Separation and Purification Technology 130 (2014) 160–166

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Separation and Purification Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/seppur

Characterization of greywater in an Indian middle-class household and

investigation of physicochemical treatment using electrocoagulation
Kuntal A. Vakil, Meena K. Sharma, Akansha Bhatia, Absar A. Kazmi, Sudipta Sarkar ⇑
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR), Roorkee 247667, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Wastewater produced from all the domestic uses of water sans toilet flushing is known as greywater. It is
Received 4 September 2013 often the major component in the domestic wastewater but has fewer pollutant load. Recycling and reuse
Received in revised form 4 April 2014 of treated greywater for non-potable purposes may significantly reduce the stress on the fresh water
Accepted 6 April 2014
requirement. This article presents the result of a study undertaken for characterization as well as labora-
Available online 18 April 2014
tory-based investigation for treatment of greywater generated from an Indian single household. The grey-
water constituted at least 80% of the total wastewater with maximum contribution (44%) from the
Keywords:
kitchen. The treatment studies, undertaken in an electrochemical reactor where the voltage and current
Electrocoagulation
Greywater
were varied for sacrificial aluminum anodes, revealed that about 70% of the total COD and more than
Domestic wastewater 99.9% pathogens could be removed with an energy consumption of 0.3 kW h/m3 of wastewater. COD
Household wastewater treatment removal reached a maximum of 70%, irrespective of the applied voltage and current density, at an alumi-
Water recycling num release from the anode at a rate of 15 mg/L as aluminum. The electrochemical reactor aluminum
Wastewater reuse electrodes, operated with maximum potential difference of 12 V, showed potential for scale-up for
real-life use in households for removal of pathogens, turbidity and COD contents of greywater.
Ó 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction recently, due to the global shortage of freshwater supplies, a gen-

eral necessity is being felt for treatment of greywater for its reuse
Domestic wastewater may be categorized into two parts, and recycling. On-site source-separated treatment and reuse of less
namely greywater and blackwater. It is universally accepted that polluted greywater is therefore an attractive option, particularly in
wastewater generated as a result of toilet flushing is known as water stressed nations. The most common application for reuse of
blackwater while wastewater produced as a result of usage of treated greywater is for specific applications such as toilet flushing,
water for all other domestic purposes such as at kitchen, wash garden irrigation and other processes where high degree of water
basins, showers, washing machines, etc. may be termed as grey- quality is not a necessary requirement. Such a cascading reuse of
water [1–4]. Understandably, greywater is likely to be the major water can have multiple benefits. First, it helps reduce the freshwa-
contributor to the total wastewater quantity generated from an ter consumption in a household and related savings in the cost
average household [5,6]. In terms of quality, greywater is expected involved in the treatment and supply of drinking quality water to
to have lesser organic and nutrient content, and lower pathogen the whole community. Second, the overall quantity of blackwater
load when compared to blackwater. Greywater generally repre- to be collected and treated at the municipal sewage treatment
sents up to 70% of total consumed water but contains only 30% plant shall reduce, causing huge cost savings in the treatment pro-
of organic fraction and from 9% to 20% of the nutrients [7,8]. cess. In many Indian wastewater treatment plants, it has been
Although there remains significant difference in water quality reported that the plants efficiency was unsatisfactory because of
between grey and blackwater, conventional collection and convey- the low organic load in the wastewater [9]. Obviously, such prob-
ance systems for domestic wastewater do not differentiate lems may be avoided altogether if greywater is separated from the
between these two types of wastewater. Until now, in most of blackwater, so that the wastewater contains only blackwater hav-
the countries, the aggregate total of wastewater generated in a ing high organic content. Thus, onsite treatment of greywater fol-
household is collected and conveyed through the municipal sewer- lowed by its recycling and reuse may be considered as the
age system to a centralized wastewater treatment plant. Only important steps when it comes to the reduction of freshwater
requirements at the individual households. The success of recycle
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 8954386690. and reuse of treated greywater depends on the ease and effective-
E-mail address: srkarfce@iitr.ac.in (S. Sarkar). ness with which it is treated on-site. In order to develop an

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2014.04.018
1383-5866/Ó 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 K.A. Vakil et al. / Separation and Purification Technology 130 (2014) 160–166 161

effective on-site treatment process for greywater, it is imperative collection drains were modified so that all the wastewater generat-
that detailed characterization of the greywater is done. ing points except the toilets are connected and led to a PVC tank of
Several factors such as the quality of freshwater supply, activities size 1000 L placed under the ground located at the backyard of the
in the household, the quality of life, climatic conditions of the area, house. Thus, the wastewater that got collected in the tank was
economic strata of the household, etc. are expected to control the actually wastewater sans the blackwater and hence, may be
greywater generated, in terms of both quality and quantity. Obvi- termed as greywater. The wastewater enters the tank at the bot-
ously, the quantity and characteristics of greywater varies from tom and leaves the tank from the top. The wastewater was allowed
country to country, and also, within a country depending on the geo- to get collected within the tank over 24 h after which a composite
graphic and climatic variations as well as on the different income- daily sample was collected after complete mixing of the content of
groups. In many areas of India, the average annual rainfall is as the tank. The tank was emptied daily before the next collection
low as only 0.27–10.16 mm/year [10]. Due to the huge growth in cycle began. The tank had arrangements to measure the volume
population and related activities to support the population, the sur- of greywater collected. The household had population of four adult
face water availability per capita has reduced from 2300 m3 in 1991 persons. The study was undertaken over a period of six (6) months,
to 1980 m3 in 2001. The water availability situation is going to enter from December 2012 to May 2013.
into water scarcity scenario within a decade from now. In fact, in
2013 Western Indian state of Maharashtra faced an unprecedented 2.2. Treatment studies
draught [11]. As the quantity of freshwater is dwindling, there is a
dire need to conserve the freshwater sources by increasing the recy- The treatment studies were undertaken with an aim to develop
cling practices of used water. Greywater recycling seems to be one a dependable physicochemical treatment method for greywater.
viable option that can be implemented within a reasonably short The treatment technology option adopted was electro-coagulation
period of time at individual household level. However, there is insuf- followed by floatation/sedimentation. Electrocoagulation is an
ficient data available for estimation of quantity and quality of grey- electrochemical technique for removing various pollutants from
water produced in a typical Indian middle-class household. Also, not wastewater [16,17]. Efficiency of removal of suspended solids,
much work has been done on the viable treatment options for recy- COD and microbial content was assessed using a stirred tank elec-
cling and reuse of greywater in Indian situation. tro-chemical reactor where different variations and arrangements
Treatment technologies for greywater recycling have been in of aluminum electrodes, combination of aluminum and graphite
focus of the researchers since the last four decades. Both physico- electrodes were used. The bench-scale reactor used for the labora-
chemical and biological treatment processes have been studied so tory study was made of acrylic sheets. The effective dimensions of
far. Physical treatment options such as coarse filtration and/or the reactor were 50 cm (H)  20 cm (L)  10 cm (W), having vol-
membrane-based processes have often been coupled with disinfec- ume of 10 L. The content of the reactor was stirred with a stirrer
tion. The technologies tried for biological treatment included rotat- rotating at a speed of 30 rpm. Two types of electrode assemblies
ing biological contactors, biological aerated filters and aerated were used in the reactor. Four aluminum plates each of effective
bio-reactors. Also, advanced treatment technologies such as MBRs size 48 cm  8 cm  0.2 mm thickness were used as electrodes.
and cheaper extensive technologies such as reed beds have been The electrodes were connected to DC power source in such a
investigated. Three chemical processes, such as photocatalysis way that they acted as monopolar electrodes, either cathode or
[12], electrocoagulation [13] and chemical coagulation [14] were anode. A typical sketch of the reactor and the electrode system is
reported in open literature. Electrocoagulation process offers sim- shown in Fig. 1. Samples were taken at regular time intervals for
pler and more efficient treatment due to its compactness and eco- determination of turbidity, COD and FC remaining in the grey-
nomic competitiveness over conventional coagulation, particularly water. In both the assemblies the system voltage was varied using
with regards to hydraulic retention time, less production of sludge step up/step down voltage regulator having range from 3 V to 12 V
and simplicity in operation and maintenance [13,15]. so that different amounts of current were flowing through the sys-
In this article we report the results of a study where main objec- tem. The current and voltage through the system were measured
tives were to characterize household greywater in India and also, to using Multimeter. Spacing between the electrodes was 4 cm.
study its treatment using physico-chemical treatment processes that
can potentially be scaled up into user-friendly household devices. 2.3. Characterization studies
For the characterization study we took representative greywater
samples from an average Indian middle-class family over a period The quality of greywater as well as treated water was assessed
of six (6) months. We also took hourly spot-samples of greywater in terms of several water quality parameters such as Chemical
produced at various water-consuming points over a whole day.
There is apparently not much financial benefit for the individual
households to treat and recycle greywater. Therefore, it is expected
that people would try to spend minimum possible domestic time
for this purpose. Hence, the treatment and recycling technology
needs to be such that it would demand the minimum user-interven-
tion both during regular operation as well as for its maintenance.
Keeping this in view, we intended to develop a dependable phys-
ico-chemical process for the treatment of greywater so that it can
be recycled. In this article, we also report the logical development
of an electro-coagulation process for treatment of greywater.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Greywater collection mechanism

A representative middle-income group household in Roorkee,

Uttarakhand, India was chosen for the study. The wastewater Fig. 1. Schematic of the electrochemical reactor used for the treatment of greywater.
162 K.A. Vakil et al. / Separation and Purification Technology 130 (2014) 160–166

Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Total in the envelope 2.4–4.7. The total and fecal coliform density was
Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), pH, ammoni- low during winter months, namely December and January; how-
cal-nitrogen (NH3-N), orthophosphate, concentration of total and ever, there was an increase in the TC and FC count at the onset
fecal coliform (TC and FC, respectively) and alkalinity, according of summer, in April and May. The average maximum and minimum
to the methods prescribed in Standard Methods [18]. Chemical temperatures at Roorkee during winter are 21 °C and 6 °C, respec-
Oxygen Demand (COD) was measured using COD digester (Model tively; and during summer are 42 °C and 20 °C, respectively. The
AL 38SC, Aqualytic, Dortmund, Germany) and an ultraviolet (UV) reason for low coliform count during winter months may be due
spectrophotometer (Model DR4000 Hach, Loveland, CO) were used to the enhanced death rate of the coliform bacteria in the cold
for the COD analysis. water inside the greywater collection tank from where composite
daily samples were taken. There was a steady decrease in the
COD and BOD values as the summer set in. Due to the onset of
3. Results and discussion
summer, the biodegradation rate increased causing some of the
BOD and COD to get exerted by the time the composite sample
3.1. Greywater generation
was collected at the end of the day. Fig. 2b–d shows the relative
distribution of COD, BOD and FC loads, respectively, generated
The average amount of greywater generation over the six
from the different greywater generation points. Table 2 shows 24
month period of study was found to be 140 L per person per day.
hourly average characteristics of greywater generated at different
The average greywater flow rate into the collection tank was about
generation points.
23 L per hour with maximum rate of generation occurring between
during morning 0600 A.M. to 12 noon. About 20% wastewater gen-
erated was found to be blackwater, generated from the toilet- 3.3. Greywater treatment: Electro-coagulation studies
flushing. Out of the total greywater generated from different water
consuming points, kitchen generated majority of the greywater, 3.3.1. Effect of system voltage on the removal efficiency of turbidity,
about 44%. Fig. 2a shows the distribution of greywater generated COD and pathogens
from different consuming points. Laboratory testing of the electrochemical cell involved deter-
mining the effect of applied voltage on the efficiency of removal
3.2. Greywater characterization of suspended solids and colloids, organics and pathogens. Fig. 3
shows the suspended solids and colloids removal efficiency mea-
The greywater was collected and characterized daily over a per- sured in terms of removal of turbidity. It may be observed that
iod of six (6) months, from December 2012 to May 2013. Table 1 applying electric field from 6 to 10 V tended to increase the
shows the average monthly greywater quality over this period of efficiency of turbidity removal. Also, the removal increases over
time. The pH varied between 5.9 and 7.8; COD/BOD ratio remained time. Lin et al. [13] reported that in a synthetic greywater having

Fig. 2. Relative quantity and characteristics of greywater produced from different generating points: (a) quantity, (b) COD, (c) BOD and (d) fecal coliform (FC) load in the
greywater.
 K.A. Vakil et al. / Separation and Purification Technology 130 (2014) 160–166 163

Table 1
Average monthly greywater characteristics from a middle-class Indian household.

Parameters Units December January February March April May

pH – 7.2 5.9 7.8 6.6 7.1 7.4
Alkalinity mg/L 203 198 170 180 187 177
Turbidity NTU 69 62 59.8 66 104 88
TSS mg/L 712 788 339 422 288 355
TDS mg/L 1442 1337 707 902 1483 455
Sulfate mg/L 154 85 74 185 120 155
Chloride mg/L 19 23 28 22 29 19
BOD mg/L 265 220 118 290 95 199
COD mg/L 665 733 359 560 320 356
TC MPN/100 mL 500 240 9.3  103 4.3  103 4.6  104 9.3  106
FC MPN/100 mL Nil Nil 430 240 660 2.3  105

Table 2
Average characteristics of greywater generated at different generation points.

Parameters Bath/shower Washbasin Kitchen Laundry

pH 7.5 7.5 6.2 9.4
TDS (mg/L) 277 237 245 1060
COD (mg/L) 461 225 602 824
BOD (mg/L) 81 43 293 269
TSS (mg/L) 148 48 308 1852
Ammonia–nitrogen (mg/L) 2.1 1.6 4.7 10.7
Nitrate–nitrogen (mg/L) 2.6 2.5 11.4 79
Orthophosphorus (mg/L) 0.0 0.0 5.3 18.0
Fecal coliforms (MPN/100 mL) 930 39 230 430

Fig. 3. Degree of turbidity removal over time during the electrocoagulation of Fig. 4. Dissolved organics removal measured as percentage COD removal at
greywater at different voltages. different time intervals during electrocoagulation of greywater at different voltages
in an electrochemical reactor.
kaolinite suspensions, the particle size increases with increase of
voltage as well as time. Increase in the voltage results in more cor-
The electrocoagulation method involves at least three funda-
rosion of aluminum from the anode. Hence, it may be inferred that
mental steps. In the first step, precursor metal ions for the produc-
increasing voltage and time allows for generation of more destabi-
tion of coagulants are liberated into the aqueous phase through
lized suspension which coagulates and flocculates over time result-
oxidation of the sacrificial electrode, more specifically, the anode.
ing in an increase in the effective particle size in the greywater.
In the second step, the metal ions generated from the first step
Larger particles settle more easily and effectively. Therefore, there
hydrolyze to form insoluble metal hydroxides and polyhydroxides.
is an enhanced removal of turbidity. Fig. 4 shows the variation of
In the third step, destabilization of contaminants, particulate sus-
COD removal efficiency over time at different voltages carried
pension, breaking of emulsion and aggregation of destabilized
out on greywater collected on different dates. The trend for COD
phases take place to form flocs along with the metal hydroxides
removal over time was similar as the particulates removal; how-
and polyhydroxides [19]. In the present study, aluminum plates
ever, it may be observed that the COD removal efficiency reaches
were used as the anode. The aluminum ions (Al3+) are generated
a plateau after about 40 min of operation of the electrochemical
by the dissolution of sacrificial anode upon the application of direct
reactor. Fig. 5 shows the percentage removal of fecal coliform from
current as per reaction (1).
the greywater over the period of time at different voltages pro-
vided in the electrochemical cell. It may be observed that the 3þ
increase in the voltage improves the removal of the pathogen indi- Al ! AlðaqÞ þ 3e ð1Þ
cators. The figure shows that after about 20 min, the rate of
removal of the pathogens declines. However, in about an hour At high anode potential, another secondary reaction may also
almost 97–99.9% of the fecal coliforms are removed from the take place where water is hydrolyzed to produce oxygen at the
greywater. anode, along with generation of H+ ions.
164 K.A. Vakil et al. / Separation and Purification Technology 130 (2014) 160–166

In order to have more insight into the electrocoagulation for

removal of COD, the data from COD experiment as indicated in
Fig. 4 was analyzed further to find out the effect of aluminum
release dosage on COD removal efficiency. Eq. (7) expresses the
theoretical concentration of aluminum released from the anode
at the outlet of the electrochemical cell [13].

MAl I  t  MAl
C Al ¼ ¼ ð7Þ
V zF V

where CAl is the theoretical concentration of aluminum released

into the electrochemical reactor (mg/L), V the volume of the reactor

Fig. 5. Percentage removal of fecal coliform at different time intervals during

electrocoagulation of greywater at different voltages.

2H2 O ! O2ðgÞ þ 4HþðaqÞ þ 4e ð2Þ

Aluminum and hydrogen ions, under the influence of electrical

field tend to migrate toward the cathode.
At the cathode, the hydrogen gas is generated. Hydrogen gas
may get generated through two different reactions occurring at
the cathode. The hydrogen ions in the solution, forms hydrogen
gas following reaction (3).

2HþðaqÞ þ 2e ! H2ðgÞ ð3Þ

Water also may get hydrolyzed at the cathode to produce Fig. 6. Effect of released aluminum dosage on residual COD in the greywater
hydrogen gas as well as hydroxyl ions following reaction (4). solution at different voltages.

2H2 O þ 2e ! H2ðgÞ þ 2OH ð4Þ

The hydroxyl ions generated at the cathode tend to migrate to
the anode under the action of the electric field.
In the zone between the cathode and anode, the aluminum ions
react to produce insoluble aluminum hydroxide flocs.
3þ
AlðaqÞ þ 3H2 O ! AlðOHÞ3 þ 3Hþðaq:Þ ð5Þ

3þ
AlðaqÞ þ 3OH ! AlðOHÞ3 ð6Þ

Insoluble Al(OH)3 particles agglomerates and form flocs which

enmesh the colloidal particles as well as macromolecules present
in the greywater. Depending on the pH of the aqueous medium,
other ionic species such as AlOH+2, Al2(OH)4+ 
2 , Al(OH)4 may also be
present on the surface of the solid aluminum hydroxide particles
as well as in the solution [20,21]. Colloids which are usually nega-
tively charged are swept by the electric field near the anode where Fig. 7. Effect of COD removal on current density in the electrochemical reactor.

high concentration of aluminum hydroxide destabilizes the colloids

in the greywater suspension. There was no significant change in the
pH of the greywater after the treatment, suggesting that all the H+
ions generated in the solution gets converted to hydrogen gas at the
cathode. Also, it suggests that the reactions (1), (3), and (5) are
predominant.
COD is an aggregate measure of chemically oxidizable material
present in wastewater. Compounds that contribute to COD are bio-
degradable organic compounds, non-biodegradable organic com-
pounds and inorganic oxidizable components. Total COD shall
include both soluble and suspended and colloidal species in waste-
water. The greywater is expected to contain colloids such as micro-
organisms, emulsions, fat, oil and grease, organic acids, salts,
sugars, miscible and immiscible liquids such as alcohols, glycerin,
oils, and suspensions such as milk. The large macromolecules
and colloids including the microorganism get destabilized and pro-
duce flocs which finally get separated from the solution either by Fig. 8. Effect of COD removal on specific energy consumption in an electrochemical
floatation or sedimentation. reactor.
 K.A. Vakil et al. / Separation and Purification Technology 130 (2014) 160–166 165

Table 3
Comparative performance of various chemical treatment technologies used for greywater treatment.

Treatment technologies COD (mg/L) BOD (mg/L) TSS (mg/L) Turbidity (NTU) Total Coliform (CFU/100 mL) References
In Out In Out In Out In Out In Out
Photo-catalytic oxidation 139–660 26–139 – – – – – – 106 0 [12]
Coagulation + sand filter + GAC 280 20 195 10 – – 35 <5 – – [14]
Electrocoagulation + disinfection 55 22 23 9 29 9 29 9 5100 ND* [13]
Magnetic ion exchange resin 791 272 205 33 – – 46.6 8.1 – <59 [7]
Coagulation with aluminium salt 791 287 205 23 – – 46.6 4.3 – <1 [7]
Electrocoagulation + submerged membrane bioreactor 463 51 – – 78 ND* 133 4.1 43  104 49 [15]
Electrocoagulation 380 160 – – – – 104 15.6 9100 <10 Present study
*
ND: not detected.

Table 4
Comparative costs of treatment of various types of wastewater using electrocoagulation.

Treatment technologies Operating cost (US$/m3) Type of wastewater Ref.

Electrocoagulation and disinfection 0.27 Greywater [13]
Electrocoagulation with Fe (anode)–Al (cathode) electrode 0.25 Sewage after secondary treatment process [25]
Electrocoagulation with Al (anode)–Fe (cathode) electrode 0.23 Sewage after secondary treatment process [25]
Electrocoagulation 0.71 Slaughterhouse wastewater [26]
Electrocoagulation with Al electrode 0.18 Greywater Present study

(m3), I the current (A), MAl is the molecular mass of aluminum V It
Specific Energy ðkW h=m3 Þ ¼ ð8Þ
(26.98 g/mol), z is the valence of aluminum ion corroded out from 1000  v
the anode (z = 3), F is Faraday’s constant (96487 C/mol) and t is
where I is the current registered (A), V is the potential difference (V),
time. The current measured for electric fields 6 V, 8.5 V and 10 V
t is the time for electrochemical reaction in h and v is the reactor
were 0.1 A, 0.2 A and 0.3 A, respectively. Fig. 6 shows the residual
volume (m3).
COD in the greywater at different voltages with respect to the dos-
Fig. 8 shows the COD removal efficiency against the specific
age of aluminum released declines as the dosage of released alumi-
energy consumption for the electro-coagulation process run for
num was increased to 15 mg/L where an average COD removal of
1 h time period under different operating conditions of voltage
about 70% is achieve. Raising the dosage of released aluminum
and current through the electrochemical cell. It is observed that
beyond 15 mg/L did not decrease the residual COD.
the treatment of greywater in the electrochemical route shall have
The above observations lead to two important conclusions.
significantly low energy consumption for modest (70%) degree of
First, the removal of COD in the electrochemical reactor is only
COD removal. As it was revealed from aforementioned observa-
through destabilization followed by coagulation with flocs gener-
tions that there is an upper limit of removal of COD in the grey-
ated by the released aluminum ions. There is no direct electrolysis
water as the residual COD could not be lowered beyond a certain
and mineralization of the organics. Second, not all the component
value by further addition of aluminum because the residual COD
organic molecules contributing the total COD are removed through
is comprised of soluble organics which are not removed by alumi-
coagulation with electrically generated aluminum hydroxide spe-
num hydroxide flocs. Raising the voltage and current through the
cies. In an investigation made by Moreno-Casillas et al. [22] it
electrochemical cell shall definitely increase the dosage of alumi-
was found out that electrocoagulation was not suitable in remov-
num released in the solution. This will also increase the energy
ing soluble and miscible species contributing to COD, such as glu-
consumption. However, due to the reason cited above, such
cose, lactose, isopropyl alcohol, phenol, sucrose and similar
increase in the energy consumption may not help in achieving
molecules that do not react with aluminum. The greywater in
higher COD removal.
our case originated from mostly kitchen sinks, water closets and
other washing areas. Hence, it consisted of a range of different
organic compounds of which a part was soluble and miscible mol- 3.3.3. Performance and cost: Comparison with other studies
ecules which did not get removed with the aluminum hydroxide Performances of the electrocoagulation system in the present
flocs generated in the EC reactor. study compared to other chemical treatment and recycling options
of greywater are reported in Table 3. An analysis of cost of the pres-
3.3.2. COD removal, current density and energy consumption ent treatment calculated based on the consumption of electrical
EC process is known to be influenced by the density of the energy as well as aluminum electrode at optimum operating con-
applied current. Fig. 7 shows the removal of COD after 60 min of dition indicated an operating cost requirement of US$/m3. Table 4
electrochemical treatment at different current densities. It may shows the present cost of treatment in comparison to that reported
be observed that the COD removal efficiency increased as the cur- by other studies for the treatment of greywater as well as domestic
rent density is increased [23]. Higher current density results in and slaughter-house wastewater.
higher concentration of aluminum ion in the solution evolving
from the decomposition of electrode material of the reactor. It 4. Conclusions
has been reported that current density directly influences the
treatment efficiency of electrochemical process [22,24]. The results There is a need to have a fresh look at the aggregate wastewater
obtained here also support the previous finding. produced from domestic sources. In terms of quality, wastewater
Specific energy consumption or Energy consumption per unit can be clearly segregated into two different units, grey and black-
volume of greywater treated by the process is calculated from water. Greywater constitutes larger part of the total domestic
Eq. (8). wastewater produced and yet, contributes smaller amount
166 K.A. Vakil et al. / Separation and Purification Technology 130 (2014) 160–166

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