Urban waste water management paradigm evolution: Decentralization, resource recovery, and water reclamation and reuse

Abstract

The growing urban population, increasing income per capita, and significant rise in the number of people living in cities are all placing a strain on the nation's water supply and calling for innovative methods of urban water management. Water stress, excessive resource consumption, nutrient discharge into aquatic ecosystems, and financially unstable utilities are all consequences of the traditional linear “take, make, waste” approach to water management. Many strategies are required to achieve economic, environmental, and social sustainability. More closed‐loop urban wastewater and resource management systems can be developed and implemented with the help of a toolkit that includes stormwater management/rainwater harvesting, water conservation, water reclamation and reuse, energy management, nutrient recovery, and source separation. Water conservation, water reclamation, and wastewater reuse are becoming the norm in many water‐poor regions. This shift is hastened by decentralization, made possible by dispersed stormwater management/rainwater collection and innovative high‐performance treatment technologies. Similar changes are occurring in conventional methods of residual management due to the need for more energy recovery and nutrient recovery and reuse. Finding the most outstanding long‐term solutions requires an economic study done well. The practice of stove‐piping must be eradicated from urban wastewater and resource management. These novel techniques for managing urban wastewater and resources can produce more long‐term, financially stable, resource‐efficient, environmentally friendly, nutrient‐sensitive, and sanitary outcomes.