Date of Award

5-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE)

Department

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Professor Mohsen Sherif

Second Advisor

Professor Nagi Wakim

Abstract

The UAE’s water demand is rapidly increasing because of population growth, infrastructure development, expansion of agricultural practices and for the desert greening policies. These circumstances force the country to depend on expansive desalinated water and made the country second largest desalination water producer in the world. It is essential to reduce the current water consumption rates by using efficient methods and conservation techniques. Greywater reuse is an effective and promising alternate to cope with this challenge. The study aimed to reduce the water consumption in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi by investigating the potential of greywater reuse. A field survey was carried out in a case study area in Al Ain which comprises of 100 traditional villa type houses. Each house occupies a plot area of 2050 m2 and approximately two thirds of each plot is used for gardening and plantation. It was found that about 94% of residents in the area comprises are using municipal water for home gardening. Analyses of water consumption data showed that about 80% of supplied water is used for outdoor activities and only 20% for indoor uses that goes to the sewer network. Statistical analysis of water consumption explored that the consumption is independent of family size. The EPANET software was used for hydraulic modelling of the existing water network. The simulation results specified that the recapture of greywater has positive impacts on the hydraulic performances of the water network. It was shown that greywater reuse has several advantages such as reduction of water demand by 10%, reduction of desalination plants’ operation and maintenance cost, reduction is emission of greenhouse gases and energy uses. On the contrary, in addition to health risks from greywater, recapture of greywater may reduce the sewer flow and thereby increase the retention time of sludge in the sewer line. Outcomes of the study support that the Abu Dhabi Emirate has a great potential of greywater reuse and about 86% of residents agreed to reuse it for their home gardens. However, for the installation of greywater scheme, residents expressed their interest on financial rebate from the government.

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