Servicios de Abastecimiento y Saneamiento - La Tribuna del Agua

SERVICIOS DE ABASTECIMIENTO Y SANEAMIENTO
RECYCLING WASTEWATER,
A SOLUTION TO CONTRIBUTE
TO SUSTAINABILITY IN WATER
Nicolas Renard
ABSTRACT:
New shortages call for the invention of new resources.
Wastewater, that so-called “hostile water,”
is now deemed to be useful. Alternative resources
provide room to rethink water management in regions
stricken by hydric stress. Wastewater recycling
is a tried-and-tested solution for producing
water suitable for industrial, agricultural and even
domestic use, and then, for achieving a greater
sustainability in water.
In these regions, water is too valuable a resource
to be used just once before being returned to
Nature. For health reasons, water recycling technologies
must be operated with care and a high
degree of professionalism. Wastewater recycling is
a win-win strategy since it increases the supply
of water while reducing the pollution discharged
into the environment.
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RESÚMENES
3 examples of wastewater recycling are described:
• Windhoek (Namibia): direct water reclamation
for potable use;
• Adelaide (Australia): wastewater recycling and
aquifer recharge;
• Honolulu (Hawaii): wastewater recycling in
industry.
But several challenges have to be faced to develop
this promising solution and achieve sustainability
in water: a psychological reluctance for
treated wastewater to be accepted; energy consumption
reduction; a competition from undervalued
conventional water resources.
KEYWORDS:
Wastewater, recycling, sustainability, water resource,
water scarcity, the price of water, water
self-sufficiency, aquifer recharge, membrane technology,
energy consumption.