The quality of ash water by electrical conductivity

Abstract

Ash water consists of bath, lavatory and washing machine water after treatment, for non-drinking purposes. Since the reuse of water depends on its physical, chemical and microbiological quality, the characteristics of waste and polluted water should be analyzed. The installation of a domestic usage system, an efficient analytic control methodology should be undertaken, featuring low cost and simple operability. A series of analyses had to be replaced by a single analysis that would be representative and reliable. Current investigation verified whether the electric conductivity might be used as the sole parameter to control the quality of ash water. Nineteen physical and chemical parameters of ash water in a home were evaluated. Water from the washing machine presented the lowest pollution level when compared with that from bath and lavatory water. Electrical conductivity was sensitive to variation of the main physical and chemical parameters (Spearman’s correlationship) and differed significantly (Mann-Whitney’s U test) from tap water. In fact, it may be applied to control the efficiency of ash water treatment processes.