Earth Today | Hear, hear

ATTENTION IS once again being called to wastewater as an important part of sustainable water management, given the pressing realities of climate change, nature loss and pollution.

“As an integral part of sustainable water management, wastewater resource recovery and safe reuse can be a consistent and effective way to address a range of sustainable development issues: from water scarcity to pollution, climate change adaptation and resilience, energy security, sustaining food systems, and human and ecosystem health,” reads a section of a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The report, titled Wastewater: Turning Problem to Solution was published this month.

“This central role of wastewater insecuring our common future was recognised in target 6.3 of the SDGs, calling for improved water quality, including reducing the proportion of untreated wastewater, and increasing recycling and safe reuse,” it added.

However, to get there, the report calls for action in three areas: reduction in the volume of wastewater currently produced; prevention and reduction of contamination; as well as sustainable management for recovery and reuse.

“Freshwater resources must be used more responsibly. Reducing water consumption will lower the wastewater volumes produced, making the task of recovering and reusing wastewater more achievable, by reducing energy requirements and the cost of collection and treatment. It will also reduce pollution risks to people and nature,” it said.

At the same time, the report said more attention must be given to what is put into water when it is used while also, where feasible, “separating and eliminating compounds at source before they enter the wastewater flow”.

“By reducing and restricting the contaminants of concern in our water (e.g., pharmaceutical compounds, chemical and synthetic compounds, microplastics or nanoparticles), it is easier and cheaper to treat, and safer to reuse the resources in wastewater or to release treated water back to the environment,” the report explained.

Attention to collection is also critical, as is investment.

“Collection is a prerequisite to treatment. There are many solutions for the collection and treatment of wastewater to recover resources of appropriate quality standards, depending on its application. Investments are needed to expand the capacity for wastewater collection and treatment that includes the recovery of resources for reuse. Investment is also needed to address the neglect or insufficiency of existing wastewater management facilities to ensure they are fit for purpose,” the report noted.

While acknowledging that it will take work to realise the economic value of wastewater, the report said it is no doubt worth the effort, in as much as it is possible through collaboration.

“There is too much to lose. Everyone, as individuals and collectively, are part of both the problem and the solution. Coherent and sustained action is needed by all sectors of society, which means us as individuals, businesses, industry, farmers and governments – locally, nationally and regionally,” it said.

“The elements to make this transition successful lie in creating a shared vision for the future, and collectively realising the urgency to get there. They also lie in creating an enabling and empowering environment to support the necessary system-level change at scale,” the report added.

This latest report follows on an earlier UNEP and United Nations Human Settlements Programme report dubbed Sick Water? that was produced a decade ago. That report took stock of the central role of wastewater management in sustainable development and provides a lens through which progress on wastewater management can now be examined.

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