL Mawaleh (site two). Greywater samples from kitchen and bathroom were collected from shower, wash basin, laundry, kitchen and tap water. The quantities as well as the quality of greywater produced were investigated.
The results showed that, the proportion of water consumed in the household from site one and site two was 55.5 & 42.8%, respectively, of the total household water use. The physical, chemical and biological analysis of GW samples showed that, significant levels of BOD, total Colifrom and E-coli bacteria and total hardness (EPA standard, 1996) were found in most sources. Greywater samples from laundry and kitchen contained the highest level of contaminants compared to the other sources. Greywater treatments including Filtration and Storage (aeration & nonaeration) were carried out. Filtration treatment using multimedia filter is very effective on all tested quality parameters. Aeration treatment improved water quality BOD turbidity, total suspended solids, and dissolved oxygen whereas, non-aeration treatment showed minimal or no improvement on greywater quality.
