Household wastewater still a grey area

Abstract

Community health There remains a noticeable gap between the South Africa government’s policy on water provision and the long-term sustainable water management challenges of the country. This is one of the main findings of a new report published by the Water Research Commission (WRC). Lani van Vuuren reports. The report, which focuses on greywater in non-sewered areas, is based on a two-year investigation undertaken by the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Cape Town. It states that while authorities’ water supply interventions are aimed at improving the health of communities, no attention has been given to the resultant longer-term impacts on environmental health in nonsewered areas (i.e. the proper management of resultant greywater). “ At a local government level there is still debate whether greywater is a stormwater (drainage) or a sanitation issue. Further, national policies and programmes do very little to promote greywater management in water and sanitation improvements,” the authors report.

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