Application of black and grey water separation is one of the effective tools to sustain good wastewater management system. The main obstacles of applying this concept in Egypt are its difficulty to be applied in already existing communities. Thus, starting to apply in the new communities and areas were in situ sanitation is applied. This will lead to minimize the quantities of wastewater resulting from these communities and the clean water consumption which will lead to reducing costs of treatment and disposal. Applying the concept of separating Grey water from black water in certain communities as an applied demonstration model as in the campus universities through reusing the grey water in irrigating all green areas, as well as act as an education model and applying the same model in some specific tourist resorts and villages. This will reduce drinking water consumption in all institutional buildings and touristic areas, especially in the new constructed touristic villages. Applying the concept of separating grey and black water in suitable rural communities and reuse the grey water for irrigation will improve the recent sanitation level in effective cost manner as a low cost technology. Also, using the ecological component of drains in rural areas to treat grey water from housing areas in order to increase the efficiency of septic tanks to receive and treat black water as a sustainable low cost treatment technology in poor rural areas. This will reduce drinking water consumption in all rural areas. Thus, this will solve the problem of sanitation in rural areas especially in scattered housing units.

1. SUGGESTIONS FOR APPLYING THE CONCEPT OF SEPARATING GREY AND BLACK WATER IN EGYPT.
Dr. Helaley A. H. Helaley 1
, Dr. Samaa M. Z. Abdel Aziz 2
1
Chief of Industrial Drainage, Sludge and Reuse Sector, 2
Manager of Industrial Wastewater Research Dept., Alexandria Sanitary Drainage Company, Alexandria, Egypt.
Dr. Helaley Abdel Hady Helaley
Alexandria Sanitary Drainage Company.
drhelalley@yahoo.com
01005201367- 01229388878
Application of black and grey water
separation is one of the effective tools to
sustain good wastewater management
system. The main obstacles of applying this
concept in Egypt are its difficulty to be applied
in already existing communities. Thus,
starting to apply in the new communities and
areas were in situ sanitation is applied. This
will lead to minimize the quantities of
wastewater resulting from these communities
and the clean water consumption which will
lead to reducing costs of treatment and
disposal.
Applying the concept of separating Grey
water from black water in certain communities
as an applied demonstration model as in the
campus universities through reusing the grey
water in irrigating all green areas, as well as
act as an education model and applying the
same model in some specific tourist resorts
and villages. This will reduce drinking water
consumption in all institutional buildings and
touristic areas, especially in the new
constructed touristic villages.
Applying the concept of separating grey and
black water in suitable rural communities and
reuse the grey water for irrigation will improve
the recent sanitation level in effective cost
manner as a low cost technology.
Also, using the ecological component of
drains in rural areas to treat grey water from
housing areas in order to increase the
efficiency of septic tanks to receive and treat
black water as a sustainable low cost
treatment technology in poor rural areas. This
will reduce drinking water consumption in all
rural areas. Thus, this will solve the problem
of sanitation in rural areas especially in
scattered housing units.
Grey water reuse could result in cost savings, reduced sewage water flows, and
potable water savings. The daily water consumption in Egypt is about 165 liter per
capita per day. Produced grey water in Mawaa Elsaydeen estimated by using
questionnaires for thirty samples from high, mid and low income areas is about
140 liters per capita per day which is 84.8% of the total fresh (potable) water
consumption (Table (1)).(2)
Most of the studies reported that about two-thirds of domestic water is grey water,
drinking and cooking about 8% and black water approximately 23%. The positive
correlation between the per capita grey water generation and the average total
household water consumption indicates that grey water reuse can play a very
important role in decreasing total household water consumption through saving
grey water quantities for non-potable water uses such as toilet flushing and
laundry. The users’ acceptance plays a crucial role in grey water reclamation and
reuse because without acceptance the idea will not proceed.
Improving the current situation of wastewater treatment in most small
communities, new approaches like water segregation, onsite treatment and
internal water reuse are desirable. This seems to be crucial approach especially in
water scarce regions. On a small scale this has often involved the collection and
treatment of grey water. Grey water contains relatively few nutrients and can be
easily treated to a reusable quality.(2)
Different grey water treatment technologies are in use. There are various
categories of wastewater treatment technologies applied worldwide. Every
wastewater treatment technology has its advantages and disadvantages.
Constructed wetlands technology is selected from the variety of wastewater
treatment technologies. (2)
Constructed wetlands are wastewater treatment systems consisting of shallow
(usually less than one meter deep) ponds or channels planted with aquatic plants.
The process by which wastewater is treated include a wide range of interacting
biological, physical and chemical mechanisms. Constructed wetland (CW)
systems are reliable, flexible in design, and can be built, operated, and maintained
at lower costs compared to conventional methods of biological treatment.
Therefore, CW systems are widely used for controlling water-body eutrophication
as an ease-operation and cost-effective ecological technology in developing
countries. The use of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment is becoming
widespread throughout the world due to the demand for water-quality
improvement and the increasing need for wastewater reclamation and reuse. The
constructed wetland system is attractive due to its uncomplicated technology, low
capital costs, and minimal maintenance requirements but need a lot of space. This
makes it ideal in resource-scarce developing countries where it is, currently used
for domestic, non-toxic and also toxic wastewater treatment. In these countries
constructed wetlands are often used to treat wastewaters before release to natural
water bodies like lakes and rivers. However, in the developing world, constructed
wetlands would initially be more likely to be targeted towards better quality of
water for human use (2)
Constructed wetlands capital costs are highly dependent on the local situation, i.e.
soil type, groundwater table height, terrain slope, distance from settlement,
discharge criteria, climate etc. Another important factor usually is the economy of
scale: larger wetlands tend to be relatively cheaper per PE or per m3 of
wastewater treated. Total costs could be lower because the lower loading rates
can be treated with smaller systems. One uncertain cost is the ‘removal’ cost of
the system after its functional life, now estimated at around 20 years. (2)
A survey was done along the different cities, rural areas and touristic
villages to investigate the applications of black and grey water
separation concept.
Maawa El Sayadeen settlement, is one of Alexandria neighbourhoods
that lay under great pressure of environmental degradation and it is
subject to its negative impacts. This is due to the deteriorate
sanitation record of this settlement.
The data from this study area was reviewed and the produced grey
water in Mawaa Elsaydeen is estimated using questionnaires for
thirty samples from high, mid and low income areas (ten families from
each area). (2
1. Applying the concept of grey and black water separation
in all the rural areas and touristic villages
2. Usage of the old drains which receives the raw sewage
as an effective ecological treatment system to treat the
grey water.
3. Use the old septic tanks to handle and treat the black
water resulting from the rural houses.
4. Simplify wastewater treatment systems in the touristic
areas through natural systems such as constructed
wetlands.
Wastewater from our homes comes from many different sources.
The wastewater that comes from showers, washing machines, and
sinks is considered grey water because, while it has particles and
contaminants, they are not deemed dangerous. The rest of the
wastewater, from toilets, dishwashers, and garbage grinders, can
contain food particles, feces, and other human body fluids and is
considered hazardous. This is what makes up black water.
Grey water is defined as "untreated household wastewater that has
not come in contact with toilet waste and includes wastewater from
bathtubs, showers, washbasins, clothes washing machines and
laundry tubs, but does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or
dishwashers or laundry water from washing of materials soiled with
human excreta, such as diapers."
Grey water, which symbolizes the wastewater generated in the
household excluding toilet wastewater (black water), represents the
major volume of the domestic wastewater (60–75%) with low content
of nutrients and pathogens. (1)
The grey water contains a significant amount (41%) of chemical
oxygen demand (COD) in the domestic wastewater and this amount
can be removed by the high-rate anaerobic systems. The grey water
has a relatively higher temperature (18–38 8C), as compared to the
domestic wastewater, because the grey water originates from hot
water sources, like shower (29 8C), kitchen (27–38 8C) and laundry
(28–32 8C). (1)
Black water is wastewater which is loaded with biological material
such as feces or grease. Many people refer to black water as
“sewage.” Because black water contains dangerous materials, it
must be treated before being released or reused; otherwise it could
be a source of disease. There are a variety of ways for dealing with
black water, ranging from setting up home composting toilets to
render such waste inert to flushing black water through a municipal
sewer system, where it eventually winds up at a sewage treatment
plant so that it can be treated and safely disposed off.
Black water is generally not recycled, mostly because it contains so
much sewage that it is hard to clean adequately for use. Yet, science
has come up with systems that will recycle black water, most
systems filtering the water enough to be used outdoors in watering
lawns and plants from underground.
INTRODUCTION
METHODS AND MATERIALS
(1) Grey water treatment in UASB reactor at ambient
temperature.
(2) Developing innovative sanitation scenarios: Maawa
El Sayadeen Settlement in Alexandria Egypt. Ibrahim
Shouk, June 2009.
RECOMMENDATIONS
RESULTS and DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
Table 1 Water Estimations from interviews
ABSTRACT
CONT ACT
1st Conference for Modern Nano-Technology in Water and Waste Water projects (MNTW'2012).
Cairo, Egypt. 15 September 2012
Table 2 Grey water from Maawa El Sayadeen and
Oman
Table 3 Grey water unrestricted reuse parameters