Group 3_Kaira Looro Women's House Report

64. Landscape Design Grey Water Reuse The Senegal area has limited freshwater and thus, there is a need for alternative sustainable water management strategies to efficiently use water and ensure water security in the Women’s House. Greywater reuse plays a fundamental role in converting wastewater into a valuable water resource (Fulvio Boano, 2020). It is essential to treat greywater before reuse to prevent polluting the surrounding area and other watercourses. Treating the greywater using nature-based solutions and using them as a secondary source of water and nutrients leads to effective, sustainable water resource management.

The primary sources of greywater in the Women’ House are kitchen sinks (cleaning vegetables and cooking waste-liquid) and the ablution area. It is beneficial to separate greywater from the wastewater at the source as the greywater has less organic pollutants and can be locally recycled via irrigation (Fulvio Boano, 2020).

A greywater treatment system should ideally be designed based on its source, quality, quantity, application and site condition. The greywater should be treated with eco-friendly technology, avoiding chemical additives and toxic by-products (A. A. Wurochekke, 2016). Nature-based solutions (NBS) are defined as: ‘‘actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits” (IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2016) (Fulvio Boano, 2020).

These technologies employ natural process’ with low energy inputs and minimal chemical use (Fulvio Boano, 2020).

The Women’s House will utilise a hybrid wetland system for greywater treatment. This system uses natural filtration, a phycoremediation process and a constructed plantation leech field (A. A. Wurochekke, 2016). Eliminating the need for advanced technology, this system can be used at a domestic scale. These processes are low cost, require no skilled personnel, are easy to handle and have high treatment efficiency, making them an ideal and reliable technology for the Women’s House.