Guidelines pave the way for safe use of greywater

Abstract

Greywater is untreated household wastewater from domestic processes like taking a bath and shower, washing your hands, doing the dishes and the laundry. It excludes water from the toilet. In South Africa, a person’s experience with greywater is vastly different, depending on where they live. In serviced areas, where homes have taps and sewerage systems, water enters the house to be used, and it is washed away again after it has been dirtied. In some serviced suburbs impacted by drought, like parts of Cape Town, residents recently started making use of greywater extensively. Instead of washing the water away, residents are catching it in a bucket, and diverting it to other needs, such as flushing the toilet. This is often the case in severe droughts, when there are no other alternatives. People living in informal settlements where there are generally no municipal sewerage and water services supplied to homes already use greywater extensively, both in times of drought and when water is plenty.

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