A mini-review on the impacts of climate change on wastewater reclamation and reuse

Abstract

To tackle current water insecurity concerns, wastewater reclamation and reuse has appeared as a promising candidate to conserve the valuable fresh water sources whilst increasing the efficiency of material utilization. The climate change, nevertheless, poses both opportunities and threats to the wastewater reclamation industry. Whereas it elevates the social perception on water-related issues and fosters an emerging water-reuse market, the climate change simultaneously presents adverse impacts on the water reclamation scheme, either directly or indirectly. These effects were studied fragmentally in separate realms. Hence, this paper aims to link these studies for providing a thorough understanding about the consequences of the climate change on the wastewater reclamation and reuse. It initially summarizes contemporary treatment processes and their reuse purposes before carrying out a systematic analysis of available findings.

Costs, Climate and Contamination: Three Drivers for Citywide Sanitation Investment Decisions

“…Rising temperatures are also expected to increase the incidence of diarrheal disease (Hutton and Chase, 2016). Climate factors determine the number, type, virulence and infectivity of pathogens transmitted through water or vectors that breed in water, and thus they may impact the associated infectious diseases (Vo et al, 2014). Increased precipitation intensity will create peak concentrations of pathogens in waterways due to sewage overflow and runoff (Vo et al, 2014).…”

“…Climate factors determine the number, type, virulence and infectivity of pathogens transmitted through water or vectors that breed in water, and thus they may impact the associated infectious diseases (Vo et al, 2014). Increased precipitation intensity will create peak concentrations of pathogens in waterways due to sewage overflow and runoff (Vo et al, 2014). Increased groundwater flows and levels due to more rainfall and frequent or larger floods promote the spread of pathogens through greater mobility and survival, and greater saturation of soil increases pathogen survival (Charles et al, 2009).…”

Life Cycle Assessment of Community-Based Sewer Mining: Integrated Heat Recovery and Fit-For-Purpose Water Reuse

“…Water reuse applications for irrigation, toilet flushing, and clothes washing for the hypothetical community in the DES+MBR applications were consistently the most effective across the three impact categories examined. While studies have already shown the environmental favorability of district heating systems compared to conventional systems [6,26], research in community-based wastewater treatment and reuse is at an early stage of development [28,47]. The reduction in impacts from sewage-heat-recovery-based district heating systems can yield additional environmental savings with community-based wastewater treatment and water reuse, particularly when a greater volume of wastewater is used in the process.…”

How Efficient Are Semi-Natural Ponds in Assimilating Wastewater Effluents? Application to Fuente de Piedra Ramsar, Mediterranean Salt Lake (South of Spain)

“…Considering the low cost of construction and maintenance and that wetland ecosystems are among the most endangered ecosystems worldwide [1], our results suggest the importance of adding natural wetland systems to traditional wastewater treatment plants in order to improve released water quality. Furthermore, reducing water consumption as a measure of conservation of available water resources for the future in response to measures imposed by climate change leads to a proportional reduction in the volume of wastewater effluent, but not in the contaminant loading [48]. Thus, more efficient wastewater treatment plants are necessary, which might be achieved by coupling natural wetland systems to traditional treatment plants, avoiding economic and ecological problems at the same time.…”