Investigation on reuse potential of laundry water for household garden irrigation in Toowoomba

Abstract

As water consumption demands have increased together with shortage in rainfall during last few years, the crisis in water supply become apparent in many regions across Australia, including Toowoomba. More efficient use of other resources as valuable as water should therefore be encouraged. One feasible resource is greywater, which has been reused widely for toilet flushing and garden watering in many nations around the worlds such as Japan, USA, Singapore and Hong Kong. The reuse of greywater in individual households in Australia can contribute towards the reduction in water consumption and wastewater volume discharged into treatment systems. Laundry water is one of components in greywater which is considered to be less polluted than many other wastewaters. In addition, laundry water usually contains many essential nutrients for plant growth. Therefore, laundry water may be reused for garden irrigation without treatment. If feasible, this practice would provide a cost-effective solution to conserve water and improve soil nutrients. This paper focused on determining the quantity and quality of laundry water generated from a Toowoomba household. The results would be used to evaluating the reuse potential of laundry water for lawn and garden irrigation without treatment. The impacts of laundry water application on human health and soil properties were also taken into account in this paper.