Performance assessment of a greywater recycling experimental test rig

Byrt, Kathleen Marie (2016) Performance assessment of a greywater recycling experimental test rig. Honours thesis, Murdoch University.

Abstract

In the past decade, the world has witnessed a huge expansion at a progressive rate of its population, its urban density, and its water use. As the world’s population steadily grows, so too does global understanding of finite resources, with society increasingly looking towards technology to facilitate the epic task of managing natural resource usage. This increasing pressure on finite water resources clearly manifests itself in today’s context of increasing water restrictions and rising water costs.

In order to meet future water demands, it is essential that potable water usage levels be reduced to a sustainable rate. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to explore viable alternative sources of water that offer the potential to improve water use and significantly contribute to the overall reduction in potable water consumption. One such source is greywater (GW). GW reuse systems are a common feature of many households in other developed countries, but the benefits of GW reuse has yet to be properly demonstrated in Australia.

Water Corporation consumption data shows that nearly 40% of Western Australian households total water consumption is used on gardens and landscapes. As the average Perth household currently consumes around 254 kL of scheme water per year, implementing greywater reuse technology could potentially reduce the average household water bill by 30%, providing a significant cost saving.

However, there is a recognised gap in available residential water use data related to GW generation and reuse where it occurs. Existing water meter technology performs poorly in the task of accurately measuring GW volumetric discharge. The reason for this is the design of the traditional water meter and its inability to provide accurate readings over time with GW due to clogging. This clogging can occur as a result of the presence of cleaning chemicals and suspended solid and foreign matter found in GW from a domestic environment.

This thesis will investigate whether an alternative way to accurately measure household GW being captured and discharged to the garden can be developed from the energy consumption of the pump in a greywater recycling system (GWRS). The results would provide an accurate means of evaluating the potential financial savings of greywater reuse systems.

Item Type:	Thesis (Honours)
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Engineering and Information Technology
Supervisor(s):	Anda, Martin and Dallas, Stewart
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/50483

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