Graywater reuse for irrigation: Benefits and potential hazards

Abstract

Graywater has been defined as all wastewaters generated in the household, except toilet wastes (Ingham 1980). A more recent definition is: “all flows exiting an urban building” (Winward et al. 2008a, b). Thus graywater includes wastewater from bathroom sinks, baths, showers, laundry facilities, dishwaters and sometimes, kitchen sinks. Due to the various household uses of water, graywater gets its name from its less than pristine appearance, and has led to an informal definition of water based on its appearance (Information Box 1).