The importance of greywater: the case of South Africa

The CSIR says that South Africa’s water consumption may outweigh its natural supply by 2025. We’re the world’s 30th-driest country, with an annual rainfall (450 mm) that is about half the worldwide average. Unless we act now, an unprecedented, critical...

The CSIR says that South Africa’s water consumption may outweigh its natural supply by 2025. We’re the world’s 30th-driest country, with an annual rainfall (450 mm) that is about half the worldwide average. Unless we act now, an unprecedented, critical water crisis is just around the corner.

While wasteful water use is almost systemic in South Africa, the good news is that there are many options available to us that can help drastically reduce our water consumption.

Greywater harvesting is one of the easiest ways you can implement domestic water recycling and quickly lower your water consumption! 8 400 litres. That’s how much water the average South African household could save each month by recycling their greywater. Greywater – the water generated during laundry and by washing machines, bathing and showering, and even from the kitchen – can be used for flushing toilets (where each flush consumes about 10 litres of potable water), irrigation, or even washing your car!

Greywater harvesting systems are easy and cheap to implement at the scale you wish!

Greywater harvesting can be achieved at a more modest scale, such as using a bucket to transport bath water to the garden or toilet, or be complex in design. Generally, customised solutions that fall somewhere in between each extreme are the most popular system.

Looking to store greywater before you use it? JoJo’s 50-litre greywater harvesting tank is the ideal solution for greywater harvesting at home! Just pipe the greywater source (e.g. bath) to the tank with conventional PVC piping. In a simple system (used within 24 hours), a macro filter used to trap large particles (such as hair and lint) is all that’s needed, while in a more sophisticated system, the use of a venturi valve and ozone injection (or UV filtration) ensures the greywater can be held for much longer periods before use.

Speak to your nearest JoJo Tanks distributor today to find out more about greywater harvesting!