title: Parameters affecting greywater quality and its safety for reuse.
abstract: Reusing greywater (GW) for on-site irrigation is becoming a common practice worldwide. Alongside its benefits, GW reuse might pose health and environmental risks. The current study assesses the risks associated with on-site GW reuse and the main factors affecting them. GW from 34 households in Israel was analyzed for physicochemical parameters, Escherichia coli (as an indicator for rotavirus), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Each participating household filled out a questionnaire about their GW sources, treatment and usages. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) was performed based on the measured microbial quality, and on exposure scenarios derived from the questionnaires and literature data. The type of treatment was found to have a significant effect on the quality of the treated GW. The average E. coli counts in GW (which exclude kitchen effluent) treated by professionally-designed system resulted in acceptable risk under all exposure scenarios while the risk from inadequately-treated GW was above the accepted level as set by the WHO. In conclusion, safe GW reuse requires a suitable and well-designed treatment system. A risk-assessment approach should be used to adjust the current regulations/guidelines and to assess the performance of GW treatment and reuse systems.
authors.affiliation: Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, Department of Environmental Hydrology and Microbiology, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Israel.
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maimon
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Technion - Israel Inst. of Technology, Technion, Haifa 3200, Israel.
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Friedler
authors.affiliation: Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, Department of Environmental Hydrology and Microbiology, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Israel. Electronic address: amgross@bgu.ac.il.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gross
mesh_terms: D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007557:Israel; D059027:Recycling / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods; D014881:Water Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Garden irrigation; Greywater; Microbial quality; Onsite reuse; QMRA; Risk assessment