AAETI

Managing Grey Water- Household and Community Level

 Why focus on Grey water?
AAETI Laundry • Shortage of Potable Water- Africa- droughts and floods.

Bathroom • Facilitating reuse can decrease burden on fresh water resources.

• Helps in reduction of pollution load on fresh water bodies due to

Kitchen
discharge and promotes groundwater recharge.
Sources of Grey
Water • Should be used wisely as it is an important asset.
Contains fats, oils, organic
compounds, chlorides, metals,
• Needs lesser degree of treatment
almost sterile
65-70% of total water supply- Grey • Mixed with fecal waste- increased trouble and threat.
Water- varies with lifestyle

Reduce- Reuse- Kitchen Recharge-

Minimum
Garden/ Agriculture Soak Pit/Leach Pit
Generation

Choice of Managing Grey water

AAETI
Managing Grey Water
Household Level-
More Decentralized/ On-site Kitchen Garden, Soak
Decentralization- Pit, Leach Pit
Decreasing Cost,
O&M and space
need Group of Households
Semi-centralized/On- or Community water
Site Points- Community
Managing Grey Water Plantation/Leach Pit

Village Level- Waste

Centralized/ Off-site Stabilization Ponds,
etc.

Rudimentary and unsafe disposal in rural areas

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How to decide- what to choose?

Parameters for intervention Household level Community level Village-level solutions

solutions solutions
Quantity of Grey water Low Medium High
generation
Favorable soil condition Yes Yes No
Ground water level condition Low Low High

Availability of space at Yes No No

individual House Hold
Availability of community space No Yes No
Existing drain Network No No Yes

• Economic status & human resource available with the villages.

• Some situations may demand a mix of all three levels
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How to decide- when to choose what? (Area Suitability)
Scenarios Household-level Community level Village-level Bulk generator
solutions (Soak pits) solutions solutions solutions
Peri-urban, high Low Medium High High
settlement density, low
availability of free land
Rural, high-settlement Medium High High Medium
density, low availability
of free land
Rural, low-settlement High Medium Medium Low
density, higher
availability of free land
Tribal High Medium Low Low
Mountainous High Medium Low Medium
High water table area Low Low High Medium
Region with Hard rock Low Low High High
strata
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Kitchen Garden

• Kitchen gardens are a low-cost solution

to manage grey water at household
level
• Plants grown in kitchen gardens get
extra nutrients from grey water.
• Kitchen gardens reduce dependence
on freshwater for gardening.
• They are easy to maintain.
AAETI

These images are exclusive to CSE India-not to

be used without permission
Image Credit- Ravi Kumar Kalal, DPM, CSE India
 • The outlet pipe containing grey water These images are exclusive to CSE India-not to be used
AAETI is discharged into the planted area in without permission
the vicinity of the household. Image Credit- Ravi Kumar Kalal, DPM, CSE India
• Grey water passes through a
perforated pipe laid into the planted
bed.
• The plantation may be done in single
or multiple rows depending on the
available area.
• The bed prepared for the plants
should have an additional bed of
gravel to provide adequate surface
area for the removal of organic
compounds, suspended solids and
excess nutrients.
• The removal is done through the combined effect of root zones and gravel beds, which include
chemical, biological and physical mechanisms.
• The additional gravel bed will increase the residence time for the wastewater for better treatment—
the wastewater will stay in the bed below the planted area so that the roots of the plants have longer
to absorb nutrients.
• The roots of the plants will make the bedding medium porous and aerate the planted system.
AAETI
What are soakpits?
• Soak pits/soakaways/soakage pits.

• They can be:

✓ A hole filled with rocks

✓ A lined underground chamber with porous sides and base, into which surface water can drain
and be dispersed by percolation or soakage into the surrounding soil

✓ A series of factory-made plastic drop-in modular interlocking infiltration cell blocks wrapped
in geotextile fabric.

• In addition to water dispersal, a soak pit must also provide water storage to ensure water that
drains into the soak pit will not overflow before soakage has occurred.

• Their efficiency depends on their size, the permeability of the ground (the rate at which
soakage occurs) and the rainfall intensity of the region.
 Functioning
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Soil with infiltration capacity- liquid passes through

the soil. The gases also disperse into the soil.

Flow of water is always downward

• Solid products accumulate in the pit-action of time and temperature- degraded and pathogen
removed, physical and chemical contaminants removed.
AAETI
Soak Pit Structure 6-8 inches diameter kept at center of the
pit, mouth exposed at ground level

150mm

900mm 250mm

250mm

250mm
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Soak Pit- Limitations and Advantages

Limitation Soak Pits handle

Advantage lower volumes as
compared to
Low Cost and leach pit
Easy to Construct
Unlike leach pits
Can be built & soak pits cannot
repaired with function in semi-
locally available permeable soil.
materials Chances of
clogging due to
Low O& M can siltation higher
be easily borne than leach pits
by households and magic pits
Periodic cleaning of
earthen pots with Not suitable for
filter media is
easier compared to
areas with high
siltation in magic water table
pit
AAETI Site Identification- Soak Pit
✓The size of the pit is decided on the basis of calculation regarding the number of
households to be served, the amount of greywater expected to be generated and
required to be absorbed.

✓No stormwater can be allowed to enter the soak pit. Soak pits should not be
constructed in low-lying areas where the chances of entrainment of water from nearby
areas is high.

✓Soak pits are not advisable in areas with a high water table or near any water sources
as there is a possibility of contamination of groundwater due to water that percolates
from them.

✓Seasonal variations in the water table can also affect the performance of soak pits
greatly.
AAETI Soil Type- Soak Pit
✓ Soak pits are best suited for soil with good absorptive properties.

✓ The performance of a soak pit depends on the permeability of the soil, e.g., sand has very high
percolation on working very efficiently, while black cotton on soil absorbs less water and
therefore the soak pit will work with very low efficiency where it is present. Similarly, clayey
soils and rocky terrain are not suitable for soak pits as their permeability is low.

✓ Permeability is also dependent on the underlying strata, compaction in soil, etc. It is advisable
to consider the percolation in an existing soak pit in a nearby vicinity before adopting the
system.

✓ In case such a system is not available, it is recommended that a field test for percolation on be
carried out.
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Do’s and Don’ts
• Filter material placed around the earthen pot needs to be cleaned or replaced
periodically; the frequency of cleaning depends on the flow as well as the amount of
suspended solids present in the greywater.
• The nahani trap and pipe connecting the soak pit need to be cleaned periodically.
• A soak pit gradually loses its capacity (generally in 7–8 years.
• When the absorption capacity of a soak pit is reduced, it is advisable to take out all the
filling material, clean it and then put it back.
• Filling materials need to be washed and the walls and bottom of the pit scraped to
remove the layers of oil and grease that may have collected there.
• The pit should be allowed to dry for 2–3 days and then be filled up again in the same
order. The filling material may be replaced if the material has disintegrated to a large
extent.
AAETI Common Mistakes
• Volume : either too less or too large

• Bricks instead of Boulders

• Sand layer on the top

• No cover / Improper cover

• No chamber around the earthen pot filter

• Filter not cleaned periodically

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Section and plan of Leach Pit
• A leach pit which works on a similar principal as of a soak pit; is a simple brick
lined or a RCC pit which can deal with higher flows of grey water as compared
to soak pits.
• Is brick-lined or RCC pit constructed in the courtyard of a house at a convenient
place.
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Leach Pit- Limitations and Advantages

Advantages Limitations
Capable of Proper site
handling higher selection is
flows compared needed to avoid
to soak pits and flooding and
magic pits odour issues

Can be made in
semi-permeable Comparatively
soils with costly.
nominal
modifications Skilled labor is
required for
honeycomb
Chances of lining
clogging are low
Not suitable for
areas with high
water table
AAETI Soil Type- Leach Pit
• Leach pits can work in both permeable and semi-permeable soils.

• When installing a leach pit in clay soils, the excavation must have a 300 mm sand envelope
around the pit.

• The sand filters the suspended solids and treats the greywater and turns it into a higher quality
effluent that is more easily absorbed by the clay soil.

• Before placing the sand in the excavation pit, the walls and bottom of the pit must be raked to
remove smeared clay soils and allow more contact area with the sand. In this way the drainage
ability of the clay soil is greatly improved.
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These images are exclusive to CSE India-not to be Modified Leach Pit

used without permission
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Site Identification- Leach Pit
• The size of the pit is designed to absorb greywater generated for a particular number of people;
care should be taken that no stormwater enters the leach pit.

• Leach pits should not be constructed in a low-lying area where the chances of entrainment of
water from nearby areas are high.

• As is the case with soak pits, leach pits are not advisable in areas with high water tables or near
any water sources as there is a possibility of contamination of underground water sources due to
water percolation from the leach pits.

• Seasonal variations in the water table can also affect the performance of leach pits greatly. The
leach pit can be modified to suit the percolation requirements in such areas.

While choosing a location for the leach pit, the following need to be considered:

• The pit should be located 1 meter away from the house wall and 2m from the water table

• It should be 10 -20 meters away from any source of groundwater for drinking.
AAETI Magic Pit
• A magic soak pit is a structure that consists of a cement/plastic tank at the center surrounded by
different grades of boulders and stones. Water is discharged into the tank placed in the center where
suspended particles from greywater settle, allowing cleaner water to flow through different sizes of
boulders and stones provided at the periphery, and to percolate into the ground.
AAETI
Magic Pit- Limitations and Advantages

Advantages Limitations

Low Cost and

easy to Difficult
construct cleaning

Can be built
with locally Handled lower
available volumes of
material grey water.
O&M costs are
low Not suitable for
areas with high
water table
Chances of
clogging are
low.
AAETI Semi-Centralized (Community Scale Technologies)
• For a group of houses where individual management is not possible

• At community water points (Hand pumps, Stand posts, wells) - Community Plantation and
Community Leach Pit

• A group of 5–15 houses have some common space between them.

• Site selection for a community leach pit should be carried out after considering the ground slopes
and calculating the optimal length of pipe required to connect the households to the leach pit.

• The bottom of the pit must be a minimum of 2 m above the high-water table or bedrock.

• For institutional areas, the size of leach pits required depends on the amount of greywater
generated.
AAETI How to determine the size of a Community leach pit

• Ratio between depth & diameter of the leach pit should be around 1:1.2

• Vertical distance between the bottom of the leach pit and the water table
should not be less than 2m.

• The horizontal distance between a greywater leach pit & ground water
source should be at least 10-20m

• The depth should not exceed 2m. Incase of increasing volume, the size of
the pit should be increased.
AAETI
To ensure proper implementation

• Planning from below

• Community Involvement from level ZERO

• Selection of right technology

• Strict adherence to technological standards

• Concurrent Quality Monitoring

• Effective O & M plan

• Technical training prior to implementation

• Piloting in selected villages & replication in others

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Thank You