Sullage Management - An Overview

What Is Sullage Waste?

Sullage is the wastewater that comes from bath and household waste, excluding animal waste or excreta from the toilet. It originates from washing machines, restaurants, bathrooms, wet markets, kitchen sinks, and car washing centers. The quality and quantity of sullage vary from one source to another source. It is also known as gray water. It is a form of domestic waste discharged from commercial or residential areas into rivers or ponds and is one of the major sources of water pollution.

What Is the Origin of Sullage?

The term sullage originated from the Anglo-Norman French word sullage in the mid-16th century.

What Is Sullage Made Up Of?

Sullage is a mixture of detergent, soap, bleach, dirt, and other chemicals or substances discarded after use. Basically, any leftover water that is discarded from home after use, except toilet waste, is sullage.

What Are the Characteristics of Sullage?

Sullage contains high concentrations of nutrients, which are responsible for algae production in the water bodies. It has the ability to degrade the life of aquatic organisms. The concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen (AN) present in sullage is toxic to aquatic life. The quality of sullage depends on the household activities occurring on different days and times.

What Are the Disadvantages of Sullage?

Sullage is basically untreated wastewater that contaminates the environment in many ways:

• It harms the water species, and they tend to die as the wastewater is dangerous and hazardous for them.

• Sullage is a source of water pollution.

• It has the potential to contaminate the soil, which affects the food industry.

• It contaminates the water, which creates desirable breeding grounds for disease vectors.

• Unfavorable and bad odor is often experienced when surrounded by sullage.

• It leads to the erosion of facilities and shelters.

What Are Management Steps for Sullage?

Management of sullage can be done by the following methods:

1. Proper collection of sullage is necessary to avoid any remnants that can serve as breeding grounds for diseases.

2. Proper handling and disposal of sullage is the second most important step involved in the management of sullage.

3. Sullage can be recycled and used for non-potable purposes like agricultural irrigation, landscape, public parks, aquaculture, groundwater recharge, industrial uses such as cooling and process water, recreational lakes for non-body contact use, recreational use for body contact use such as swimming, aquifer recharge for prevention of seawater, oil refineries, industrial process water for facilities like paper mills, carpet dryers, concrete mixing, toilet flushing, dust control, artificial lake and construction activities.

4. Use of biodegradable soaps and detergents to avoid harm to aquatic life.

5. Constructed wetlands are effective for water waste management in small communities.

6. Root zone technology can be useful for treating industrial waste and wetland pieces. This method combines filtration and precipitation, followed by biological degradation in a single step. It consumes less energy and has low operating costs. The recycled wastewater can be used for gardening, irrigation, and recharging the groundwater table. This treatment is free from mosquitoes and odor. Root zone filters have been constructed to treat wastewater from hospitals, private houses, hotels, and boarding schools.

7. Filters can be used, such as vertical and horizontal filters. Vertical filters are used in high-solid situations, whereas horizontal filters are used in low-solid situations. A combination of both can also be used.

8. Domestic sullage, particularly from the sink, is treated with wetland plant and filter bed base. The treatment is done by the mechanism of filtration, which includes straining, electrolytic action, biological metabolism, and attachment.

9. Some of the studies suggest that sullage can be treated by electrocoagulation technique using stainless steel electrodes.

10. Sullage pits can be created that keep the wastewater in one designated place. For example, soak pits can be used, which is an excavation in the ground that helps to percolate wastewater into the surrounding soil. They are easy and quick to construct.

11. Infiltration trenches can be used in which the wastewater is dispersed by pipes.

12. An evaporation pan is another method which is a shallow pond that holds water and allows it to evaporate at the same time.

13. Settlement tanks can be used that work on the principle to trap scum or grease on the liquid surface and allow leftover suspended solids to settle.

14. Septic tanks can be used for the disposal of wastewater from the kitchen, laundry, and washing households. It is a watertight chamber made up of concrete and is present under the ground surface. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), fiberglass, and plastic tanks can also be used.

15. Reed beds are also known as constructed wetlands or man-made reed beds for use in removing organic matter.

What Are the Objectives of Sullage Management?

The objective of sullage management are:

• Reducing Biodegradable Organic Substances in the Environment - Organic substances such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and carbon in organic matter are required to break down into gases either in released form or in solution by oxidation.

• Eliminating Pathogenic Microorganisms - As they are responsible for causing disease in plants in animals.

• Recycling and Reusing Water - It is performed for sustainability and conservation.

What Is the Difference Between Sewage and Sullage Waste?

Sewage waste involves human waste, such as urine and feces, while sullage waste is the waste obtained from domestic uses and not from toilet waste (urine and feces).

Conclusion:

Sullage is one of the sources of water pollution released from commercial and residential areas without any treatment. Discharge of untreated sullage can be challenging for the conservation and restoration of the rivers. Sometimes, it becomes impossible to maintain and restore good quality water in streams and rivers. When the supplied water is used for various human activities becomes contaminated or changed characteristics are seen, and it is called wastewater. People should avoid throwing up cooking and washing water in indiscriminate ways because it has negative health effects on community members. By the reuse of sullage water, the population can promote plant growth and reduce the number of chemicals released into the water reservoir. Management and treatment of sullage are necessary in order to maintain sanitary and cleanliness.