Water Reuse
Growing water scarcity worldwide and stringent regulations to protect public health and the environment are two major challenges facing water professionals in implementing integrated management of water resources. The water pollution control efforts in many countries have made treated municipal and industrial wastewaters suitable for economical augmentation of the existing water supply when compared to increasingly expensive and environmentally destructive new water resource developments that include dams and reservoirs. Thus, the beneficial use of treated municipal and industrial wastewater is considered as a competitive and viable water source option. Recycled water makes it possible to close at least partly the water cycle in cities and industries by producing “new recycling water” and reducing wastewater discharge into the environment.
In this context, the mission of the Water Reuse Specialist Group is to facilitate the implementation of safe water reuse practice through the promotion of successful water reuse projects, innovative tools and the sharing of information via our international knowledge network. We strongly believe that, if well managed, water reuse can contribute to improve integrated water resources management and therefore to improve the quality of life in developed and developing countries. Even more, water reuse can contribute to energy savings within the water cycle, as it can be more energy efficient to recycle water compared to long distance transport or to desalinate sea or brackish water.
Despite the growing development of water recycling and reuse worldwide, water reuse programs are still faced with a number of technical, economic, social, regulatory, and institutional challenges. Some of the water-quality concerns and evaluation of long-term environmental, agronomic, and health impacts remain unanswered. Furthermore, the economic benefits and financial performance of water reuse are difficult to assess and demonstrate. In addition, some local or state standards unnecessarily constrain reuse applications and institutional capabilities to manage treated wastewater reuse are often lacking. To bridge some of these gaps, providing a forum for discussion, sharing of comprehensive information generated by recent advances in science and practices of water recycling and reuse and producing relevant documents, five task groups are launched in 2010:
1. Role of Innovation and Young Researchers for Closing Water Cycle
2. Water and Energy
3. Knowledge Management and Networking
4. Water Quality Management and Water Reuse Guidelines
5. Social and Economic Dimensions of Water Reuse
The last Group conference was the 8th Specialty Conference held in Barcelona, September 26-29th 2011.
You can also read the SG flyer for the general introduction of Water Reuse and Reclamation.
Chair
Dr Valentina Lazarova
38 Rue du President Wilson
Le Pecq
78230
France
Tel: 33 1 34 80 22 51
Fax: 33 1 30 53 62 07
Secretary
Dr Jiangyong Hu
Division of Environmental Science & Eng.
Block EA #07-23
117576
Singapore
Tel: 65 65164540
Fax: 65 67744202
Strategic Board
AsanoTakashi
University of California at Davis
Professor Emeritus
Professor Rafael Mujeriego
School of Civil Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya
Barcelona, Spain
Blanca Jimenez
Director, Instituto de Ingeniería, UNAM, Mexico
Management Committee
see committee members here
Highlight Information
