Every living organism depends on water to survive. With the human population increasing by 85 million people every year, the need to conserve freshwater is as vital as ever (Yash et al., 2013). There are various ways to combat this issue depending on the location, but reusing greywater can be implemented universally. Another solution is using greywater for irrigation. Greywater is wastewater from domestic activities such as laundry, bathing, and washing, excluding toilet water and waste (Al-Hamaiedeh and Bino, 2010). Greywater, making up 50-80% of a household’s water use, holds the most potential for reuse (Al-Hamaiedeh and Bino, 2010). By using this water, it could not only help the environment by conserving freshwater, but it could also help reduce one’s water bill.

Greywater has a huge potential to help the environment, but it is important to look at potential impacts. It can also contain many harmful contaminants such as salt, surfactants, oils, synthetic chemicals, heavy metals, and microbial contaminants (Travis et al., 2010). When looking into the safety and guidelines of greywater, alkalinity, Ca, Cl, B, K, Na, E. coli, and total coliforms are the most important indicators to test (Rodda et al., 2011).

I am looking into the topic of greywater and its effects on plants, and more specifically how greywater affects the edibility of crops. I am really interested in this topic because it could help reduce the issue of freshwater scarcity, especially in a place like California which is susceptible to droughts.

I am currently in the process of writing a project proposal and experimental plan. I hope to find easy and affordable ways to effectively treat greywater so that people no matter the socioeconomic status can implement sustainable strategies to help reuse water.