Waste Water Treatment and Reuse in the Mediterranean Region (original) (raw)
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Wastewater recycling and reuse practices in Mediterranean region: Recommended Guidelines
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TREATED WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES: THE NEED FOR A NEW PARADIGM
Although reuse of treated have become part of the long term water resources management schemes in some Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMCs) like Israel, Jordan and Tunisia, there are several challenges and constraints that still need to be addressed. Treated wastewater is mostly not considered as a part of national water policies for addressing water scarcity in the SMCs. The responsibility for the reuse of wastewater hinges on many governmental institutions with conflicting objectives and overlapping responsibilities and stakeholder involvement, particularly of farmers on waste water re-use, is largely absent. No agency or ministry has the capacity to carry out cost/benefit and opportunity cost analyses for all water uses to derive the alternative interventions that will bring the highest return on investment and help prioritize interventions. There is also a lack of appropriate legal framework to institutionalize the use of treated wastewater in a comprehensive manner, while guidelines for mitigating the negative impacts of desalination, and for strengthening the enforcement capacity for controlling the misuse and the pollution due to the mismanagement of treated waste water and the sludge are absent. New waste water technologies have been introduced in the market, and need to be technically and economically assessed by trained staff from ministries and universities. Too often, decisions on investments in wastewater reuse are taken centrally by the governments without a social assessment and appropriate consultation with the farmers and water users. The environmental and health impacts and associated risks have not been carefully studied, monitored and mitigated in many of the SMCs. Terms of references for the environmental impact and health risk assessments of waste water reuse have not been prepared. Due to limited financial and human resources monitoring and enforcement of environmental and health regulations are weak. Waste water treatment and reuse are subsidized and economic or financial incentives to encourage waste water reuse are mostly absent. In response to the above challenges, and given the water scarcity in the region, a new paradigm is required that considers non-conventional water resources as an asset to be managed within the country’s IWRM framework; as part of a larger set of unconventional measures targeting the rapidly increasing water stress in part due to climate change and the growing water deficit. This paradigm has been adopted under one of the proposed four Pillars of Interventions planned within the framework of the Regional Project “Sustainable Water Integrated Management – Support Mechanism (SWIM-SM)” funded by the EC. The pillar; titled “Nonconventional water resources Pillar” was launched for implementation as part of the project with the aim to assist the Project Partners (nine Southern Mediterranean Countries) in (a) enhancing the policy, institutional and legal framework for the management of treated wastewater, within IWRM context, and (b) strengthening the institutional capacity and public participation for the planning and management of these resources. The main non- conventional water resources under consideration within the pillar are: treated wastewater re-use, and, as a last resort, desalination, using renewable energy where technically and economically feasible. The components of the initiative are five-fold: (a) Strategy formulation for the use of non conventional resources, (b) Improving the legal framework in order to anchor the use of non-conventional water resources in the national water and environmental laws and regulations; (c) Developing the institutional framework for managing non-conventional water resources with stakeholders' participation, (d) Enhancing the environmental and social safeguards for the use of non-conventional water resources, and mitigating their adverse environmental and social effects and (e) Building capacity and awareness to increase knowledge on technologies and promote social acceptance. With the increasing urbanization and growing wastewater flows, wastewater reuse substitutes good quality water for those uses that do not require it. It may allow a reduction for local overexploitation of aquifers and can be important in coastal areas where there is strong competition for the resource. When managed properly, this asset would ensure hygienic and ecologically sustainable practices that are beneficial for the society as a whole. Reuse will also contribute to adaptation to climate change and mitigation of its impacts through the reduction in greenhouse gases.
This paper discusses several options to achieve sustainability in wastewater treatment in urban areas of the Mediterranean region. The first was by decentralizing the treatment rather than installing expensive sewer systems that combine and increase the volume of the waste. The next involved choosing an appropriate treatment technology for the community where several types proposed included lagoons/wetlands, upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), and soil aquifer treatment (SAT). The common characteristic of all of the described types is that they encourage " zero-discharge " technology. This cyclical, rather than linear approach includes the reuse of the treated effluent for agricultural reuse. The reuse of the wastewater decreases the money spent on fertilizers and it is considered safe, since it has been treated for microorganisms. The traditional linear treatment systems must be transformed into the cyclical treatment to promote the conservation of water and nutrient resources. Using organic waste nutrient cycles, from point-of-generation to point-of-production, closes the resource loop and provides an approach for the management of valuable wastewater resources. The urban areas of many Mediterranean countries are growing rapidly, and ecological sanitation systems must be implemented that are sustainable and have the ability to adapt and grow with the community's sanitation needs. In order to decide what the appropriate treatment system is, the developer must consider the area's climate, topography, and socioeconomic factors. There is still a great need in this area for research to improve or optimize the current methods of wastewater treatment. The result of increased attention to this topic will improve the health, economic, and agricultural conditions of a developing community.