Extending the water life cycle in rural South African households: the role and potential of water reuse solutions

Sammanfattning: Despite the issue of greywater management gaining more importance around the world, espe-cially in developing countries, it still remains a challenge in non-sewered areas of South Afri-ca. For a semi-arid country, reusing greywater on a household level has great potential as an alternative water source if done properly. On a household level, the popular repurposing of greywater is for irrigation paired with simple technology. Although irrigation is a practical application, this study aims to extend the life cycle of water within the household by theoretically applying high-level technology to filter greywater within rural households of South Africa. Thus, greywater produced in the house-hold can be repurposed for close human contact activities like bathing, laundry and dishwash-ing. This will extend the life cycle of water within the household, increasing the availability of potable water in a household. To achieve the aim of the study, Marulaneng village in South Africa was selected as a case study. 17 household surveys were done to collect data on their greywater production and wa-ter supply sources. The results reveal that people in Marulaneng are affected by the water scar-city in the country and use multiple water resources as coping measures. Their water consump-tion is half of what should be available to them according to the free basic service of 6 kilo litres per household per month, granted to all households by the government of South Africa. Two household technologies were found to apply theoretically and extend the life cycle of water within the household. The reuse of rinse water from dishwashing would increase the availability of potable water by 10% and reusing bath water would increase the availability of potable water by 28%.