A new optional recycled water pre-treatment system prior to use in the household laundry.

With a constantly growing population, water scarcity becomes the limiting factor for further social and economic growth. To achieve a partial reduction in current freshwater demands and lessen the environmental loadings, an increasing trend in the water market tends to adopt recycled water for household laundries as a new recycled water application. The installation of a small pre-treatment unit for water purification can not only further improve the recycled water quality, but also be viable to enhance the public confidence and acceptance level on recycled water consumption. Specifically, this paper describes column experiments conducted using a 550 mm length bed of zeolite media as a one-dimensional flow reactor. The results show that the zeolite filter system could be a simple low-cost pre-treatment option which is able to significantly reduce the total hardness level of recycled water via effective ion exchange. Additionally, depending on the quality of recycled water required by end users, a new by-pass controller using a three-level operation switching mechanism is introduced. This approach provides householders sufficient flexibility to respond to different levels of desired recycled water quality and increase the reliability of long-term system operation. These findings could be beneficial to the smooth implementation of new end uses and expansion of the potential recycled water market. The information could also offer sound suggestions for future research on sustainable water management and governance.

Introduction and feasibility assessment of laundry use of recycled water in dual reticulation systems in Australia.

Laundry is a potential new end use of recycled water in dual reticulation systems. Generally, the community is willing to accept this new end use if it can meet the concerns on health issues, durability of washing machine, cloth quality and aesthetic appearance. This study addresses all these major concerns thereby assisting in the introduction and promotion of this new end use in the existing and proposed dual reticulation systems. Five representative cloth materials were selected for washing in tap water and in recycled water for up to 50 wash cycles for comparative studies. The tearing/tensile strength tests were used for the assessment of cloth durability. ANOVA one way test was applied for the significance analysis (Tukey's test p<0.05) which indicated that there is no significant change in the tensile/tearing strengths of washed cloth samples. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the washed cloth samples found no distinct change in surface morphology. Textile colour analysis (CIEDE2000) analysed the variation in colour of the washed cloth samples and showed that the change in colour ∆E ranges from 0-1 revealing no visible difference in colour of cloth samples. Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) was used as the indicator for predicting corrosive/scaling potential of recycled water. The LSI values ranged from +0.5 to -0.5, indicating no corrosive or scaling potential of recycled water. The microbiological study of the cloth samples washed in recycled water indicated that there was no contamination with representative bacteria. As the recycled water has similar effects like tap water on cloth and washing machine, it is safe to use for laundry.

Vision and perception of community on the use of recycled water for household laundry: a case study in Australia.

This study investigates the community perception of household laundry as a new end use of recycled water in three different locations of Australia through a face to face questionnaire survey (n=478). The study areas were selected based on three categories of (1) non-user, (2) perspective user and (3) current user of recycled water. The survey results indicate that significantly higher number (70%) of the respondents supported the use of recycled water for washing machines (χ(2)=527.40, df=3; p=0.000). Significant positive correlation between the overall support for the new end use and the willingness of the respondents to use recycled water for washing machine was observed among all users groups (r=0.43, p=0.000). However, they had major concerns regarding the effects of recycled water on the aesthetic appearance of cloth, cloth durability, machine durability, odour of the recycled water and cost along with the health issues. The perspective user group had comparatively more reservations and concerns about the effects of recycled water on washing machines than the non-users and the current users (χ(2)=52.73, df=6; p=0.000). Overall, community from all three study areas are willing to welcome this new end use as long as all their major concerns are addressed and safety is assured.

Maximum allowable values of the heavy metals in recycled water for household laundry.

Household laundry as a new end use of recycled water in dual reticulation systems has a great potential as the significant amount of potable water from urban households can be saved. However, there is still no sufficient evidence and supporting recycled water quality guidelines for this particular use. A key gap in knowledge is the impact of heavy metals in recycled water on clothes and washing machines. Thus, this study aims to determine the maximum allowable values (MAVs) of the heavy metals iron (Fe), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn) in recycled water for washing clothes in washing machines. Six different concentrations of each targeted metals were prepared in tap water for the washing machine experiments. The tearing/tensile strength tests were used for the assessment of cloth durability. MINITAB 16 as a statistical tool was used and ANOVA one way test was applied for the significance analysis (Turkey's test p<0.05). The results show that the MAVs of the heavy metals Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu and Mn were found to be 1 mg/l, 1 mg/l, 10 mg/l, 5 mg/l and 1 mg/l respectively in terms of cloth durability.