Greywater as an Alternative Solution for a Sustainable Management of Water Resources—A Review

Abstract

In this paper, a comprehensive review on greywater is presented. Emphasis is given to the techniques used to treat and recover greywater, and special emphasis is placed on the risk of the existence of the novel coronavirus “SARS-CoV-2” in greywater and the possibility of its spread via the reuse of this water. In general, greywater is considered wastewater collected from domestic sources, with the exclusion of toilet water (which is considered as blackwater). Greywater represents 50 to 80% of the total volume of wastewater all over the world. This review provides various aspects related to greywater, such as origins, characteristics, and existing guidelines for greywater proper treatment and reuse. Several approaches and techniques have been developed to study the performance of different greywater treatment systems. These methods are critically discussed in this article. In the context of sustainable development, water management, and taking into account the scarcity of water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas, the use of treated greywater is one of the alternatives methods that can reduce the burden of withdrawals from the resource. In addition, some successful examples of greywater valuation experiences in Tunisia were examined.