Water Recovery from Laundry Wastewater by Integrated Purification Systems

Integrated systems for water recovery from laundry wastewater were investigated to close the water cycle loop. The grey water from the washing cycle of cotton fabrics with a softening detergent was prefiltered, purified in a low-pressure membrane process, and further purified in a high-pressure membrane process or alternatively in an adsorption process. In all of the proposed systems, the recovered water was clarified and completely free of cationic surfactants. The system based on nanofiltration as the final stage of purification allows soft water, which promotes better cleaning results, reduces the consumption of detergents, and extends the lifetime of the devices involved. Adsorption on activated carbon effectively reduced the concentration of organic compounds, including fragrance compounds.