space
About UNEP UNEP offices News centre Publications Calendar Awards Milestones UNEP Store
space
space
United Nations Environment Programme
Division of Technology, Industry and Economics
 top image
  space
space space space
  UNEP>DTIE>IETC space
space
Newsletter and Technical Publications
<International Source Book On Environmentally Sound Technologies
for Wastewater and Stormwater Management>

6.2 Reuse of wastewater from on-site systems

Many options are open to a householder who wishes to reuse wastes on-site. One option is separation of all wastes. Urine can be separately collected and stored for later use as a liquid fertiliser, rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Toilet wastes can be composted and used as a soil conditioner, rich in organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Greywater can be treated in a constructed wetland and used for sub-surface irrigation of the garden beds (Figure 2.44). This option may be suitable for a householder who is interested in managing wastes for beneficial uses in the garden, being a keen gardener. Sufficient garden area needs to be available for this purpose.


Figure 2.44: Separation of household wastewater for on-site reuse
(Lange and Otterpohl, 1997)

Another option is the use of an evapotranspiration system for growing shrubs and trees (see Section 2 (4.1.4)). This is a passive system, not requiring household attention on a regular basis, except desludging of the septic tank every 3 to 5 years. There is a fairly wide choice of shrubs and trees to choose from depending on local soil and climatic conditions.

 

      Main Menu

          

  • Major Projects
  • DEBRI Project
  • DEBRI Project
  • Iraqi Marshlands Project
  • Iraqi Marshlands Project
  • IETC's Tools
  • Environmentally Sound Technology Information System
  • ESTIS facilitates creation and management of websites on the Internet, sharing and searching of information across multiple ESTIS websites, publishing of information by non-web designers and decentralized management of content.
  • WiseWater
  • WiseWater is a spreadsheet application for projecting reductions in Water Consumption Patterns after application of Environmentally Sound Technologies. It is included as part of the publication "Every Drop Counts: Environmentally Sound Technologies for Urban and Domestic Water Use Efficiency".
  • Pamolare
  • PAMOLARE is an environmental modelling tool to forecast the changes in water quality leading to the eutrophication of Lakes and Reservoirs.
    The versatility of PAMOLARE allows for its use in decision making process as well as for training purposes.