The urban harvest approach as framework and planning tool for improved water and resource cycles

Abstract

Water and resource availability in sufficient quantity and quality for anthropogenic needs represents one of the main challenges in the coming decades. To prepare for upcoming challenges such as increased urbanization and climate change related consequences, innovative and improved resource management concepts are indispensable. In recent years we have developed and applied the urban harvest approach (UHA). The UHA aims to model and quantify the urban water cycle on different temporal and spatial scales. This approach allowed us to quantify the impact of the implementation of water saving measures and new water treatment concepts in cities. In this paper we will introduce the UHA and its application for urban water cycles. Furthermore, we will show first results for an extension to energy cycles and highlight future research items (e.g. nutrients, water-energy-nexus).

Spatio-temporal variations in chemical-physical water quality parameters influencing water reuse for irrigated agriculture in tropical urbanized deltas

“…Urban water reuse is an inevitable solution to scarcity in irrigation water, especially in the delta regions due to its availability, freshwater character, and its richness with nutrients essential for agricultural production. Research indicated that water reuse could help cities and surrounding areas in closing water cycle and decrease the water demand to improve their water self-sufficiency (Agudelo-Vera et al, 2012;Leusbrock et al, 2015). Upgraded wastewater can be cascaded to nearby agriculture in the delta areas to provide with freshwater and nutrients and help to mitigate salinization.…”

Reducing Pressure on Drinking Water Resources in Droughts: A Narrative Study

“…Some articles referred to teach the proper use of water, changing consumption by providing incentives and creating a culture in order to influence the knowledge, attitude and perception of people and, as a result, making changes in people's behavior, creating social campaigns to conserve water and promoting a culture of saving. 24,34,[36][37][38][39][40][41] Management and Policymaking Methods Some articles have suggested adapting water resources management practices to climatic conditions, 19,27,31,[42][43][44][45][46][47] water demand management, setting pricing policies to reduce demand, 24.25,44,48-51 enforcing rules to restrict water use to high-consumption subscribers, 25,33,47,51,52 applying incentive policies such as discounts to people who consume the most, 20 rainwater collection, [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63] virtual water trade 22,64,65 and in general optimizing consumption methods. 38 Apparently, any action at the household and community level reducing water consumption and controlling its consumption can reduce the pressure on water resources.…”

Enhancing institutional capacity in a centralized state: The case of industrial water use efficiency in Vietnam

“…Three strategies of technological innovation for water use efficiency show promise for Vietnamese industrial zones (Agudelo-Vera et al, 2012;Leusbrock et al, 2015;Levidow et al, 2016): (1) demand minimization through efficient "end-of-pipe" technologies (Ozturk et al, 2016); (2) "cascading" reclaimed water flows for low quality reuse (Agudelo-Vera et al, 2012;Luckmann et al, 2016); and (3) multi-sourcing from primary ground or surface water sources and secondary water sources such as rain water (Agudelo-Vera et al, 2012;GhaffarianHoseini et al, 2016). These…”

“…Three strategies of technological innovation for water use efficiency show promise for Vietnamese industrial zones (Agudelo‐Vera et al., 2012; Leusbrock et al., 2015; Levidow et al., 2016): (1) demand minimization through efficient “end‐of‐pipe” technologies (Ozturk et al., 2016); (2) “cascading” reclaimed water flows for low quality reuse (Agudelo‐Vera et al., 2012; Luckmann et al., 2016); and (3) multi‐sourcing from primary ground or surface water sources and secondary water sources such as rain water (Agudelo‐Vera et al., 2012; GhaffarianHoseini et al., 2016). These technologically driven strategies are linked to the wider principles of industrial ecology and symbiosis, aimed at enhancing circular resource flows in the processing and manufacturing sectors through cooperative strategies that enable by‐product exchange and utility sharing for resource efficiency (Jiao & Boons, 2017; Mol & Dieu, 2006; Spekkink, 2013).…”