MANAGING GREYWATER
Context:
- To address the issue of greywater from kitchens and bathing areas of households that overflowed or stagnated, posing both environmental and public health risks, the village panchayat of Pappankuzhi in Sriperumbudur Block of Kanchipuram district in Tamil Nadu has constructed both individual and community soak pits.
Greywater
- Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater from toilets.
Sources of greywater include - sinks, showers, baths, washing machines or dishwashers.
- As greywater contains fewer pathogens than domestic wastewater, it is generally safer to handle and easier to treat and reuse onsite for toilet flushing, landscape or crop irrigation, and other non-potable uses
About:
- With the support of the district administration as many as 93 of the 254 households were provided with individual soak pits under MGNREGA and 161 households were connected to the drainage channel constructed under MGNREGA.
- A soak pit, also known as a leach pit, is a covered, porous-walled chamber that allows water to slowly soak into the ground and helps recharge the groundwater table.
The ODF Tag:
- The original ODF protocol, issued in March 2016, said, “A city/ward is notified as ODF city/ward if, at any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating in the open.”
ODF+
A city, ward or work circle could be declared ODF+ if, “at any point of the day, not a single person is found defecating and/or urinating in the open, and all community and public toilets are functional and well-maintained.”
ODF++
The ODF++ protocol adds the condition that “faecal sludge/septage and sewage is safely managed and treated, with no discharging and/or dumping of untreated faecal sludge/septage and sewage in drains, water bodies or open areas.”
Source: THE HINDU.