Al Numeira has been very busy the past few month with the installation of a greywater system at a local girls’ school in Ghor Al Mazraa. The girls school is one of the oldest in the region and has about five hundred students and fifty teachers. The school compound covers 50,000m2, of which about 3,000m2 are paved areas and buildings. Thus, before NEA’s project most of the area was vacant and there were few trees and very little shade.
What is Greywater?
Greywater is the waste water coming from sources such as drinking fountains, showers, wash basins and laundry. It is not toxic and requires little to no filtering to recycle and use for irrigation. The greywater system designed for Zanobia Girls’ School recycles water from the drinking fountains, the wash basins and the kitchen. Through underground piping the water is lead to the garden area, where it irrigates specially selected trees directly at their roots.
This method eliminates water loss due to evaporation that occurs with above ground irrigation, reuses what would otherwise be waste water and saves time for watering the garden. The system is energetically efficient, as the water is transferred by gravity, using zero electricity, and does not require a storage place.
The greywater system will recycle approximately 240,000 liters of water per year!
The grey water system design and implementation and the landscaping were completed by 20 members of the local community, staff and students from the school, with the participation of 6 international volunteers. An estimated 800 hours of volunteer labour were needed to complete the project. Many thanks to all those who helped make this project possible – here’s to going far together!
Al Numeira Environmental Association 
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