Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Editor: Hong Li
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The information provided and the opinions given in this publication are not necessarily those of IWA and should not be acted
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ISBN 9781780401065
IWA Specialist Groups
Contents
Page
Preface
Anaerobic Digestion 1
Biolms 8
Disinfection 12
Outfall Systems 37
Membrane Technology 44
Resources-Oriented Sanitation 64
Preface
S
pecialist Groups represent the core vehicle for issue-based interaction on scientic, technical and management topics
within the International Water Association (IWA). Specialist Groups facilitate cooperation, networking and knowledge
generation, primarily through regular conferences and publications. They are a major source of channelling the
energy that is in the water professional community to organize events, spread news through regular newsletters, to generate
collaboration on a voluntary basis, etc. One of the larger voluntary efforts that nd an outlet through the Specialist Groups are
Task Groups that are formed within a hosting Specialist Group to perform a dened task, for example the production of a IWA
Scientic and Technical Report that describes the state-of-the-art in a certain discipline or a consensus to move forward on
a certain topic.
IWAs Specialist Groups are self-managed and cover all-important topics in the water management sector. In total some
50 Specialist Groups have been formed. They are an exceptionally effective means of information and knowledge sharing. To
improve the quality of knowledge sharing, for the rst time, the IWA has produced this report on Global Trends & Challenges
in Water Science, Research and Management. It is a compendium compiled from the submissions of IWA Specialist Groups.
This report aims to raise the proles of the IWA Specialist Groups and let Specialist Groups be better known by water profes-
sionals in the world, as well as to supply better knowledge dissemination. It is composed of papers from each group summariz-
ing the current state of knowledge within the SG topic/subtopics and future trends and challenges. It creates an understanding
of the topic for the reader, and shows the trends and challenges within the Specialist Groups by identifying, for example, three
hot topics that are expected to surface in the next ve years. No particular format was imposed, allowing the Specialist Groups
to develop their messages freely to the community.
There are in total 25 Specialist Group contributions in this rst compendium, to be distributed to IWA members, partners and
other water professionals. This effort will be continued periodically in order to keep information and knowledge up to date.
The work of the Specialist Groups is coordinated and supported by IWA Specialist Groups Manager Dr Hong Li. Please feel
free to contact her by email at hong.li@iwahq.org if you require any further information or have any questions about the
content of this report.
Enjoy the read and get an update on where things are and are moving to!
Anaerobic Digestion
Written by Damien Batstone, Henri Spanjers, Jorge Rodriguez, Jules van Lier, Eberhard
Morgenroth, M.M. Ghangrekar, R. Saravanane on behalf of the Specialist Group
Anaerobic Digestion is one of the most active Specialist and steadily rising. Although manure is a classic and
Groups, with over 1000 members, active sponsorship of signicant source of nitrogen and phosphorus world-
three task groups or working groups, and organisation of, wide (Cordell et al. 2009), for industrial agriculture, the
on average, one Specialist Group conference per year. phosphorus market is dominated by mineral resources.
This is highlighted by our recent triennial conference This has energised research into recovery of phosphorus
AD12 in Guadalajara, Mexico where some 500 delegates from waste streams, mainly as calcium and magnesium
attended, and 200 papers were presented, of which 80 phosphates, including struvite (MgNH4PO 4.6H2O)
were considered for publication in Water Science and (Le Corre et al. 2009). Even in highly industrialised
Technology. The themes at the AD conferences provide a countries, such as Australia, with essentially 50% of food
very good review of major themes of interest in anaerobic (phosphorus) export, 25% of phosphorus and nitrogen,
digestion. Over the years, we have always observed a large and 100% of potassium, can be recovered from waste
number of papers focusing on specic aspects related streams (Tucker et al. 2011).
to the themes of (a) solid waste and energy crop man-
agement, (b) biosolids and sludge management and (c) Anaerobic digestion is the only biochemical process that
industrial wastewater. These application areas have been removes carbon, while converting this into a useful energy
strongly supported by investigation into microbial ecology, carrier, but has minimal impact on nutrient concentra-
mathematical modelling, chemical analysis, process inno- tions. This has been previously seen as a limitation, but is
vations and novel technologies. Over the 10 years though, now emerging as a benet, with the energy content being
we have seen several major new themes emerge. These used in an integrated process to drive full nutrient recov-
have been driven by both market opportunity and scien- ery (Verstraete et al. 2009). This will result in changes in
tic advances. The goal of this report is to further outline the modes of operation of anaerobic digestion to enhance
challenges and opportunities for wastewater treatment nutrient recovery further, and the focus is likely to move
researchers and practitioners in these areas, as well as beyond simply phosphorus to full recovery of nitrogen,
the specic role of anaerobic digestion technologies within potassium and water by a range of novel techniques.
these application areas.
Nutrient recovery will also require a higher degree of
operational exibility and understanding of the underlying
Major emerging themes anaerobic process, in order to enable treatment of differ-
ent waste streams (wastewater through to agroindustrial
The key topics we as a Specialist Group can identify as solid wastes), as well as to cater for downstream processes
major developing areas are the role of anaerobic processes such as water recovery.
in waste mining and resource recovery, production of
chemicals through bioprocessing and bioproduction, and
integration of anaerobic digestion processes into the larger (b) Bioprocessing and bioproduction
evaluation framework, including upstream and down-
stream environmental systems, and advanced wastewater Anaerobic processes have been used for thousands of
treatment through emerging processes such as anaerobic years to value add to organic feedstocks by convert-
membrane bioreactor systems. ing them to a wide range of largely fermented foods and
beverages. This has also been widely used in the 20th cen-
tury in industrial biotechnology to produce bulk industrial
(a) Anaerobic processes for resource chemicals such as ethanol and organic acids, as well as
recovery high-value products, including pharmaceuticals. Over the
past 10 years, we have seen two signicant and genuine
Over the past two years there have been considerable uc- innovations that are dramatically changing the landscape
tuations in phosphorus and nitrogen pricing, which has of industrial biotechnology.
emphasised the realisation that, in particular, phosphorus
is a non-renewable resource, with the peak in mineral Until recently, biotechnology focused on the use of pure
production expected to occur around 2030 (Cordell or highly enriched cultures to generate speciality products
et al. 2009). Added to this, nitrogen is very expensive from very pure feedstocks. This has limited applica-
energetically to produce, and the other macronutrient tion of industrial biotechnology to higher value chemi-
potassium is becoming depleted in major agricultural cals, including higher cost feedstocks that compete with
zones. Although uctuations have stabilised, pricing food, and which often require expensive sterilisation of
is currently of the order of $US5/kgP and $US1/kgN, both the reactor and the feed. In contrast, mixed culture
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IWA Specialist Groups
biotechnology uses environmentally ubiquitous microbes 2007). The process of integrating models has been very
to produce a mixture of chemicals (Kleerebezem and van complementary, not only providing important tools such
Loosdrecht 2007). These organisms are faster, can con- as interface models, but demonstrating the strengths of
vert more complex feedstocks and are capable of working each sub-model. As an example, the advanced pH model
under different hydraulic regimes. The mixture of products within the Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 is clearly rel-
needs to be directed by manipulation of concentration, evant to the whole water cycle, and this has led to estab-
temperature, pH and redox, and there needs to be a degree lishment of a new IWA task group on physicochemistry
of downstream separation. Research is now moving from modelling (Batstone 2009), which will not only enrich
a focus on systems analysis to a deeper understanding of modelling of aquatic chemistry, but is applicable to all
how mixed culture fermentations (and biotechnology) is topics raised in this review.
inuenced by environmental conditions, and how control
handles can be best manipulated. This should be com-
bined with further research into downstream processing
(d) Advanced wastewater treatment
to develop the concept of a biorenery that can generate
Modern high-rate technologies are successfully imple-
multiple products from raw feedstocks with a high degree
mented at a large variety of industries. Granular sludge
for market driven exibility.
bed based systems are most commonly applied, whereas
China seems to be the most rapidly growing market. Very
Bioelectrochemical systems have been one of the major 3
high loading rates reaching 40 kg COD/m reactor per
developments in the anaerobic process world over the
day are feasible reducing reactor volumes to a minimum.
past 10 years, with an initial focus on direct generation of
Current applications are limited by the maximum spe-
electricity from anodic biological processes (Lovley 2006).
cic conversion capacity and/or efcient separation of
The current cost of bioelectrochemical systems (approxi-
the produced biogas from the sludge. For more extreme
mately 100 times that of conventional anaerobic systems),
types of the wastewaters these limitations are more pro-
and relatively low performance makes them (currently) a
nounced resulting in disappointing loading potentials.
limited proposition for electricity generation. A far more
Examples are wastewaters characterised by high tem-
compelling application appears to be use of electrochemi-
peratures, high salinity, presence of toxic compounds,
cal systems with either pure or enriched cultures to gen-
high fat, oil and grease content, high solids content, etc.
erate specic products. These can either be done via
Various research groups are presently focusing on the
partial oxidation at the anode to generate partially oxidised
development of anaerobic membrane bioreactors mak-
products (e.g. 1-3 propanediol from glycerol), or by reduc-
ing use of either submerged or cross ow congurations
tion at the cathode (e.g. generation of CO2 from methane)
(Liao et al. 2006). The full retention of anaerobic biomass
(Rabaey and Rozendal 2010). The exciting thing about this
prevents specic rinsing of key organisms for specic
is not just the enhanced and highly efcient use of electric-
substrate conversion, whereas the membrane assisted
ity. There is also the range of capabilities derived from the
separation process provides a solids-free efuent. The
enormous exibility of this technology, including the ability
growing number of research papers has led to separate
to set potential, electrode material and cell geometry, the
conference sessions at the anaerobic digestion specialist
ability to favour specic organisms, or planktonic versus
triennial. Working at relatively high sludge concentrations,
electrode biolms, and the ability to manipulate ion ow
cake layer management seems to determine membrane
through the membrane.
uxes (Jeison and van Lier 2007; Lin et al. 2010). At
present, the impact of increased shear-forces on anaero-
The two issues of mixed culture biotechnology and
bic microbiology, physiology and biochemistry is currently
bioelectrosynthesis are highly complementary, as mixed
being investigated (e.g. Menniti et al., 2009). With the
culture biotechnology is generally needed as a pretreat-
drop in membrane prices and the relatively low required
ment process for bioelectrosynthesis, and both can
uxes with concentrated wastewaters, anaerobic mem-
operate in complementary processes within the overall
brane bioreactor systems seem to be of particular interest
biorenery process.
for those applications where successful granular sludge
bed systems cannot be guaranteed.
(c) Integrated systems assessment
This review has focused so far on the promise of anaero- Conclusions
bic processes to replace existing technologies, including
activated sludge wastewater treatment, mineral fertiliser Anaerobic processes have a major role in future sustainable
production, and industrial chemical manufacturing. How- water management, and across all areas of human activity,
ever, there will clearly be longer-term applications for both including agriculture, industrial chemicals and energy gen-
practical integration of anaerobic digestion with larger eration. There are clearly novel areas to apply the basic
systems, as well as its integration with larger process principles we have developed over the past 50 years of
models. Integrated systems modelling, life cycle assess- research, including mixed culture biotechnology and elec-
ment and integrated environmental assessment not need trochemically mediated processes. In addition, new sci-
to include the whole water and energy cycle, and anaero- ence will be needed to fully enable resource recovery and
bic processes are emerging as a clear segment within provide new downstream processing options for the biore-
overall systems modelling. A clear example is emerging nery of the future. At the same time, we need to recognise
methods to model larger wastewater treatment plants, that there has been an enormous amount of work done
with adaptation and integration of biochemical models already, which is particularly applicable to other elds such
such as the IWA developed Anaerobic Digestion Model as domestic wastewater treatment, including upstream
No. 1 (Batstone et al. 2002) into key integrated models sewer processes. It will be important to retain this knowl-
such as the Benchmark Simulation Model (Jeppsson et al. edge as we move into new and exciting applications.
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IWA Specialist Groups
at their extremely low environmental quality standards. and combination with ultraviolet light and hydrogen per-
Although GC/MS is restricted to non-polar and semi-polar oxide through advanced oxidation processes are still
contaminants, liquid chromatography (LC)MS/MS has being studied, especially for wastewater applications.
allowed the determination of much more polar substances Other oxidants (chlorine, chlorine dioxide, permanga-
(pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, estrogenic hormones ) at nate, ultraviolet light alone) are generally not efcient
levels of parts per trillion. Once restricted to target com- for micropollutant removal, and may present the risk of
pound analysis, with the advent of very high resolution generating more harmful by-products.
instruments, LC tandem MS and LC-Orbitrap MS now Activated carbon adsorption (granular or powder)
offer the possibility of identifying and quantifying unknown appears as well as an interesting treatment for mi-
polar compounds in all kinds of environmental matrices, a cropollutants. Again, more than 80% removal for
feature that will contribute to the discovery of an increas- most substances is achievable. Substance properties
ing number of emerging contaminants and hopefully their (log Kow, pKa) and operating conditions (dose, contact
transformation and degradation by-products. Another time) will determine the actual efciency of retention.
trend lies in the miniaturisation of laboratory-scale instru- Only a few molecules like iodinated contrast media or
ments such as GC/MS, which will likely allow on-line moni- some antibiotics present limited afnity for activated
toring in the future. A miniature GC/MS with a submersible carbon. In the eld of wastewater treatment, more re-
purge-and-trap probe is already commercially available turns of experience in terms of life duration in lters or
with potential application for on-line monitoring of volatile achievable polyaluminium chloride recovery rates are
organic compounds. still needed. The fate of used activated carbon, either in
sludge or in lters, may also be an issue.
On the other hand, with the exception of fullerene nano- Membrane retention processes like reverse osmosis and
particles that can be determined by LCMS, there are no nanoltration allow the most efcient retention of a wide
adequate methods to determine other organic nanoparti- range of substances, but they need an extensive pre-
cles such as carbon nanotubes at environmental levels. treatment and they are the most energy intensive. Addi-
tionally, the fate of the concentrate should be mastered
Bioanalytical methods, common in the pharmaceutical to get a completely sustainable process. Their high cost
industry, are growing in popularity for water quality and makes their application to wastewater treatment very
treatment efcacy monitoring. These in vitro bioassay limited, except in conditions of high water stress. In large
tools can provide an integrative measure of mixture tox- potable water treatment plants, the combination of dif-
icity. Although several practical questions remain to be ferent advanced processes in a multi-barrier approach
answered, in particular their exact role in regulation (if is already applied to ensure a maximum removal.
any), bioanalytical tools are a promising development in
water quality testing. The best solution remains the reduction at the source to
avoid the introduction of emerging contaminants in the
water cycle.
Treatment methods
The removal performances of existing treatment proc- Regulation trends
esses are currently well known for an increasing number
of substances (Poseidon 2004; Snyder et al. 2007; Joss In general, the standard setting is either based on the
et al. 2008; Choubert et al. 2011). precautionary principle, on risk assessment or on tech-
nical feasibility. The precautionary principle has the big
Coagulation and settling can be efcient for very advantage that it allows legal action without the compre-
adsorbable substances (e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls), hensive knowledge on the fate and effects of the respec-
but few emerging compounds are retained. tive substance as required for risk assessment. In the risk
Biological processes like activated sludge or xed- assessment approach, for the identication of hazardous
lm processes can achieve a signicant reduction of substances we distinguish between substances with and
micropollutant loads in wastewater treatment plants. substances without threshold, e.g. the cancerogenic,
Removal mechanisms like biotransformation, stripping mutagenic and substances toxic for reproduction. These
and adsorption on sludge are involved. Parameters like different assumptions are made as well in human risk
sludge age and nitrifying capacity appear to be critical assessment (WHO 2006, 2008) as also in environmen-
to maximise removal efciencies. Membrane separation tal risk assessment (TGD 2003; ECHA 2010). For some
of sludge seems to bring additional retention perform- substances there are already sufcient signicant ecotoxi-
ance towards several emerging compounds. However, cological data to suggest that the compound can cause
substances are generally not really removed in biological adverse effects on wildlife, or that there is a signicant
treatments: about two-thirds of the regulated substanc- risk to human health. For example, in the European Union
es are mainly transferred to sludge, whereas many polar those compounds are listed under the EC Water Framework
emerging compounds are partly biodegraded with for- Directive 2006/60/EC (EC 2006) as priority substances or
mation of by-products. Thus, complementary advanced priority hazardous substances as they are bioaccumula-
tertiary processes are generally required to guarantee tive, persistent and toxic. Also the UNEP compiled a list of
an efcient removal. persistent organic pollutants that full the dened criteria
Oxidation with ozone appears an efcient advanced treat- for persistence, bioaccumulation and long-range trans-
ment, with more than 80% removal, for most emerging port. Both lists have international reporting and minimisa-
substances so long as their molecular structure presents tion/phase out requirements and are under rolling revision.
accessible electrons. However, the fate and toxicity of Pharmaceuticals and polar personal care products are not
by-products still remains an issue to be investigated. subject to any regulation yet and have not been monitored
Optimisation of ozone dose depending on water quality within the European Water Frame Work Directive (Directive
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IWA Specialist Groups
2000/60/EC). Also the new policy on chemicals REACH cannot be handled by the Assessment and Control of
(Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Hazardous Substances in Water Specialist Group alone,
Restriction of Chemicals), which entered into force on 1 but need to be harmonised between different other IWA
June 2007, will increase the information on chemicals in Specialist Groups such as those on Diffuse Pollution,
the European Union. Modelling, Institutional Governance and Regulation, Mem-
brane Technologies, Design, Operation and Costs of Large
Wastewater Treatment Plants, Design, Operation and
The challenges and future research Maintenance of Drinking Water Treatment Plants, Sludge
Management, Nano and Water, Pretreatment of Industrial
directions Wastewaters and many others.
The detection of so many new compounds in surface
water, groundwater and drinking water raises consider- References
able public concern. Especially when guideline values are
not available, the questions are whether detected concen- Daughton, C. and Ternes, T. (1999). Pharmaceuticals and per-
trations will affect human or environmental health at low sonal care products in the environment: agents of subtle
concentrations and how these components will react in change? Environmental Health Perspectives, 907938.
complex mixtures. ECHA (2010). Guidance on Derivation of DNEL/DMEL from
Human Data DRAFT (Rev.:2.1)http://guidance.echa.eu-
One of the biggest challenges for the near future will be the ropa.eu /docs /draft_documents /R8_DNEL_HD_Draft_
Rev2.1_nal_clean.pdf.
effect assessment and risk evaluation for human health
Choubert J.M., et al. (2011). Limiting the emissions of micro-
and the aquatic environment for the thousands of syn-
pollutants: what efciency can we expect from wastewater
thetic and natural trace contaminants that may be present treatment plants? Water Science and Technology 63(1),
in water at low to very low concentrations (picograms per 5765.
litre to nanograms per litre). Giger, W. (2009). Hydrophilic and amphiphilic water pollutants:
using advanced analytical methods for classic and emerging
The chemical monitoring of single substances will be very contaminants. Anal Bioanal Chem 393, 3744.
time consuming and costly, without giving the satisfy- Grummt, T. and Fuerhacker, M. (2011). Risk Assessment
ing answers as we see additional effects beside carcino- for Emerging Contaminants in the Water Cycle: Recent
genic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances properties, Advances and Future Needs. In Chapter Theme 4: Emerg-
for example endocrine-disrupting, neurotoxic or allergic ing contaminants and micropollutants, Proceedings of the
14th International Conference, IWA Diffuse Pollution Spe-
effects. Therefore a tiered approach of effect monitor-
cialist Group: Diffuse Pollution and Eutrophication (DIP-
ing should be developed. Especially for substances with CON) OECD Co-operative Research Programme spon-
insufcient data, a quick evaluation method is required. sored conference, Beaupr, QC, Canada, September 1217,
This can be based, for example, on the concept of the 2010. In press.
threshold of toxicological concern, which applies also in Joss A., Siegrist H. and Ternes T.A. (2008). Are we about to up-
the case of an incomplete human toxicological database. grade wastewater treatment for removing organic micropol-
Health-related indication values could also be applied for lutants? Water Science and Technology 57(2), 251255.
all substances based on information on the structural and Petrovic, M. and Barcel, D. (2006). Liquid chromatography-
activity relations, which are not primarily genotoxic, but mass spectrometry in the analysis of emerging environmen-
at the same time cannot be toxicologically assessed on tal contaminants. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
385, 422424.
the basis of chronic or subchronic animal experiments,
POSEIDON (2004). Assessment of Technologies for the removal
and which show no signs, however, of neurotoxic, immu- of Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in sewage
notoxic or germ-cell toxic potential (Umweltbundesamt and drinking water facilities to improve the indirect potable
2008). Such new policy is applied in Germany for quick water reuse. Contract EVK1-CT-(2000-00047. Detailed
assessment of non-relevant metabolites of pesticides. In report, 58 p.
this case, the guidance value of 0.1 g/L based on the Richardson, S. (2009). Water analysis: emerging contaminants
precautionary principle can be exceeded when it is proven and current issues. Analytical Chemistry 81, 46454677.
that the substance is neither genotoxic nor neurotoxic. This Snyder S.A. et al. (2007). Role of membranes and activated
change in paradigm would be also potentially applicable carbon in the removal of endocrine disruptors and pharma-
for complex samples instead of multiple single-substance ceuticals. Desalination 202(13), 156181.
REACH (2006). Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European
measurements.
Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 con-
cerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and
Another challenge is the answer of the question, do we Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European
need to remove the trace contaminants from wastewater Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC
and drinking water should we effort it and to which and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and
extent? Will micrograms per litre be sufcient or do we have Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council
to go below? Are our risk assessment methods adequate Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/
to answer this question? Which drinking water treatment EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC.
processes shall we apply and what will be the trade off in TGD (2003). Technical guidance document, Technical Guidance
terms of re-growth or other effects? Document (TGD) on Risk Assessment in support of
Commission Directive 93/67/EEC on Risk Assessment
for new notied substances, Commission Regulation
(EC) No 1488/94 on Risk Assessment for existing sub-
Conclusions stances, Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council concerning the placing of biocidal
The ongoing and future challenges like the risk evaluation, products on the market. http://ecb.jrc.it/cgi-bin/reframer.
decision making, risk management and communication pl?A=ECB&B=/tgdoc/.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Umweltbundesamt (2008). Trinkwasserhygienische Bewertung WHO (2008). Guidelines for drinking water quality. 3rd edition;
stoffrechtlich nicht relevanter Metaboliten von Wirkstoffen Geneva.
aus Panzenschutzmitteln im Trinkwasser. Empfehlung WHO (2006). Guidelines for the safe use of wastewater, excreta
des Umweltbundesamtes nach Anhrung der Trinkwasser- and greywater. Volume 2: Wastewater use in agriculture.
kommission des Bundesministeriums fr Gesundheit beim
Umweltbundesamt. http://www.umweltdaten.de/wasser-e/
empfnichtbewertbstoffe-english.pdfhttp://resources.metapress.
com/pdf-preview.axd?code =21n1042mv8327820&size
=largest und Bundesgesundheitsbl-Gesundheitsforsch-
Gesundheitsschutz 51:797-801 (2008) English: http://www.
umweltdaten.de/wasser-e/hygiene-related_assessment_
of_non-rele-vant_metabolites_recommondation_april_
2008.pdf.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Biofilms
Written by Zbigniew Lewandowski on behalf of the Specialist Group
The description of the Biolms Specialist Group can be the surface to which the microorganisms are attached;
found o the IWA homepage at http://www.iwahq.org/ the biolm (the microorganisms and the matrix of extra-
Home/Networks/Specialist_groups/List_of_groups/Bio- cellular polymers);
lms/. the solution of nutrients;
the gas phase (if present).
The Biolms Specialist Group also runs its own homepage
at http://www.iwa-biolm.org/ where more details about Another term often used when referring to the attached
our activities can be found. The Biolm Discussion Group microbial growth is biofouling (of surfaces). It is derived
can be reached at biolm-group@eawag.ch. from the term fouling of surfaces, which refers to the
process of contaminating surfaces with (usually) mineral
One of the perpetual activities of the Specialist Group is to deposits. In principle, the term refers to the same proc-
organise specialised biolm conferences. These themes of ess as the term fouling does, but it emphasises the fact
the conferences are alternating to cover (a) biolm proc- that the deposits on the fouled surfaces are composed of
esses and (b) biolm technologies. The most recently mineral substances mixed with living microorganisms and
organised conference by the Biolms Specialist Group was macro organisms and with extracellular polymers excreted
dedicated to biolm processes and was held from 27 to 30 by the microorganisms.
October 2011 in Shanghai, China. The website of the con-
ference at www.iwabiolm2011.com species the main The term biofouling deposits is sometimes considered an
topics of the conference: equivalent of the term biolms, particularly in industrial
settings, where it is used to emphasise the presence of
methods and tools to study biolms; scaling deposits or corrosion products imbedded in the
extracellular polymeric substances; biolm structure extracellular polymers excreted by the microorganisms
and activity; attached to surfaces.
biolm microbiology and ecology;
mathematic modelling of biolm processes; When larger organisms accumulate on surfaces, as is
biolm technologies in water and wastewater treat- common in marine environments for example, the term
ment; macrofouling is used.
biofouling and biolm control.
We also offered a workshop dedicated to aerobic granu- Existing Specialist Group knowledge
lated sludge, which is one of the most promised technolo-
gies based on the biolm-type microorganisms. Biolms are ubiquitous and develop on water-immersed
surfaces whether we want them or not. Depending on the
To engage young researchers we had dedicated sessions effect of the biolm desirable or not in engineered sys-
run entirely by the Young Water Professionals. tems we try to control its development by either promoting
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or inhibiting the microbial growth in the biolm. Often physi- 2. Developing rational and effective approaches to biolm
cal removal of biolms is used as well, which is considered control.
an effective way of controlling undesirable biolms. 3. Determining the structure and function of the extracel-
lular polymeric substances in biolms and their role in
Several technologies taking advantage of biolms have biolm processes.
been developed in the water and wastewater treatment.
They often offer benets over the more traditional tech-
nologies based on the suspended growth of microorgan- Conclusions
isms. Designing and operation of the large-scale biolm
reactors poses many challenges. Most advances in under- One of the emerging conclusions from our discussions is
standing biolm processes resulted from laboratory- and that several IWA Specialist Groups have been converg-
bench-scale studies. Implementing these advances to the ing on similar problems, and they all have a common
design and operation of full-scale reactors is not trivial and denominator: biolms. We see therefore the most prom-
the rules for a scale-up of biolm processes are not clear. ising progress in integrating the knowledge developed in
Applied research exists that provides a basis for the mech- the Specialist Groups dealing with problems related to our
anistic understanding of biolm reactors. Unfortunately, activities. Examples of these Specialist Groups are Mem-
little information exists to bridge the gap between our cur- brane Technology, Microbial Ecology and Water Engineer-
rent understanding of biolm fundamentals derived from ing (formerly Activated Sludge Population Dynamics),
the bench-scale studies and the empirical information Nutrient Removal and Recovery, and Water Reuse.
derived from operating large-scale reactors. The empirical
information derived from applied research has been used Rapid progress in molecular biology opens new perspec-
to develop design criteria for biolm reactors and remains tive and offers new insights to the processes studied by
the basis for biolm reactor design despite the emergence several specialist groups, including the Biolm Special-
of mathematical models as reliable tools for research and ist Group. The implementation of the new insights into
practice. We are experiencing an exponential increase in the practice depends largely on the rate of transferring
the number of biolm based technologies applied in the the knowledge developed by the groups dedicated to
water and wastewater treatment. One of our goals is to life sciences to the groups dominated by engineers, and
develop reliable procedures based on mathematical mod- focused on the technical aspects of biolm processes
els of the processes in biolms and use them to design and biolm-based technologies in water and wastewater
biolm reactors in water and wastewater treatment. treatment. To provide a platform for the discussion among
the life scientists and engineers, IWA initiated the Bio-
Biolms also develop on surfaces where their presence has Cluster initiative, of which the Biolm Specialist Group is
negative effects, such as the biolms developing on the a member. The charter for the Bio-Cluster initiative was
surfaces of the ltration membranes, for example. There discussed at the IWA meeting in Lisbon, the concepts
is a variety of undesirable effects the biolms may cause. were further distilled at the Water Congress in Montreal
Depending on the affected processes, biolms may increase in 2010, and the rst Bio-Cluster meeting, dedicated to
the mass transport resistance, increase the heat transfer biolms on ltration membranes, was held in Singapore
resistance, increase the pressure drop in pipes, have a in July 2011.
negative effect on the material performance by accelerat-
ing corrosion, and have negative effects on human health Because one of our goals is to develop rational criteria for
by harbouring pathogens. Traditional methods of controlling the design and operation of large-scale biolm reactors
microbial contamination, mostly based on the use of antimi- for water and wastewater treatment, we make conscious
crobials, are much less effective when used to control bio- efforts to exchange information with those who actu-
lms. The unusual resistance of biolms to antimicrobials ally design and operate them. Some of our conferences
remains mysterious and much research has been devoted emphasise the microbial processes in biolms whereas
to understanding and overcoming this effect. other emphasise the design and operation of the biolm
reactors. In 2010 we organised a joint WEF/IWA confer-
ence on Biolm Reactor Technology with the mission to
General trends and challenges provide a forum for biolm researchers and practitioners
to exchange ideas, to review recent advances in biolm
It is difcult to point out a few of the most important top- reactor technologies, and to assess the impact of biolms
ics to be addressed in complex biolm systems, but it is on natural and engineered processes in water and waste-
much easier to point out a group of topics that need to be water treatment. We received very positive feedback after
addressed in the near future to achieve progress toward this conference and we plan to continue such joint meet-
implementing biolm-based technologies in water and ings as these types of events put together researchers
wastewater industries: and practitioners and allow them to determine the gaps
in knowledge that need to be lled to provide progress
1. Developing rational criteria for the design and operation in implementing biolm-based technologies. Our next
of biolm reactors, based on the mathematical models conference dedicated to biolm reactors will be in Paris,
of biolm processes. France, in 2013.
9
IWA Specialist Groups
10
IWA Specialist Groups
changes (e.g. new approaches such as health risk Securing the produced and distributed water quality by
management tools operational deployment) and on-line measure and control with micro-sensors (real-
anticipating water treatment plants evolution (upgrad- time network monitoring).
ing and retrotting) to cope with the new water quality Prevent water resources from pollution and associated
targets (e.g. emerging pollutants, non-regulated water economic issues (CAPEX and OPEX): What cost for
quality parameters) by implementing new treatment which quality of water?
strategies.
11
IWA Specialist Groups
Disinfection
Written by A. Cabaj, Ch. Chen, Th. Haider, B. Jimnez, K. OHalloran, G. Hirschmann, Ch. Shang,
H. Shuval, R. Sommer, S.K. Tiwari and R.R. Trussell on behalf of the Specialist Group
12
IWA Specialist Groups
13
IWA Specialist Groups
no possibility of an independent check of the proper UV-253,7 nm calibrated microorganism (e.g. spores of
function of the UV plant during practical operating (lack Bacillus subtilis or phage MS2) is introduced to the UV
of condence); irradiation chamber under different operating conditions.
no direct measurement of the disinfectant possible The resulting reduction of the biodosimeter is converted by
(lack of control). means of the UV-254,7 nm calibration curve into Reduc-
tion Equivalent Fluence, REF (J/m) with the following for-
Besides the many advantages of the UV technology, it mula, where N/No is the survival rate, k is the slope of the
became evident that the UV uence (dose) delivered by linear part of the survival curve in m/J (UV-sensitivity) and
a UV system can still not be directly measured nor can d is the distance between the intercept of the linear part
it be calculated. This is because during UV irradiation in with the ordinate and the origin.
a ow-through system several factors act in a complex
combination: the output of the UV lamps, the water ow, d
1 N 10
the UV transmittance of the water being irradiated and REF = log 1
1110
1
log
N0
especially important the hydraulic properties of the K
UV device. As a consequence of inhomogeneous irra-
diation geometries and UV plant specic, unpredictable
hydraulic behaviour each microorganism receives an indi- Owing to the different history of origins specic distinc-
vidual UV uence. Therefore large uence distributions tions occur between these UV disinfection standards. The
within the microorganisms may occur (Cabaj et al. 1996). following highlights some important differences of the
New technologies like computational uid dynamics or approaches.
Lagrangian Actinometry with dyed microspheres provide
additional information, verication with biodosimetry is Considering the general goal of safe drinking water disin-
still essential. fection, represented by a reduction of the concentration
of drinking water transmittable, relevant pathogenic para-
For the quality assurance of safe UV water disinfection a sites and viruses by 3 and 4 log, respectively, a UV u-
four-step approach has been proven useful: (a) the knowl- ence (253.7 nm) of 400 J/m is demanded in the Austrian
edge of the UV resistance of pathogenic microorganisms and German standards (Austrian Standards Institute 2001
transmittable by water to choose a sufcient high UV u- 2003; Deutsche Vereinigung fr das Gas- und Wasserfach
ence (UV dose); (c) a standardised measuring window 2006). The UV uence of 400 J/m also covers photorepair
and a UV sensor for the measurement of the UV irradi- of bacteria possessing the enzyme photolyase (Sommer
ance which allows checks against ofcial specications et al. 2000) and includes a 4-log inactivation of most of the
(W/m), (c) a standardised evaluation of the microbicidal relevant viruses, e.g. hepatitis A virus, rotavirus, poliovirus
efcacy of commercial UV plants by biodosimetric testing and calicivirus (Sommer et al. 1989; De Roda Husman
and (d) the surveillance of the operating parameters (ow, et al. 2004). The high UV resistance of adenovirus is not
irradiance, UV transmittance) during practical operation taken into account. In Austria and Germany UV irradia-
by means of dened alarm points. tion often represents the only disinfection step. Therefore
especially high requirements have to be demanded.
UV irradiation proved being broadly effective against
all pathogens (bacteria, viruses and protozoa) that can The drinking water disinfection in the USEPA standard is
be transmitted through drinking water. Of these patho- based on the inactivation of target pathogens individually
gens, viruses (especially Adenovirus 40) are more UV dened for a specic water treatment plant. Therefore the
resistant than bacteria, which are more resistant than demanded UV-253,7 nm uences vary and are as low as
Cryptosporidium and Giardia (Clancy et al. 2000; Craig 120 J/m for a 3 log inactivation of Cryptosporidium and
et al. 2000; Meng and Gerba 1996). Inactivation stud- Giardia but even high as 1860 J/m for a 4 log reduction of
ies under controlled laboratory conditions have been per- adenovirus. In this regard UV disinfection is often used for
formed in recent decades providing a valuable data base. the inactivation of parasites and combined with chlorina-
For an overview see Hijnen et al. (2006). tion to cover the inactivation of viruses as well. Accord-
ing to USEPA UV systems validated according to NORM
In view of the factors mentioned above, it was necessary to and DVGW are granted 3 log inactivation of (oo)cysts of
develop and establish standard protocols for the validation Cryptosporidium and Giardia.
of UV disinfection systems. This has been carried out by
three organisations:
Wastewater disinfection
the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA
2006);
the German Association for Gas and Water (DVGW History
2006);
the Austrian Standards Institute (NORM M 5873- The worlds population has signicantly surpassed the
1:2001, low pressure systems and NORM M 5873- extent to which the natural environment is able to ade-
2:2003, medium pressure systems). quately assimilate pathogens that are present in waste-
water. Although wastewater is not universally disinfected,
The use of biodosimetry to measure the disinfection many countries have implemented disinfection efforts to
capacity of commercial UV disinfection plants is common protect recreational and drinking water systems, as well
to the UV disinfection standards of all three organisations as waterways supporting natural resources such as sh,
(Sommer et al. 2008). The investigation is performed in shellsh and wildlife. Traditionally, chlorine has been the
full scale under controlled operating conditions usually disinfectant of choice to mitigate acute health risks asso-
at a test centre (Sommer et al. 1993). In biodosimetry a ciated with the oral-fecal route of disease transmission
14
IWA Specialist Groups
through water (Tchobanoglous et al. 2003). In the past different disinfection options can be capitalised in one
three decades, concerns have arisen in relation to the use process.
of chlorine and chloramines that are formed when chlorine Given that there are still things yet to be discovered and
is added to wastewater. These concerns include: resist- constituents of concern continue to grow steadily, it is
ance of some pathogens (such as spores, (oo)cysts and important to implement an on-going program to assess
some enteric viruses), as well as the formation of an array new contaminants in wastewater, as well as treatment
of toxic disinfection by-products (DBPs), namely THMs, by-products. Given this situation, most changes and
HAAs and NDMA, and the need to address trace organic developments are likely to emerge out of necessity.
pollutants. These ndings have fuelled the consideration
of alternative disinfectants (U.S. EPA, 1986; Tang et al.
2010; Tchobanoglous et al. 2003). New products for disinfection
15
IWA Specialist Groups
that the probable bactericidal mode of action of the com- 2007). The discovery of these emerging DBPs with higher
bined formulation is a biological potentiation interaction at health risk suggests the need for looking into their forma-
the molecular level which apparently increases the entry tion and control, although their concentrations in waters
and penetration of the biocide through the bacterial cell are much lower than those of the regulated ones.
wall and facilitates intra-cellular inactivation (Pedhazur
et al. 1997, 2000). Attention is also being paid to discover new DBPs from dif-
ferent disinfection means and in different water matrices
In drinking water disinfection HP/AG formulations are including disinfected potable water, wastewater efuents
generally applied so that the initial concentration of HP and swimming pool water. Although there are about 700
is from 5-30 ppm, and the initial concentration of AG is polar and non-polar DBPs reported in the literature, lit-
from 5-30 ppb. While not yet widely used in drinking water tle is known about their quantities, after disinfection, and
treatment, especially in Europe, HP/AG formulations most their health impacts. Alternatives including assessing total
probable future niche in the world water treatment eld is organic halogens, overall toxicity, and precursor availability
as an effective, non-toxic long acting secondary residual in nished waters are being considered. Efforts are also
drinking water disinfectant used in conjunction with ozone, being made to understand the ecological impacts of DBPs
UV or nanoltration which provide no residual disinfectant in receiving waters and, for potable and swimming pool
action (Shuval 1999; Warila et al. 2001). In the USA this waters, the signicance of our exposure to some DBPs
would require EPA approval as an equivalent to chlorine through inhalation and dermal contact. Combining two
for residual treatment. Studies show that HP/AG meets disinfection means is being considered to provide both
those criteria. The patented HP/AG formulations provide multiple disinfection barriers and by-product control.
a stable product with a long shelf life (Gitye and Gomori
2010). Further information is available from the commer-
cial rms. There may well be other promising alternative Sludge disinfection
secondary residual disinfectants waiting in the pipeline for
the opportunity to be tested and approved and enter into The treatment of sludge is commonly presented as a sta-
the market. An initiative by the USEPA and/or WHO on this bilisation process in which treatment is applied to produce
could be of value. a semi-solid material which does not cause harm when
disposed of into the soil or to a land ll. The objective is
to produce a material that biodegrades easily, does not
By-products leach and does not contain pathogenic microorganisms.
Owing to climate change concerns, the disposal of munici-
After the recognition of chloroform as a probable carcino- pal sludge to landlls is becoming increasingly difcult.
gen and by-product produced after chlorine disinfection of The disposal of sludge to agricultural land may therefore
natural waters in 1970s (Rook, 1974), balancing the risk of increase, especially as a tool to sequester carbon. Rec-
communicable disease transmission spread by waterborne lamation of sludge in agricultural elds is still the most
microorganisms against the risk of toxicity from exposure common way to dispose of municipal biosolids worldwide
to disinfection by-products (DBPs) has long become an (Leblanc, et al. 2008). Among the problems to safely
important task in water quality control. The over 30 years reclaim sludge in this way is the need to produce cleaner
of efforts from water professionals allow us to understand biosolids and properly disinfect the sludge. In contrast to
the signicance and health risks of some DBPs includ- wastewater, disinfection requirements for sludge in devel-
ing trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs) oped and developing countries are dramatically different.
and others, leading to the promulgation of regulations The microbial sludge content reects public health condi-
and guidelines (USEPA 2006; WHO 2008) and the fol- tions. The disinfection of sludge is and will be an important
low-up development of technological solutions for control challenge in developing countries as the microbial content
of these DBPs. In general, the common practices for by- is not only notably higher but also includes a wider variety
product control fall into three categories: the use of alter- of extremely resistant microorganisms (Jimnez-Cisneros
native disinfectants such as chloramines, UV, ozone and 2011, Table 1). The complexity of the matrix in sludge
chlorine dioxide; modication of the operating condition (high organic matter and particle content) poses a real
(e.g., changing pH) to suppress the formation; and further challenge to efciently inactivate pathogens. This occurs
reduction of precursors by processes such as enhanced particularly in basic sanitation processes intended for low
coagulation and granular activated carbon adsorption. income regions, for which non-sophisticated but highly
Nevertheless, new knowledge of toxicity, formation, and robust technology must be used.
control of DBPs have been continuously being revealed.
Several emerging DBPs have been recognised for their sig- Conclusions
nicance. The most well-known one is N-nitrosodimeth-
ylamine, which is favourably formed from chloramination Disinfection is one of the most important steps in the treat-
and in wastewater (Mitch and Sedlak 2002; Mitch et al. ment of water, wastewater and sludge as it is included in
2003). Other emerging nitrogenous DBPs include other any treatment scheme. Even though disinfection might be
nitrosamines, heloacetonitriles, haloamides, and heloni- considered as a mastered practice, challenges remain to
tromethanes, many of which have be found more genotoxic proper disinfect water, wastewater and sludge face to new
and cytotoxic than the regulated DBPs (Plewa et al. 2008; pollutants and the production of disinfection by-products.
Richardson et al. 2007). Iodinated DBPs, which are formed
in signicant higher quantity in chloraminated drinking The impressive scientic and technical work performed
water (Krasner et al. 2006), are found more toxic than the in the past 20 years in the eld of UV drinking water
brominated and chlorinated analogues (Richardson et al. disinfection has led to a high enhancement of quality
16
IWA Specialist Groups
Table 1 Helminth ova content in the wastewater and sludge of different countries (Jimnez-Cisneros 2011)
1 1
Country/region Municipal wastewater HO L Sludge HO g TS
Developing countries 703000 70735
Brazil 166202 75
Egypt 642 Mean: 67; Maximum: 735
Ghana No data 76
Jordan 300 No data
Mexico 698 in cities 73177
Up to 330 in rural and peri-urban areas
resulting in acceptance and trust in this disinfection tech- Batterman, S., Zhang, L., and Wang, S. (2000) Quenching of chlo-
nique. Owing to this progress UV disinfection ts into rination disinfection by product formation in drinking water
modern approaches for safe drinking water based on by hydrogen peroxide. Water Research 34: 16521658.
risk assessment and water safety plans. The operating Black S., Thurston J. and Gerba C. (2009) Determination of Ct for
chlorine of resistant enteroviruses. Journal of Environmental
parameters UV irradiance (W/m) and water ow (optional
Science & Health, A, 44(4): 336339.
additional water transmittance-253,7 nm) serve as critical Black & Veatch Corporation (2010) Whites Handbook of
control points in the HAACCP concept of the water safety Chlorination and Alternative Disinfectants, 5th edition,
plan protecting public health. Biodosimetry is a powerful pp. 370375.
tool to determine germicidal uence of a UV ow through Kim B.R., Anderson J.E,. Mueller S.A,. Gaines W.A, A. Kendall M.
system. One may deduce that the quality assurance of UV (2002) Literature reviewefcacy of various disinfect-
disinfection reached by the international quality standards ants against Legionella in water systems. Water Research.
is meanwhile superior to other disinfection methods as 36: 44334444.
treatment with chlorine or ozone. Cabaj, A., Sommer, R. and Schoenen, D. (1996) Biodosimetry: mod-
el calculations for UV water disinfection devices with regard to
dose distributions. Water Research 30(4): 10031009.
In contrast to wastewater, disinfection requirements for Cabaj, A., Sommer, R., Pribil, W. and Haider, Th. (2001) What
sludge in developed and developing countries are dramati- means dose in UV-disinfection with medium pressure
cally different. The disinfection of sludge is and will be an lamps? Ozone Science & Engineering 23: 23924.
important challenge in developing countries as the microbial Cabaj, A., Sommer, R., Pribil, W. and Haider, T. (2002) The spectral
content is not only notably higher but also includes a wider UV sensitivity of microorganisms used in biodosimetry. Water
variety of extremely resistant microorganisms demanding Science and Technology, Water Supply 2(3): 175181.
Clancy, J.L., Bukhari, Z., Hargy, T.M., Bolton J.R., Dussert,
for more efcient but low cost procedures to disinfect.
B.W. and Marshall, M.M. (2000) Using UV to inactivate
Cryptosporidium. Journal of the American Water Works
Association 92(9): 97104.
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IWA Specialist Groups
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IWA Specialist Groups
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principles specic requirements international implemen- in Mongolian gerbils. Gastroenterology 115(3): 642648.
tations. Ozone: Science & Engineering 30: 4348. Willocks, L., Crampin, A., Milne, L., Seng, C., Susman, M., Gair,
Tang, C. C., Munakata, N., Huitric, S.J., Garcia, A., Thompson, R., Moulsdale, M., Sha, S., Wall, R., Wiggins, R., and
S. and Kuo, J. (2011) Combining UV and Chlorination Lightfoot, N. (1998) A large outbreak of cryptosporidiosis
for Recycled Water Disinfection. WateReuse Research associated with a public water supply from a deep chalk
Foundation, Alexandria, VA. borehole. Communicable Disease and Public Health 1:
Tchobanoglous, G., Leverenz, H. and Stensel, H.D. (2009) Treat- 23943.
ment Technologies For Water Reuse, WateReuse Research World Health Organization (2006) Guidelines for Drinking Water
Foundation, Alexandria, VA. Quality, 3rd edition.
US Environmental Protection Agency (1986) Design Manual: Yamamoto N. et al. (2000) Outbreak of cryptosporidiosis after
Municipal Wastewater Disinfection, p. 264, U.S. Environ- contamination of the public water supply in Saitama
mental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH. Prefecture, Japan, in 1996. Kansenshogaku Zasshi Journal
US Environmental Protection Agency (2006) USEPA Ultraviolet 74(6): 51826.
disinfection guidance manual; EPA 815-D-03-007.
Warila, J. Batterman, S. and Passing-Reader, D.R. (2001) A prob-
abilistic model for silver bioaccumulation in aquatic systems
and assessment of human health risks. Environmental
Technology and Chemistry 20: 432441.
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IWA Specialist Groups
IAHR/IWA/IAHS HydroInformatics
Joint Committee
This was Hydroinformatics vision 2011, the synoptic report of the working group,
edited by K.P. Holz, WG Chair, J.A. Cunge, R. Lehfeldt and D. Savic
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IWA Specialist Groups
of possibilities and competences the ambition could making processes: they want to be involved in matters
be limited to build bridges over the gaps, to act upon about which they care and communicate. It is essential,
educational aspects, to encourage research in certain however, that they clearly understand if and which are the
directions, to convince the stakeholders from and out- objective constraints related to physical laws or political/
side of engineering domains to work together using economic reasons and that whatever is done or wished is
means of information management and of exchange the subject to these constraints. The technical means for
that we can supply. communication and information necessary to these ends
are at hand. ICTs have dramatically changed whole econo-
mies and societies, system components are becoming
Changes that condition smaller and increasingly network-orientated and mobile
HydroInformatics vision-background and the exibility of software is opening new dimensions.
Information-sharing and Cooperation between citizens
The background against which one must consider the and stakeholders, consultants, authorities and lawmakers
place of HydroInformatics changed dramatically during last have become a central and feasible issue of the day.
decade. Essential characteristic of the change in water/
environmental areas is the reciprocal interactive evolution Professional engineering and business are unthinkable today
of societal and technical domains. without the evolution of the Internet and mobile devices
meanwhile representing the dominant infrastructure of ICT.
Water/environment issues, within these present days of cli- Networking-embedded systems and networking services
mate change and growing global population have become are offering new perspectives in nearly all elds from engi-
a major challenge for human economies and their social neering to households; they are pushing developments in
organisations. They necessitate more and more complex all areas, representing an enormous business market which
approaches at a more and more trans-national level. The will also reect mentally on societal developments.
essential aim of such management is to avoid, if possible
or at least minimise, the risks of crises in water supply and In view of these societal and technological changes, all
waste water treatment for populations, in water scarcity for of what is called water sector activities (including all
irrigation, in management of consequences of oods, and activities and aspects of use, management, legislation and
so forth. The traditional vision of a water domain founded directives, protection and political decisions concerning
on a separation of problems and cycles (small/large) on water) is being completely transformed and modied.
one hand and professions (drinking water, sewage and These transformations are founded on three pillars:
evacuation, hydrology, uvial, maritime, groundwater...) on
the other hand seems to fade away, leaving the room for (i) Dealing with water problems on different scales of
unication/integration of all of this into a coherent unity. structures and the integration in face of foreseen
scarcity, generalised pollution, climate change and
Society over recent decades has become much more aware the growth of mega-cities.
of the threatened sustainability of the second economy
(ii) Change in the composition of decision making bod-
which we commonly call the natural environment. Most
ies: instead of engineers only, a whole new entity
built infrastructures are considered as interferences in the
composed of stakeholders including the general pop-
environment and their impacts must be correspondingly
ulation, elected bodies, NGOs, the media etc. is now
minimised and, if possible, made controllable. This trend
evolving.
is supported in more recent times by the long-ongoing dis-
cussion on climate change. The water world, especially, (iii) Penetration of all activities, structures, behaviour and
has become much more sensitive to and aware of these reexes of the whole water industry and indeed of all
issues. A new awareness of the notion of environmental concerned groups and individuals by ICT, Internet
footprints introduced itself in the society. and mobile communication networks.
Awareness and sensitivity in a society which is becoming It is in this context that the denition of HydroInformatics as
more open, transparent and communicative, has been collection (including data surveys, etc.), creation (including
multiplied by modern developments of the ICT. The Inter- modelling), interpretation (including integration of various
net is accessible nearly everywhere at any time providing domains inputs), communication (including projection of
Web-services for communication, information and sharing the results and impacts towards large public) and manage-
on documents, pictures, music and videos. Because of ment (including aid in participation of decision makers)
ease of access to and variety of information and views the of information concerning water sector activities should
citizens in a post-modern condition of society (commonly be used. This is new and to underscore this evolution the
associated with what the European Union Lisbon agenda Working Group proposes to use from now onwards the term
likes to call an information society) have become more HydroInformatics (with capital I) rather than traditional one
curious and active, and even proactive about upcoming of Hydroinformatics. Indeed, HydroInformatics, for becom-
changes and the consequences of these for their futures, ing an accepted player in these elds, has to change mental-
and even for their lives. Politically-oriented developments ity and views; it has to implement techniques and methods
within societies that are, ostensibly at least, directed from ICT and information science to collaborate intensively
towards more educated and more engaged citizens, have with other disciplines, not only on the technical level. Only
led to more individuals and public interest groups who in this way can relevant aspects of socio-economics, law
want to understand what is happening within their environ- and regulations, culture and traditions as well as workow,
ments: what is being planned on the local or global political psychology, information policies and media be integrated
level and why this should be good and benecial to them. into system approaches. Such systems will change the
Groups want to be heard and to participate in decision working situation of engineers, their education objectives,
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IWA Specialist Groups
create job opportunities and inuence societies; they will for improving its quality, for managing its quantity and for
support decision making in collaboration with the public protecting against damages in view of sustainability and
showing benet and risk to involved citizens and stakehold- climate change. The activities are embedded in the objec-
ers and help generating consensus. tives of a sustainable socio-economic development of
society and communication processes between citizens,
HI takes and will take advantage of the general progresses stakeholders, companies and politicians.
of ICT (hard and soft), as all human activities do. Clearly,
the increase of CPU power (massive parallel computing, We are at a time when the inuence of modelling is growing
cloud computing, etc.) extends the possibilities of our rapidly. Models of complex physical and human behaviour
numerical models, and of 3-D displays; clearly Web 2.x are coming into routine use. Ordinary, everyday devices
opens the access to our information to millions of new contain inbuilt processors running embedded models.
users; and the new products in the elds of micro-sensors, We barely notice the insidious spread of models into our
alternative power supply, wireless telecoms, revolutionise lives. HydroInformatics community should be leading the
the whole domain of real-time monitoring and, conse- way by embracing and promoting many and varied uses
quently real-time management. But the evolution in HI is of models in water and environmental management and
nally driven, not by these techno-progresses, but by the engineering.
growing awareness that, even if modelling is historically the
centre of HI, it should be connected-interwoven with all Besides techniques and methods directed towards the
the various aspects-businesses of the Water- Environment description and functioning of systems, models remain
domain. the core technological elements of HydroInformatics, but
have to be understood, however, in a wider than traditional
Viewed like that HI is the template to business process sense. Traditionally they described the physics of ow and
approach of all projects as well as implementation of man- transport and its interaction with other aspects such as the
1
agement systems within water sector. growth and decay of species, habitats and populations,
and then in terms of quality and quantity. These models
interact with further models about socio-economic and
HydroInformatics and its main areas societal developments of regions, generating a nonlinearly
of interest and activities against interacting system of models of whatever is supposed to
constitute the real world.
the background
Projects, infrastructure and the business of organisational
Informatics and Information in the units have to be managed and coordinated. Strategies for
Water Sector workow and for running processes of technical, busi-
ness, nancial and communication systems have to be
HydroInformatics comprehends all information technol- designed for in-house and public and political environ-
ogies, methods, models, processes and systems applied ments. The transformation and interfacing of information
in the water-sector and water-issues related neigh- from various elds has to be modelled by descriptions and
bouring elds. Information is understood in an abstract methods which support their implementation in digital
sense; it may be about physics, environment, economy, form. To create tools and methods allowing all water sector
social issues, organisation, law, regulations and more. stakeholders to conceive and interweave (if not normalise)
Models and processes concern physics, business, work- integrated and coherent Information Systems is no doubt
ow, communication, management and more again. Thus the future.
HydroInformatics applies, generates, models, manages,
transforms, condenses and archives information concern- Models of physics and organisational processes might be
ing the water-sector. seen just as generators of information providing raw data
from diverse application elds. In HydroInformatics this
Traditionally HydroInformatics has been focused on the information has to be cultivated according to the pragmat-
numerical simulation of physical processes in so-called ics for which it has been produced. It has to be processed
models. This limitation is too narrow. The term model and adapted to the needs and objectives of the water sec-
has to be widened up to any kind of information to be mod- tor. Important aspects are of course the diverse nature of
elled in the water sector. As information combines data, interacting simulation models of physics, environments,
methods, syntax and semantic, any simulation model is societies, economies and organisations.
just a piece of information in the same manner as an engi-
neering report, a digital elevation model (DEM), a water Models, however, are not the only aspects: information, be
level monitoring application, an operational plan of a treat- it raw from observation or from simulation, has to be trans-
ment plant or a workow map. formed in such a way as to be communicated in a trans-
parent manner to professionals, politicians and citizens for
Activities in the water sector are oriented towards build- decision making and consensual understanding. More-
ing, managing and operating water-related infrastructure over, models are not necessarily in the form of software;
and utilities as well as towards observation/understanding/ they may be also be intellectual concepts which, if they
management of hydro environment for providing water, concern the water sector and if they ask for informatics
1
A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specic service or product
(serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers. Business Processes can be modeled through a large number of methods
and techniques.
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IWA Specialist Groups
to be forwarded, must be put into action or disseminated and its model building. This may be understood in the
within the HydroInformatics domain. sense of structuring information about physical and organ-
isational processes. New techniques have to be devel-
HydroInformatics domain, activity or movement embraces oped, new methods designed, the range of validity and
2
the full range of what is commonly called business models performance investigated and models be interfaced by a
from public open-source developments through to private standardisation of procedures and data. Innovative con-
commercial developments, without bias towards any par- cepts about geometrical representation and information-
ticular business model. dened objects using by modern ICT must be investigated,
with virtual communication and collaboration processes
Some explicit examples of the subjects that HydroInformat- considered with emphasis on non-engineering clients,
ics is related to and with which close interactivity, already such as partners, as well as processes for education and
existing, will develop tremendously: promoting understanding in decision making. Integrated
processes reected in HI tools, which are sufciently
(i) Major role played by GIS as system structuring all interconnected, may open new request and necessities
information, as pivotal point of integrated Information for further applied research, basically in the bottle necks
System. Note that GIS as specic tool fades away, of existing technologies (such as new features in graphical
becomes a part of other bases like ORACLE Spatial. tools, much faster computational engines, wireless nets
and mobility etc.).
(ii) Real time problems: sensors, SCADA, Real Time
databases, related telecom systems;
Education and Life Long Learning
(iii) Tools of operational management (work manage-
ment systems), of the maintenance and of asset HydroInformatics aims at the education of staff to do these
Management. kinds of jobs; such persons might even be seen as infor-
mation managers and advisors. Their prole is not one that
Whenever water related problems, or, more widely, the envi- is supposed to manage people or organisations: they are
ronmental questions are concerned , there is continuity in supposed to manage information within the complex areas
the background of all of the activities that follow. Typically in of the water sector and to that end they must be knowledge-
most situations there is an initial problem stemming from able in specic domains of this area. They must be knowl-
engineering needs, from political or investment projects, edgeable enough to understand the constraints, difculties,
etc. Then one tries to nd solutions that are nothing else limitations and possibilities of these domains in order to be
but elements leading to or aiding the decisions. This logical able to coordinate the information coming from each such
chain from generating fact to the solution-decision goes domain and to organise the feedbacks and interactions that
across a number of businesses or stakeholders and will be benecial to the further development of both.
must be repeatable at any time. So it is obviously highly
desirable to maintain strong consistency in concepts, data, These persons must have a sufcient knowledge about
and information along this chain. Such is not necessarily water and environmental processes to run and validate the
the case but precisely this is a major point for HydroInfor- corresponding models; they must understand the proc-
matics because it is its natural role to ensure such con- esses that are mapped in the related models; they must be
sistency, mainly by conservation of uniqueness of data and able to condense and interface information; they must be
information. When one considers the chain beginning with able to organise workow and information processes; they
projects conceived by, say, administration or politicians must be able to manage documentation and presentation;
and continuing through design, impact studies, decision to they must be able to make information transparent so as to
implement, construction and operation there is a need for advice decision makers and communicate with the public.
guidelines ensuring the consistency. HydroInformatics can Social skills in collaborating with people of different profes-
supply means and ways to elaborate such guidelines for sional and cultural backgrounds are needed. To optimise
various types of activities related to water sector. this whole they must be able to make information and nd-
ings ow in interactive ways from one domain to another
so that the knowledge, the progress, the innovations and
Research and Science the applications in a domain can be improved thanks to
information coming from other domains.
The sustainable development of the water sector comes
down, in implementation and praxis, to engineering tasks This prole demands knowledge about the physics of water
and thus HydroInformatics must be seen as an engi- in hydraulics, hydrology and the environment, about math-
neering discipline. In this sense, HydroInformatics has ematics and computational methods, about information
its own research objectives which aim at the foundation modelling and communication as well as about the support-
and promotion of the water sector in all its aspects. ive means of ICT. Complementary to these are methods of
geometrical modelling, presentation, documentation and
In short, research in HI domain might be summarised, a spectrum of selected topics from computer and social
albeit very unconventionally, under the term: information science, economy and psychology, the latter supporting
2
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value economic, social, or other forms
of value. The process of business model design is part of business strategy.
In theory and practice the term business model is used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of
a business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes
and policies. Hence, it gives a complete picture of an organization from high-level perspective.
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IWA Specialist Groups
the skills necessary for a multicultural interdisciplinary col- 3 years more for specialised studies that replace original
laboration in an international, sometimes virtual, environ- research required in time for Dr. degree.
ment. Those concerned should have a minimum of culture
in civil engineering because of its central role in project Currently the link between the research and practice is
implementation but also in water/environmental legislation weak and the time necessary to transfer the R&D results
as well as in geography and cartography. The education towards practice is shockingly long if one compares it with
should be hands on with models of all kind. The proc- ICT domain. To improve the situation there is a need to open
ess of taking responsibilities should be inculcated through existing HydroInformatics community to (or even more: to
training by internships in companies. The outcome of such create larger HI community inclusive of) engineering con-
curricula should be an engineer who can support consen- sultants that do the bulk of water-related engineering as
sual views and actions of decision makers and users, on well as to the water systems management companies and
the one hand, and executive professionals and engineers, institutions (specically urban water utilities).
on the other hand, with respect to science, engineering
and social environments. The engineer should be able to
maintain this qualication life-long by corresponding learn-
And the IAHR/IWA Committee
ing periods.
It should be remembered that the present document is
This leads to an intensive demand for HydroInformatics elaborated by a Working Group of the joint IAHR/IWA
educated engineers, managers and, above all, leaders in Committee and both IAHR and IWA have an obvious role
public services and in the private sector in a rapidly chang- in the future of HydroInformatics. This role should be
ing society. experienced through a number of activities:
Standards cannot be imposed formally: they have to be (i) What is going to happen? It seems clear today that
developed by Academia in collaboration with the Profes- the whole water sector is going to be completely
sion and its Praxis. If there is a known curriculum frame- penetrated by ICT and Internet-like technologies. All
work and if the Water Sector professions recognise in this may lead in a more or less distant future to the
practice the minimum content of this curriculum, such as unication and possibly the standardisation of man-
is necessary to be called a HydroInformatics diploma, agement of information within areas of water indus-
then the prole of HydroInformatician will need to be try. The things will converge towards the concept of
clearly dened and founded. Note that, following Bologna smart water networking including of course projects
agreement the fundamental change of concept concern- and implementation of works in coastal areas and
ing doctors degree opens the way to better specication river basins, for food and agriculture, for industrial
of HydroInformatics curricula in the sense that it gives use, energy production and biogas, for drinking and
24
IWA Specialist Groups
waste processing. Nevertheless it is very likely that the of HydroInformatics. Integrated intelligent electron-
driving force towards this will be urban water manage- ic nets of all components and services must be de-
ment and utilities. This is so because the population signed and operated for generation, management,
needs today are greatest in this area, because most distribution and billing of fresh and waste water in
of human population is going to be regrouped in the cities, on the level of water-basins, for the manage-
megacities, because this area is today very far behind ment of oods and droughts beyond the regional
the sophistication of ICT tools used in other water level. But also the interlinking of water systems with
domains (e.g. numerical modelling) and, hence, the other areas such as power generation, cooling and
gradient of implemented innovative applications will intermediate storage of energy under ever chang-
be the steepest. Quite obviously all other domains will ing conditions has to be considered. Only through
join in the run and the driving forces will come from the use of such technologies the challenges put by
the ICT industry, not from the hydraulic research, global warming and climate change could possibly
because the former produces industrially applica- be faced in the future.
ble, often off-the-shelf systems and devices that may
modify the whole systemic approach while the latter As an example of what would happen whatever we do
can only produced embeddable tools like 4th genera- consider the one of currently predominant business mod-
tion modelling software. Because of the importance els: the sale or granting of in-perpetuity (generally 20 or
of the water these developments will very quickly 25 year) licenses to use software packages. We denitely
penetrate the domain of decision making, i.e. politics, see the demand for pay-by-use software and technology
nancing of investments, social sciences, information advances now supports this business model in a reason-
& communication with citizens etc. On the other side able way. But we are already on the way towards Soft-
of the spectrum they will most likely completely mod- ware as a Service becoming a regular business model for
ify current (traditional) way of working of consulting HydroInformatics. There are already few companies doing
and also the relationship between the applications/ just this, the information conrmed by the comments from
industry (including consulting and contractors) and 1st and 2nd Circles of persons participating in elaboration
university research on the eld of hydraulics, hydrol- of present Reports. It is clear that current model based
ogy and water management: on selling packages is changing and will not last in the
future. What we do not know is what will replace it there
It is very likely that todays market of the model- are a number of possibilities!
ling software will decline and possibly fade away. It
may well be replaced by Modelling Software and (ii) What we wish or can do? We, i.e. what we used to
Expertise as a Service. All recent developments of call up to now and typically within IAHR/IWA territory,
Software as a Service, Infrastructure as a Serv- the HydroInformatics Community? Assuming that
ice, Development as a Service that so far have what will happen at any rate within the near future
been limited to the area of computer and informat- was correctly described above, there are two possi-
ics applications will no doubt overow into the water bilities: either we stay where we are and look on this
domain within next couple of years. Already most new world from the top of our ivory towers; or we try to
of applications we use on our laptops are stored accompany the movement, to accelerate it as much
somewhere in the cyberspace. And cloud comput- as possible, to make some parts of it more coher-
ing will help it. ent, take the leadership of our immediate neighbour-
This will lead to a pressure from modelling soft- hood towards integrating these changes. Incidentally
ware & expertise business on the water-oriented it means of course to stretch our networks beyond
research to go beyond todays limitations in math- IAHR trying, however, to keep intellectual leader-
ematical theory computational hydraulics and ship in order not to lose the experience and tradition
computational uid dynamics. Same will happen gained during last 30 years of existence of our IAHR
to physics, e.g. sedimentation theories. This will HydroInformatics Community.
also lead to a pressure on the university educa-
tion and curricula. Indeed, such enormous, revo- In this context, assuming that we chose the second way
lutionary changes will ask for different technical and that we can consider ourselves as leaders (among
leadership within the structures of water sector others) in the area, what should we do? One may identify
industry, i.e. for different generation of engineers. three skills that are necessary for leading strategically for
Given minimal 5 years cycle of engineering educa- long-term growth: understanding the operational environ-
tion, given the delay necessary to the education ment, making clear decisions and involving others in the
3
institutions to adapt themselves (at least another strategic process. .
5 or 10 years) there will be enormous push, com-
ing from the needs of industry, towards LLL and Actually the most of the preceding paragraphs are
postgraduate specialisation in specic courses devoted to understanding the operational environ-
and institutions. ment. The very attempt to describe (in a lengthy way)
Networking-embedded systems and network- what we understand by HydroInformatics, as well as
ing services are offering new perspectives in the present situation in industry and education, is pre-
nearly all elds of technological infrastructure cisely that.
from engineering to households; they are pushing Making clear decisions. In our case it is rst to state
developments in all areas, representing an enor- clearly the ambitions we have, and next the decisions of
mous business market. This also holds for the eld actions that we should take.
3
Taken from aa paper in Forbes Magazine but seems correct!
25
IWA Specialist Groups
Ambitions, even though we limit their extension to our To inuence the education (LLL, graduate, under-
domain of possible inuence (that is rather limited) graduate), both the institutions and curricula in order
are considerable. Namely, we wish to promote and main- to help the advent of new engineering leadership.
tain the name of HydroInformatics. We wish to make it
accepted as a domain, the essence of which is to coor- To accompany, as individuals and members of insti-
dinate the results and the contents of a number of vari- tutions, of projects, of associations the objective
ous elds of knowledge (including some soft science developments and events as described above, trying
elds); to facilitate interactive transfers of concepts and to make those that are within our area as coherent
ways of thinking from one eld to another; to help in and bold as possible.
the elaboration of decisions (projects, actions, and poli-
To use as a springboard to this the IAHR/IWA/IAHS
cies) based on synergetic considerations of the results
HydroInformatics Committee, International Journal
of various elds; to pave feedback paths from social
of HydroInformatics, HydroInformatics bi-annual
requirements, through HydroInformatics ways, tools and
conferences.
means, towards various elds while transferring con-
cepts from one eld to another in order to enrich them Involving others in the strategic process. This of
and to progress. Conceived as such HydroInformatics is course is the essence of leadership activity (as dis-
enriching itself through the progress of other domains tinct from management). It actually is the way of imple-
and directing them towards applications. HydroInformat- menting the actions enumerated above. Our Working
ics is itself a generator of innovations by the very fact of Group activity is the rst step. The further steps would
being a transversal approach that uses the progress of follow stemming from our Report.We should take more
various disciplines. Our ambition is to push this concept of a coordination role by more actively making links
through and participate in its development. with other organisations involved in the development
of HydroInformatics. For example, there is consider-
There would seem to be a role for the Hydroinformatics able overlap between the activities of the integrated
Community not only to adapt to improved ICT but also to environmental modelling community and HydroIn-
propose, test and communicate changing business and formatics. Because of this situation the HI Working
delivery models. This can be done through exchanges of Group will initiate, before the formal end of its activi-
opinions, criticism, etc. Such exchanges imply some kind ties, launching contacts with a number of organiza-
of permanent correspondence platform or forum. tions. The full Report will be sent to them and they will
New business models will be imposed by the market be asked to participate in setting up together some
following ICT progress but the HI Community can help to kind of the mailing-exchange list of addresses to con-
discard what` is not so good. tact. But then again it will be for the HI community,
with the IAHR/IWA/IAHS Committee as the basis, to
The actions we can take: organize and act.
To develop a wide (as wide as possible, within and
outside of IAHR/IWA/IAHS) network of people and
institutions interested and willing to participate in
discussions, exchanges of view, of information.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Groundwater: perspectives,
challenges and trends
Written by S. Adams, M. Dimki, H. Garduo and M.C. Kavanaugh on behalf of the Specialist Group
TERMINOLOGY
Adaptive management. An iterative process of optimal decision making in the face of uncertainty, with an aim to reducing
uncertainty over time via system monitoring.
Aquifer. A geological formation which has structures or textures that hold water or permit appreciable water movement
through them.
Hydrogeology. The study of the interrelationship of geologic materials and processes with water.
Unsaturated zone. That part of the geological stratum above the water table where interstices and voids contain a
combination of air and water.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Techniques for enhancing recharge, storage and value of groundwater resources and the general lack of
recovery appreciation of groundwater as a resource. IWRM as a
Transboundary aquifer management concept has its own set of challenges (e.g. Medema et al.
Groundwater- or aquifer-dependent ecosystems 2008) and perceptions and will not be discussed here.
Fractured and heterogeneous aquifer behaviour
Improved monitoring techniques (including remote Changing patterns of precipitation and evapotranspira-
sensing) tion will inevitably alter groundwater ow patterns through
Improved modelling systems changes in recharge-discharge relationships (Narasim-
Unsaturated zone linkages han 2009). Groundwater systems are affected by cli-
mate change in various ways, depending on whether an
area becomes wetter or drier. Groundwater availability is
Challenges and Trends less sensitive to annual and inter-annual rainfall uctua-
tions (i.e. climate variability) than surface water (Giordano
Environmental stress is driven by the growth in population 2009). However, the overall impact of climate change on
and urbanisation and the resulting energy, transport and groundwater and surface water resources is expected to
development trends at country and global levels (World be negative over the long term. The role that groundwater
Bank 2010). High-level challenges, that are not necessar- can play in mitigating climate change threats is also sig-
ily unique to groundwater, include: nicant (Foster et al. 2010b). Adaptation strategies will
rely on investment in better and more accessible infor-
mation, stronger and cooperating institutions, and natural
Global change (e.g. climate change and variability)
and man-made infrastructure to store, transport and treat
(Ground)water pollution and depletion
water (Sadoff and Muller 2009).
Rapid urbanisation with increasing supply demands and
higher pollutant loads
Future research trends mainly deal with reducing uncer-
Coupling of the various reservoir uxes in time and
tainty and risk and are intimately linked with the chal-
space
lenges faced. The dearth of information on most aquifer
Governance of water and related resources
systems often results in poor management plans. The
Groundwater valuation and nancing
trend is towards adaptive management strategies and
Data collection (monitoring) and data availability (man-
this pragmatic approach is now recognised as an alterna-
agement)
tive solution for systems where we have an incomplete
Uncertainty quantication (e.g. model and parameter
understanding of the behaviour of a system (Gleeson
uncertainties)
et al. 2011; Holman and Trawick 2010; Brodie et al. 2007;
Poor land-use planning
Seward et al. 2006). However, it is also evident from the
Scale and heterogeneity
literature that adaptive management can be understood
Capacity development
from a variety of perspectives and is often perceived as
Complete description of complex systems
yet another catch phrase (Allan and Curtis 2005). The
adaptive or learning-by-doing approach is a exible man-
Challenges related to groundwater management are agement framework that allows for changing conditions
numerous and overlapping; we will only deal with some of the (ground)water and institutional systems. To ensure
of the key challenges. Giordano (2009) and Morris et al. the success of the approach existing institutional and
(2003) give a more detailed global assessment of the cultural constraints will have to be mapped and changed
issues and solutions facing groundwater. Groundwater to effectively transition into an adaptive management
is often poorly understood because of its hidden nature approach. The continuous monitoring of these systems
and assessments often rely on indirect measurements remains crucial for the provision of background data and
and long-term investigations and investments to deter- information to evaluate and validate adaptive management
mine fully the behaviour of complex aquifer systems. approaches. For planned high-risk activities the adaptive
The invisibility of the resource may be complicating the management or monitoring approach must be preceded
management thereof. However, groundwater cannot be by detailed studies and a good grasp of how the system
considered a mysterious phenomenon or resource any- behaves; adaptive management is about urgency and
more; it can be described using established scientic laws reducing uncertainty and risk over time. Clean-up of a
(Narasimhan 2009). Standard groundwater management contaminated system is extremely difcult and costly. In
approaches depend on the presence of basic data and the absence of local information and protocols, interna-
on institutional capacities (FAO 2003). Data, and the col- tional best practices should be adapted to local conditions
lection and management thereof, remain a major area of (Adams 2009).
concern. Remotely sensed information is used routinely
for characterisation and extrapolation but cannot be seen The remainder of this paper gives an overview of the 4
as a substitute for ground-based programmes or detailed main issues that have been identied to be the focus of
eldwork. the Groundwater Restoration and Management Specialist
Group for the next few years.
The integrated water resource management (IWRM)
approach should strengthen frameworks for water govern-
ance to foster good decision making in response to chang- Urban groundwater management: the
ing needs and situations (Cap-Net 2010) and provide institutional challenge in developing nations
mechanisms for the adaptive and holistic management
of the water cycle over time. However, different funding Half of the worlds population reside in cities and, within
approaches are followed in managing the two resources two decades, nearly 60% of the worlds population will
due to the inherent difculty with quantifying the economic be urban dwellers. The following paragraphs provide a
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IWA Specialist Groups
summary of the main on-the-eld lessons learnt from work major stakeholder groups will be an essential compo-
carried out in the groundwater/urban interface under the nent of any action plan for urban groundwater resource
World Banks GW-Mate Programme (Strategic Overview management and protection.
Series No. 3) based on Foster et al. (2010c). Groundwater
is generally more signicant for urban water supply in
developing cities and towns than is commonly appreciated
Groundwater contamination and restoration
and is also often the invisible link between various fac-
ets of the urban infrastructure. Regrettably, organisations Throughout the world, aquifers capable of providing water
concerned with urban water supply and environmental of high quality for potable use are threatened by organic
management often have a poor understanding of ground- and inorganic contamination emanating from human activ-
water this needs to be corrected. Groundwater is a fun- ities. Worldwide, numerous examples can be cited of water
damental component of the urban water cycle and there is supply aquifers rendered un-useable without treatment
always need for it to be integrated when making decisions due to releases of contaminants from various agricultural,
on urban infrastructure planning and investment. But this industrial, commercial and other sources. Contamination
is not as simple as it might at rst appear, because it is of aquifers presents major technical, regulatory and man-
widely acknowledged that there has been little recognition agement challenges. Treatment of contaminated ground-
of the groundwater dimensions of urban water and land water is also complex due to the type and concentrations
management. of contaminants that may result from these releases. The
extent of anthropogenic contamination of groundwater
aquifers worldwide is not known.
In most developing cities the installation of mains
sewerage systems and wastewater treatment facilities
Current and future challenges for urban groundwater
lags considerably behind population growth meanwhile
basin managers include regulatory options for oversight of
shallow groundwater can become contaminated from
drinking water projects treating severely impaired ground-
inadequate in situ sanitation. It may be years before the
water sources, use of groundwater models to evaluate
full extent of pollution becomes apparent, because con-
management options for contaminated aquifers, fate and
tamination of large aquifers is a gradual and hidden proc-
transport of organic and metal contaminants of signicant
ess, and full remediation of entrenched problems may
concern, and current options for source control, includ-
be prohibitively expensive. Thus it is critically important
ing both soil and groundwater remediation technologies to
to recognise the incipient signs of groundwater pollution
prevent continued or future contamination of water supply
at an early stage and put in place groundwater protec-
aquifers. Other potential future topics of interest include
tion measures.
vulnerability assessments of groundwater resources, use
of aquifers for recharge and recovery of treated water or
Urban groundwater tends to affect everybody, but is often wastewaters, assessment of the treatment capabilities of
the responsibility of no body. There are clear examples subsurface environments, and groundwater remediation
of places where action is being taken with support of the and treatment options for chemicals known to be recalci-
World Bank to ll this institutional vacuum and to remedy trant in aerobic aquifers such as perchlorate, 1,4-dioxane,
lack of concern or decient coordination regarding urban 1,2,3-trichloropropane, and other emerging and unregu-
groundwater: lated contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and personal
care products reaching groundwater through natural or
Brazil Agencia Nacional de guas established a national articial groundwater recharge.
programme in 2008 to strengthen groundwater man-
agement at state-government level, including proactive Despite signicant advances in subsurface characteri-
consideration of urban groundwater use policy sation and remediation technologies over the past few
India a recent in-depth study for the Ministry of Water decades, there are signicant technical barriers to restora-
Resources on pragmatic action to address groundwater tion. These barriers have been thoroughly reviewed in the
overexploitation, recommended substantial strengthen- literature, and summarised in several reports issued by the
ing of state groundwater management agencies, and National Research Council of the National Academies in
one of their key roles would be the required institu- the USA (see NRC 1994, 1999, 2005). Subsurface hetero-
tional coordination for addressing urban groundwater geneities render certain portions of an aquifer inaccessible
(although in this case the question of powers on pollu- to uids used to ush out or destroy contaminants. Several
tion control are not yet included) recalcitrant chemical compounds have proven resistant
Sub-Saharan Africa an initiative of the SADC (Southern to remediation efforts, including chlorinated solvents and
African Development Community), is the establishment other organic compounds present as organic liquids,
of a Groundwater Management Institute of Southern and with a density greater than water. These dense non-
Africa, geared to practical approaches for groundwater aqueous phase liquids or DNAPLs (e.g. trichloroethene)
management, including urban groundwater use and can penetrate signicant depths through low-permeability
protection issues layers, are difcult to locate, and are difcult to remove
from the subsurface.
However, these top-down initiatives should be com-
plemented with bottom-up provisions. Mechanisms for Management of large urban groundwater basins becomes
groundwater stakeholder participation are usually much particularly challenging in the context of past, continuing
less dened in urban than in rural areas (where groups and future contamination of aquifers from residual con-
tend to nucleate around a common interest in ground- tamination that remains persistent at detectable levels.
water use for irrigated agriculture or groundwater con- Some of these issues have been summarised in a recent
servation to support dependent aquatic ecosystems). IWA publication on this topic (Kavanaugh and Krecic
Nevertheless, the representation and engagement of 2008; Dimki et al. 2008).
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IWA Specialist Groups
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IWA Specialist Groups
often manipulated, data sources obtained from direct and Dimki, M., Pui, M. and Obradovi, V. (2011c) Certain impli-
indirect measurements. The main challenges that affect cations of oxic conditions in alluvial groundwater. Water
hydraulic and hydrological modelling are improper formu- Research and Management 1.1, 2743.
lation of conceptual models (NRC 2001) and the lack of FAO (2003) Groundwater management: The search for practical
approaches. Water Reports 25. Food and Agriculture
uncertainty estimation (Pappenberger and Beven 2006)
Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
which is inherent in the modelling process. Foster, S., Garduo, H., Tuinhof, A. and Tovey, C. (2010a) Ground-
water Governance: Conceptual Framework for Assessment of
Provisions and Needs. GW-MATE Strategic Overview Series
Conclusions No.1. GW-MATE The World Bank, GWP, BNWPP & DFID.
Foster, S., van Steenbergen, F., Zuleta, J. and Garduo, H.
Efcient management of groundwater relies on the effec- (2010b) Conjunctive Use of Groundwater and Surface Water:
tiveness of applicable legislation and institutional arrange- From Spontaneous Coping Strategy to Adaptive Resource
Management. GW-MATE Strategic Overview Series No. 2.
ments as well as good understanding of the behaviour of
The World Bank, GWP, BNWPP & DFID.
the aquifer or well-eld being managed (i.e. quality and Foster, S., Hirata, R., Misra, S. and Garduo, H. (2010c) Ur-
quantity) (Dimki and Milovanovi 2008). Groundwater ban Groundwater Use Policy: Balancing the Benets and
management has developed into an interdisciplinary sci- Risks in Developing Nations. World Bank-GW-MATE, Stra-
ence and is not just the purview of the hydrogeologist. The tegic Overview Series No. 3. (All GW-MATE publications
discipline-specic approach to solving specic research available at http://water.worldbank.org/water/related-topics/
questions is important but on its own it cannot address groundwater-management-advisory-team).
current environmental problems. A coordinated approach Giordano, M. (2009) Global groundwater? Issues and solutions.
that links various disciplines is important. It is thus good Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 34(7),
to see that water research is becoming more multidiscipli- 7.17.26.
Gleeson, T. et al. (2011) Towards sustainable groundwater
nary in nature (see Kamalski 2010; Foster et al 2010a).
use: Setting long-term goals, backcasting, and managing
However, there seem to be very few management tools
adaptively. Ground Water, doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2011.
that are able to coordinate such activities at the local scale. 00825.x. [Epub ahead of print].
Research on a country and global level often takes place in Holman, I.P. and Trawick, P. (2011) Developing adaptive capacity
parallel and is uncoordinated. Managing groundwater over within groundwater abstraction management systems.
multigenerational timescales will require management that Journal of Environmental Management 92(6), 15421549.
is integrated, adaptive, inclusive and local (Gleeson et al. Kamalski, J. (2010) Identifying expertise in water management.
2011). The challenge to all stakeholders is how we trans- Research Trends, Issue 19. http://www.researchtrends.com/
late our ever-growing scientic knowledge into improved category/issue19-september-2010/ (Accessed 16 June 2011).
management of all resources and bringing about change Kavanaugh, M.C. and Krei, N. (2008) Large urban groundwater
basins: water quality threats and aquifer restoration. In:
in human behaviour.
Dimkic M. et al. (eds.) Groundwater Management in Large
River Basins. IWA Publishing, London.
Kemper, K.E. (2004). Groundwater from development to
References management. Hydrogeology Journal 12, 35.
Medema, W., McIntosh, B.S. and Jeffrey, P.J. (2008) From premise
Adams, S. (2009) Basement aquifers of southern Africa: to practice: a critical assessment of integrated water resources
Overview and research needs. In: Titus et al. (eds.) management and adaptive management approaches in the
The Basement Aquifers of Southern Africa. WRC Report No. water sector. Ecology and Society 13, 229.
TT428/09, Water Research Commission, Pretoria, South Morris, B.L., Lawrence, A.R.L., Chilton, P.J.C., Adams, B., Calow,
Africa. R.C. and Klinck, B.A. (2003) Groundwater and its Suscep-
Allan, C. and Curtis, A. (2005) Nipped in the bud: Why regional tibility to Degradation: A Global Assessment of the Problem
scale adaptive management is not blooming. Environmental and Options for Management. Early Warning and Assess-
Management 36(3), 414425. ment Report Series, RS. 03-3. United Nations Environment
Brodie, R., Sundaram, B., Tottenham, R., Hostetler, S. and Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.
Ransley, T. (2007) An Adaptive Management Framework Narasimhan, T.N. (2009) Groundwater: from mystery to manage-
for Connected GroundwaterSurface Water Resources in ment. Environmental Research Letters 4, 035002, 111.
Australia. Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra, Australia. NRC (1994) Alternatives for Ground Water Cleanup. National
Burke, J.J. and Moench, M.H. (2000) Groundwater and Society: Academies Press, Washington, DC.
Resources, Tensions and Opportunities. United Nations. NRC (1999) Groundwater and Soil Cleanup: Improving
Cap-Net (2010) Groundwater Management in IWRM: Training Management of Persistent Contaminants. National Acad-
Manual. Cap-Net, Pretoria, South Africa.. emies Press, Washington, DC.
Dimki, M., Brauch H. and Kavanaugh, M.C. (Eds.) (2008) NRC (2001) Conceptual Models of Flow and Transport in the Frac-
Groundwater Management in Large Urban Basins. IWA tured Vadose Zone. National Academy of Sciences. National
Publishing, London. Academies Press, Washington, DC.
Dimki, M. and Milovanovi, M. (2008) Basic functions of ground- NRC (2004) Groundwater Fluxes across Interfaces. National
water management. In: Dimkic, M. et al. (eds) Ground- Academy of Sciences. National Academies Press,
water Management in Large River Basins. IWA Publishing, Washington, DC.
London. NRC, (2005) Contaminants in the Subsurface: Source Zone
Dimki, M., Pui, M., Vidovi, D., Petkovi, A. and Boreli- Assessment and Remediation. National Academy Press.
Zdravkovi, Dj. (2011a) Several natural indicators of radial Washington, DC, pp. 370.
well ageing at the Belgrade Groundwater Source, Part 1. Pappenberger, F. and Beven, K.J. (2006) Ignorance is bliss:
Water Science and Technology 63(11), 25602566. Or seven reasons not to use uncertainty analysis. Water
Dimki, M., Pui, M. and Obradovi, V. (2011b) Several natural Resources Research 42(5), 18.
indicators of radial well ageing at the Belgrade groundwater Poehls, D.J. and Smith, G.J. (2009) Encyclopedic Diction-
source. Part 2. Water Science and Technology 63(11), doi: ary of Hydrogeology. Boston: Academic Press. 978-0-12-
10.2166/wst.2011.564. 55690-0. pp 517.
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Quevauviller, P. (2007) General Introduction: The Need to Protect Germany. Proceedings International Symposium on Articial
Groundwater. In Quevauviller, P. (ed.) Groundwater Science Recharge of Groundwater, 14.11.2003, Daejon, Korea.
and Policy: An International Overview. 1st edition. Royal pp. 115141.
Society of Chemistry. Seward, P., Xu, Y. and Brendonck, L. (2006) Sustainable ground-
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (RNAAS) water use, the capture principle, and adaptive management.
(2005) Turning the Water Wheel Inside Out: Foresight Water SA 32(4), 473482.
Study on Hydrological Science in the Netherlands. Royal World Bank (2010) Monitoring environmental sustainability:
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, Trends, Challenges and the Way forward. In: 2010
The Netherlands. Environmental Strategy: Analytical Background Papers. The
Sadoff, C.W. and Muller, M. (2009) Better Water Resources World Bank Group. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
Management: Greater Resilience Today, More Effective EXTENVSTRATEGY/Resources/6975692-1289855310673
Adaptation Tomorrow A Climate and Water Perspectives /20101209-Monitoring-Environmental-Sustainability.pdf
Paper. Stockholm, Global Water Partnership. (accessed 11 June 2011).
Schmidt, C.K., Lange, F.T., Brauch, H.J. and Khn, W. (2003)
Experiences with riverbank ltration and inltration in
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IWA Specialist Groups
Institutional Governance
and Regulation
Water resources management in the conditions of global climate change: set-up,
trends and challenges
Written by Slava Dineva and Jennifer McKay on behalf of the Specialist Group
Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is Carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere are rising. Both
now evident from observations of increases in global images in Figure 1 show the spreading of carbon dioxide
average air and ocean temperatures, widespread around the globe as it follows large-scale patterns of circu-
melting of snow and ice and rising global average lation in the atmosphere. The atmospheric carbon dioxide
sea level has increased since the Industrial Revolution.
Intergovernmental Panel on The current warming trend is of particular signicance
Climate Change (2007) because most of it is very likely human-induced and pro-
Scientists have high condence that global temperatures ceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300
will continue to rise for decades to come, largely owing to years.
greenhouse gasses produced by human activities. Accord-
The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other
ing to the IPCC, the extent of climate change effects on
gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century. They
individual regions will vary over time and with the ability of
have ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through
different societal and environmental systems to mitigate or
the atmosphere. Increased levels of greenhouse gases
adapt to change. However, there is not general agreement
must cause the Earth to warm in response.
about climate change in all jurisdictions so there is con-
ict between and within nations.Policy makers in several Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical
nations are looking at adaptive policy mechanisms and mountain glaciers show that the Earths climate responds
seeking new ways to manage this conict and the risk. to changes in solar output, in the Earths orbit, and in
In some places the increases in temperatures with pro- greenhouse gas levels. They also show that in the past,
duce benecial growing seasons and in others there could large changes in climate have happened very quickly, in
be an increased risk of ooding, yet in others dryness will tens of years, not in millions or even thousands.
increase.
Contraction of snow cover areas, increased thaw in permafrost regions, decrease Virtually certain
in sea ice extent
Increased frequency of hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation Very likely to occur
Increase in tropical cyclone intensity Likely to occur
Precipitation increases in high latitudes Very likely to occur
Precipitation decreases in subtropical land regions Very likely to occur
Decreased water resources in many semi-arid areas, High condence
including western USA and Mediterranean basin
*Denitions of likelihood ranges used to express the assessed probability of occurrence: virtually certain >99%; very likely >90%;
likely >66%.
Source: IPCC (2007).
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IWA Specialist Groups
Figure 1 (A) Carbon counter. Left: July 2003. Right: July 2007. Images from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instru-
ment onboard NASAs Aqua spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL. (B) Carbon dioxide increasing since the Industrial Revolution.
Source: NOAA.
resources management should be a focus for adapta- Sustainability is related to the balance between economic
tion to climate change through adaptation strategies and development, lifestyle and protecting the water environ-
frameworks for actions at the local, regional and interna- ment from irreversible damage. Managers need correct
tional transboundary domains. McKay 2011. Sustainable quality and quantity data on water resource at spatial and
development is needed and regimes to promote this and temporal scales. Such records are maintained in most
ensure international cooperation are needed. There are countries and there are some international sets as well.
many ways to do this at all levels and examples exist and Furthermore, sociological information is necessary on
are available on the websites of IWA member governments non-hydrological drivers and impacts, such as ownership,
and the private sector. the real or implicit cost of land and water. Water resource
managers are on the pressure owing to the variable cli-
Climate change adaptation in water management is matic regimes in many areas, ever-increasing demands for
related to nding the right mix of the three Is (informa- better quality water by expanding populations. Mathemati-
tion, institutions and infrastructure) to achieve the desired cal models are essential operational tools.
balance between the three Es (equity, environment and
economics). Water management is weakest in the poorest Governance and management for sustainable water
countries. It is predicted they to face the greatest negative resources comprise issues such as the following:
impacts of climate change in the future. Therefore, invest-
ment in national water resources, management capacity, governance processes and organisations;
institutions and infrastructure should be a priority. Main- institutional framework for water management;
streamed funding will help ensure that long term capacity is water management tasks: planning, development,
built and retained in the institutions. The environment has monitoring;
a crucial role in building resilience to climate change and nance, pricing, and economic regulation;
reducing the vulnerability of communities and economies. water allocation and use; water supply and public
As water is at the centre of climate change impacts, this health; wastewater and water quality; river basin man-
demands a focus on resilience to impacts on water. Well- agement and regional authorities, irrigation and drain-
functioning watersheds and intact oodplains and coasts age; instream ow management; ood disaster manage-
provide water storage, ood control and coastal defence. ment, and dam ownership;
utility and water agency management and organisation;
Water resources management implies the integration and public-private relationships;
stable development of both natural and social systems. environmental governance and social equity;
34
IWA Specialist Groups
35
IWA Specialist Groups
order to ensure realistic risk and vulnerability assessments, Gooch, G., Rieu-Clarke, A. and Stalnacke, P. (eds) (2010).
downscaled climate information from climate experts must Integrating Water Resources Management. London: IWA
be matched with locally-generated data from city agencies Publishing.
demographics, mapping of infrastructure and public Glassmann, D. et al. (2011) The Water Energy Nexus: Adding Wa-
ter to the Energy Agenda (New York and Zurich: World Policy
services, topography, land uses, neighbourhood pro-
Institute & EBG Capital) and World Economic Forum, Energy
les, socio-economic statistics, and cultural norms. Local Vision Update 2009 - Thirsty Energy: Water and Energy in the
ofcials have to provide and analyze this information. 21st Century (Geneva: WEF 2009). For recent references,
as well as US Department Of Energy, Energy Demands on
Water Resources: Report to Congress on the Interdepend-
Increasing in demand for water in arid and
ency of Energy And Water, December 2006, http://www.
semi-arid regions of the world Sandia.Gov/Energy-Water/, accessed 11 August 2011 for
the seminal reference on this topic.
Serious water crisis is becoming in Western Asia, the Mid- Grigg, N. (2010). Governance and Management for Sustainable
dle East and, in some cases, North Africa. Water resources Water Systems. London: IWA Publishing.
have now become the dividing line between life and death. IPCC (2007). Summary for Policymakers. IPCC Synthesis
In many of that countries, the water crisis is caused by Report.
both water shortage or even water scarcity and wrong Reiter, P. (2009). Water, Climate and Energy. IWA Member
Newsletter, no. 38.
water management. Considering these regional condi-
McKay J 2011 Evidentiary Issues with the Implementation of
tions, future will probably be more dependent on desalina- the Sustainability Duty of Care in the Basin Plan, chapter
tion plants, long distance water transfer, and also recycling published in the book Basin Futures: Water reform in the
and reusing of unconventional water resources, especially Murray-Darling Basin, by Daniel Connell and R.Quentin
in agriculture. Grafton. ANu E Press ISBN 9781921862250.
NASA. Global Climate Change.
NOAA. Paleoclimatology.
References
Bogaart, M. (2009). The coordination of water quality objectives
and carbon reduction: the possibilities for less stringent
obligations under the WFD and the IPPC Directive. Journal
of Water Law 186.
36
IWA Specialist Groups
Outfall Systems
Written by T. Bleninger and P.J.W. Roberts on behalf of the Specialist Group
Figure 1. A marine outfall system: Treatment plant, outfall pipe, diffuser, and near eld (Roberts et al. 2010)
37
IWA Specialist Groups
density stratication may trap the rising plumes below the (ISOS 2011) by Henry Salas (Salas 2011), formerly of the
water surface; they stop rising and begin to spread laterally. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), however,
The wasteeld then drifts with the ocean current and is dif- indicated that many wastewater projects in Latin Amer-
fused by oceanic turbulence in a region called the far eld. ica did not yet conclude the outfall system. More than
The rate of mixing, or increase of dilution, is much slower in 10 large-scale projects (each more than 1 million popula-
the far eld than in the near eld. As the wasteeld drifts, tion served) were mentioned where almost completely raw
particles may deposit on the ocean oor and oatables sewage has been continuously discharged at the shoreline
may reach the ocean surface to be transported by wind for more than 10 years. One example was observed by
and currents. Finally, large-scale ushing and chemical the participants of ISOS 2011, as shown in Figure 2. Mar
and biological decay processes removes contaminants and del Plata (approximately 1 million inhabitants served) is
prevents long-term accumulation of pollutants. a major tourist resort of Argentina, currently discharges
their efuent (2.8 m/s) 9 km north the city, directly on
The mixing performance is usually expressed by a dilu- the shoreline.
tion value, which is a measure of contaminant concentra-
tion reduction. It is generally dened as the reciprocal of Studies presented during ISOS 2011 showed consider-
the volume fraction of efuent in a sample (i.e. total sam- able degradation of the shoreline ecosystem (Sanchez
ple volume volume of efuent in the sample). Dilutions et al. 2011, Haeften et al. 2011), including public health
achieved within the near eld are typically of the order of risks due to high bacteria levels along the beaches, which
hundreds to even thousands to one. Multiport diffuser out- are currently controlled by efuent chlorination (Comino
falls are efcient mixing devices and if they are located et al. 2011). Studies on outfall systems for Mar del Plata
in regions with high transport and assimilative capacities (Gyssels et al. 2011, Scagliola et al. 2011) indicated that
they can have minimal environmental impacts. an optimal solution would be construction of a preliminary
treatment plant followed by an outfall 3.2 km long made
The fate and transport of discharged efuents is inu- of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with 2 m diameter
enced by processes that operate over a wide range of terminating in a diffuser 526 m long (Cardini 2011)
length and time scales. The orders of magnitude of these discharging in about 14 m water depth. The construction
processes are tens of metres and minutes for the near- of the outfall is currently in the nal phase, where pipe
eld, and kilometres and hours to days for the far-eld. sections are welded and stored in the harbor before laying
The near-eld is governed by the initial jet discharge them in a dredged trench (see Figure 3).
momentum and buoyancy uxes and outfall geometry
which inuence the efuent trajectory and mixing. Outfall The delays of wastewater and outfall projects seem to be
designers can usually affect the initial mixing characteris- mainly related to political and administrative problems,
tics through appropriate manipulation of design variables, as well as poor understanding of those systems. There is
thus inuencing effects within the near-eld region. In the often a misconception that treatment results in a pure
far-eld, ambient conditions control plume trajectory and and clean efuent which can be discharged directly on
dilution through buoyant spreading motions and density the beaches. This leads often to underutilisation of outfall
currents, passive diffusion, and advection by the usually technologies. On the other hand, this can lead to overly
time-varying velocity eld. expensive wastewater systems, as has been shown in
a second keynote on the ISOS (2011) given by Burton
H. Jones, Department of Biological Sciences, Univer-
Treatment and disposal: Public sity of Southern California, USA, on Huntington Beach:
involvement and Regulations an in-depth study of sources of coastal contamina-
tion pathways and newer approaches to efuent plume
Wastewater systems, namely sewage collection and dispersion. He described intensive eld studies
wastewater treatment, have been growing rapidly in coun- showing that the political decision to upgrade the treat-
tries with advancing economies. Reports from the United ment plant for the existing outfall did not solve the water
Nations Environmental Program (UNEP 2002, 2004) quality problems because the existing problems are not
and the World Bank (2007) indicate continuous growth related to the outfall (Jones 2011). Around 1 billion US
especially in South America and Asia. The rst keynote dollars was spent that could have been invested much
given at the International Symposium on Outfall Systems more productively.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Figure 3. Mar del Plata outfall pipes. Top left: Transport in lengths of 12m. Top right: welding in harbor. Bottom: Storing pipe
sections 500 m long in the harbour for transport to the nal outfall location.
Further technical papers (Bleninger et al. 2011, Baptistelli uses, it is more difcult to set standards for public health
& Marcelino 2011, Menendez et al. 2011) also illustrated protection (Kay et al. 2004). There are still numerous
decient projects, but also presented solutions for outfall system projects where faecal indicator bacteria
improved water quality regulations that will enhance the concentrations are used as the only design criteria. And
efciency of controlling and managing such projects from often the commonly used WHO standard (World Health
the regulatory side. Organization 2003) is used without regional validation.
Furthermore, beach and outfall monitoring worldwide
The open-forum sessions concluded that for coastal is based on counting bacterial growth of samples taken
wastewater systems there are no one size ts all solutions. in the target areas (with different statistical implications
Instead coastal efuent management strategies should be related to sample frequencies and analysis). Results, and
a blend of technologies to meet the environmental objec- the related consequences for public health protection are
tives of the particular coastal region and water body uses, thus delayed, and cannot be clearly related to pollution
and they should be tted to the particular characteristics sources nor characterised by their risk for public health.
of the receiving waters. Thus, the focus should be on the Challenges are thus related to the improvement of genetic
receiving waters, and not on treatment technology which (DNA) analyses of water samples to enable the detection
is mainly only needed to avoid discharges of acutely toxic of viruses and pathogens directly and faster, allowing for
substances, oatables and settlable solids. It has been more efcient monitoring and risk management.
shown in several cases that well planned outfall systems
are cost efcient solutions for coastal cities that have mini- Another challenge is to improve public involvement and
mal environmental impacts. the interactions between planners, designers, politicians,
administrators, and the public. Conventional planning,
These conclusions allow formulation of the challenges fac- bidding, and contracting schemes are quite decient in
ing Water Science, Research and Management in coastal that regard, and can result signicant (nancial) damages
regions related to efuent discharges. Whereas coastal to some projects. Public involvement from the beginning
water quality criteria (ambient standards) are nowadays needs to be improved to avoid the mentioned misconcep-
sometimes already set to regional characteristics and tions and to improve the understanding of outfall systems.
39
IWA Specialist Groups
40
IWA Specialist Groups
Bleninger. T., Jirka, G.H., Roberts, P.J.W., Mixing Zone Regula- NRC (1993). Managing Wastewater in Coastal Urban Areas.
tions for Marine Outfall Systems, Proc. Intl. Symposium on National Research Council. Committee on Wastewater
Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina Management for Coastal Urban Areas, National Academy
(www.outfalls.info.ms). Press, Washington, DC.
Botelho D. A., Barry M. E. Collecutt G. C., Brook J. and Wiltshire Pecly J. O. G. and Roldo J. S. F. (2011b). Dye tracers as a tool
D., Linking near and far eld hydrodynamic models for for submarine outfall studies associated with mathematical
simulation of desalination plant brine discharges. Proc. Intl. modeling. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519
Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms).
Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms). Pecly J. O. G. and Roldo J. S. F. (2011c). Dye tracers as a tool for
Cardini, J.C. The challenge of installing an outfall in the surf outfall studies: dilution measurement approach. Proc. Intl.
zone. Mar del Plata case. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del
Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www. Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms).
outfalls.info.ms). Pecly J. O. G., and Roldo J. S. F. (2011a). Using the efuent
Clauzet G., Rodrigues A. P. F. & Yassuda E. Metocean operational turbidity as an environmental tracer: application to a
modeling to support outfall construction along the coastal domestic sewage outfall and comparison with dye tracer
water of Brazil. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, data. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 May
1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls. 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms).
info.ms). Roberts P. J. W. and Villegas B. E. The proposed Buenos Aires
Comino, A.P., Scagliola, M.O., Frick, W., Ge Z., The use of Vir- outfalls: outfall design. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall
tual Beach empirical model for Mar del Plata beaches as a Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.
management tool. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, outfalls.info.ms).
1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls. Roberts, P. J. W., Salas, H. J., Reiff, F. M., Libhaber, M., Labbe,
info.ms). A. and Thomson, J. C. (2010). Marine Wastewater Outfalls
Corra M.A., Yassuda E., Tracer dispersion study: diffusion and Treatment Systems. London: International Water
coefcient and modeling results. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Association.
Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina Rogowski P., Terrill E., Otero M., Hazard L., Middleton B., Mapping
(www.outfalls.info.ms). ocean outfall plumes and their mixing using autonomous
Cots R., Garcia L., Devesa D., Estudios previos del medio marino underwater vehicles. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall
necesarios para la redaccin de proyectos de conducciones Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.
submarinas. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, outfalls.info.ms).
1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls. Salas, H. Marine wastewater disposal in Latin America. Proc. Intl
info.ms). Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del
Gyssels P., Corral M., Rodriguez A., Patalano A., Fernandez R. Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms).
Estudio de la dilucion en el campo cercano de vertidos Sanchez M.A., M.L. Jaubet, G.V. Garaffo, M.S. Rivero, E.A.
cloacales para el diseo de un emisario submarino en Mar Vallarino & R. Elias, Massive polychaete reefs as indicator
Del Plata. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 of both increase sewage-contamination and chlorination
May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms). process: Mar del Plata (Argentina) as a case not of study.
Haeften van G., Scagliola M., Comino A. P., Gonzalez R. Marine Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011,
sediment quality in Mar del Plata city sewage discharge Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms).
area period 1999-2007. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Scagliola M., Comino A.P., Haeften G., Gonzalez R., Integrated
Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www. coastal management strategy of Mar del Plata city and the
outfalls.info.ms). sewage outfall project. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall
ISOS. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 May Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.
2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms). outfalls.info.ms).
Jones B. H. Huntington Beach: an in-depth study of sources Scanes Peter, Monitoring environmental impact of ocean disposal
of coastal contamination pathways and newer approaches of sewage: experience from New South Wales, Australia,
to efuent plume to dispersion. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011,
Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms).
(www.outfalls.info.ms). UNEP (2002). Water Supply & Sanitation Coverage in
Kay, D., Bartram, J., Pruess, A., Ashbolt, N., Wyer, M. D., Regional Seas, Need for Regional Wastewater Emissions
Fleisher, J. M., Fewtrell, L., Rogers, A. and Rees, G. (2004). Targets? http://www.gpa.unep.org/documents/RS%20
Derivation of numerical values for the World Health Organi- Sanitation%20&%20WET%20draft%20report.
zation guidelines for recreational waters. Water Research UNEP (2004). Guidelines on Municipal Wastewater Manage-
38, 12961304. ment, version 3, http://www.gpa.unep.org/documents/
Menndez A. N., Lopolito M. F., Badano N. D. and Re M. Inu- wastewater/Guidelines_Municipal_Wastewater_Mgnt%20
ence of projected outfalls in the plata river on limited water version3.pdf.
use zones. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519 Villegas B.E. and Roberts P.W. The proposed Buenos Aires out-
May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms). falls: hydrodynamic modelling. Proc. Intl. Symposium on
Miller B., Numerical modeling and eld trials for the Christchurch Outfall Systems, 1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina
ocean outfall. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, (www.outfalls.info.ms).
1519 May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls. World Bank Group (2007). Environmental, Health, and Safety
info.ms). General Guidelines (EHS Guidelines). Download from
Morelissen R., Kaaij T. van der, Bleninger T., Waste water discharge http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/Content/Environmental-
modelling with dynamically coupled near eld and far eld Guidelines. 2007.
models. Proc. Intl. Symposium on Outfall Systems, 1519
May 2011, Mar del Plata, Argentina (www.outfalls.info.ms).
41
IWA Specialist Groups
Communications: an important tool for Water from the tap is still an anonymous product that is
successful water management too much taken for granted. We who work in the water
sector have to do some serious work to change the images
of water and sanitation into the attractive resources they
The members of this Specialist Group are specialised gen-
really are. We have to enter the dynamic, public discus-
eralists and they work in different types of water organi-
sion using a language that everybody can understand and
sations. They have a university education in technical or
associate with.
other disciplines, often including communications or jour-
nalism. Their strength is to follow relevant occurrences
The Specialist Group sees the need to raise the prole,
and trends in society and use this information to inuence
status and esteem with which communications specialists
organisations, activities and services. They know how to
are viewed in the water industry, and to demonstrate their
inform and communicate proactively with different types
contribution to improving the management of water serv-
of interest groups (management, employees, custom-
ices in a wide perspective.
ers, suppliers, owners, nancers, society etc.) using their
capacity to adapt language and messages to the needs of
Many water managers are convinced that effective commu-
each group. They use a wide spectrum of activities related
nications create values and are decisive success factors.
to the present management visions and goals.
Many water managers engage in making their organisa-
tions more communicative. They develop their qualities as
The group will be a forum or network for the exchange and
communicators, leading and inspiring their employees to
sharing of experiences and best practice among commu-
communicate effectively in their different work situations.
nication specialists in water services organisations (both
It demands time and energy but in the longer run it is cost
water and sanitation) as there is a lot to learn from the
effective.
experience of others in order to understand what works
and what does not, e.g. in crisis management. It is worth
Sign board in Accra, Ghana:
considering that researchers state that 70% of crisis work
is communications! You say that education is expensive. But how about
ignorance?
Short definitions
Modern technology and
Communication: the transfer of information between per-
sons.
communications
Professor Norihito Tambo said at the IWA Congress in
Communications: the different media through which the
Montreal that people in general have understood the
information is transmitted.
energy agenda but not understood and not accepted the
water agenda.
Information: the strategic messages that are the prerequi-
site for increased knowledge.
The intent of the Marketing and Communications Group
is to put water higher on the public agenda by building
Communication: the message process that leads to
good relations and understanding between water utili-
changes in attitudes or behaviour.
ties and stakeholders - the wide range of customers and
water users who have many other (water) inuential roles
Relation: Mutual engagement that leads to action and
in society.
result.
IWA members interested in marketing and communica-
tions increase in numbers. Many of them are involved in
Water management must change the Specialist Groups that focus on issues that are likely to
way people think include or involve water users. It is important to realise,
though, that every water user is also a water polluter and
More and more water utilities realise that water manage- in reality part of the sanitation system or wastewater treat-
ment is not rocket-technology; it is much more: you have ment process. This puts extra weight on management and
to change the way people think! communications.
42
IWA Specialist Groups
New technology affects water. New technology attracts technically, environmentally and communicatively
interest from media and the public, especially if it affects into the best drinking water in the world. NY is one of
health and the environment. We as a Specialist Group are ve large US cities that dont have to lter the drink-
interested in sharing our professional experiences from ing water.
communications with experts in other elds at relevant The Vienna Waterworks arrange smart campaigns
workshops, seminars or discussions. We will also offer to and have built such a good reputation that the drink-
arrange special workshops on communications during IWA ing water is considered one of the things a Viennese
conferences. would miss when being away from town. They arrange
excursions for you to enjoy water ... and like in NY they
A member of the Marketing and Communications Special- tend their Facebook relations.
ist Group writes:
There are many open and communicative utilities that
engage in campaigns to inuence society.
A personal diagnosis of the current situation could be
summarized by saying that marketing and communi-
The Specialist Group recognises outstanding work of
cation development is not keeping up pace with the
professionals in the water sector through its bi-annual
technological modernization of the water sector. The
communications award which is now included in the
general trend such as general management strat-
IWA Project Innovation Award (PIA) as its sixth category:
egies, technological novelties, modernization invest-
Marketing and Communications. The rst winners will be
ments required for better quality etc. representing
presented in 2012.
the primary interest themes in the major international
water sector related events, often took precedence
over themes related to better communication, aware-
ness and customer relations.
Recruiting competent personnel
The general discussion trends within the water sec-
tor today are shaped by technical specialists, leading Times are changing, the world is changing, attitudes are
to a perception that the main stakeholder in effectively changing and we the water people must learn and adapt
performing this vital public service the end user, the to these changes. We have to face higher demands on per-
customer, the community is left out. Although the formance. Risks are greater now than only a few decades
results of the efforts made by technical people in the ago. We must attract and recruit personnel with the right
water sector often remain invisible/unseen to the gen- competence.
eral public: most of the networks are below ground,
water and waste water treatment facilities are outside A colleague writes: Is it so that the changes that the water
cities etc. A simple motto for the PR activity could be sector has started lead to a very heavy work load? Is it so
Make a very good job and then talk about it. that the challenges we face make it clear that we dont
have the personnel resources needed? The amount of
Another Specialist Group member says we must use com- work and the stress are increasing as we are facing great
munications to make technology really work. challenges as for water catchment protection, security, big
investment needs. Do other businesses have the same
situation?
Learn from the successful
Successful recruitment is difcult unless the water utilities
Communications are necessary management components and organisations are known and respected, considered
to help reach business goals; create support for utility interesting and attractive. Effective communications are
operations; make technology really work; build environ- necessary.
mental awareness; build customer and consumer trust;
obtain and keep the condence of owners, politicians and The student recruitment campaign Istudywater by the
investors; build good media relations. Dutch consultancy rm DHV was the Overall Winner of the
IWA Marketing and Communications Award 2010.
Journalists, blogs and Facebook form your customers opin-
ions. It is necessary to meet them on their own terms.
Conclusions
Our common goal is to make water visible, interesting and
accepted. As a monopoly we have to choose our own com- The communication experts, the specialist generalists,
petitors. We can learn from model enterprises that com- have a key role in complementing water managers and
municate well: water experts when building more communicative organi-
sations for a successful future in closer relationship with
Tap water in New York has been handled, water users/stakeholders on all levels in society.
treated and developed with the greatest care both
43
IWA Specialist Groups
Membrane Technology
Written by Roger Ben Aim, Corinne Cabassud, Val Frenkel, How Yong NG, Vigneswaren,
Masaru Kurihara, Jan Hofman, Ismail Koyuncu, Xia Huang, Mark Wiesner,
Chunghak Lee on behalf of the Specialist Group
44
IWA Specialist Groups
Table 1. Forecast on membrane market (billions US$) for There is important growth in MBR plant sizes around the
20112016 (Kwok et al. 2010) world, as shown in Table 2 (Simon Judd). The nine larg-
est MBRs constructed or under construction have a peak
3
Market sectors using membranes 2011 2016 daily ow of more than 100,000 m /day.
45
IWA Specialist Groups
Table 2. The 20 largest MBRs in the world? (Simon Judd, http://www.thembrsite.com/features.php) (ML/day)
MRC, Mitsubishi Rayon Corporation; OW, Origin Water; PDF, peak daily ow; ADF, average daily ow.
46
IWA Specialist Groups
properties and performance. These membranes have on the use of FO for industrial and domestic applications
higher uxes, resist breakage to a much greater extent, can be found in literature. During the past decade, FO has
and/or exhibit reduced biofouling. Membrane processes been studied in wastewater treatment, seawater desalina-
based on even more advanced nanoscale control of mem- tion, the food industry for stream concentration, as well as
brane architecture may ultimately allow for multi-functional for purifying water in emergency situations. New and high
membranes that not only separate water from contami- performance FO membranes are being researched (Chou
nants, but also actively clean themselves and check for et al. 2010; Wang et al. 2010).
damage, detect contaminants, or combine detection, reac-
tion and separation. In September 2008, Modern Water (Guildford, UK) built
the worlds rst FO desalination plant in Gibraltar on the
Several nanomaterials are used for the formation of organ- Mediterranean Sea. This local plant successfully com-
icinorganic porous composite membranes such as Al2O3, pleted testing procedures of the product water and, since
TiO2, SiO2, nAg (silver nanoparticles), CNT (carbon nano- May 2009, water has been supplied to the local commu-
tube), chitosan and others. These nanomaterials improve nity. A year later, in September 2009, a larger desalina-
membrane properties, such as (1) increased skin layer tion plant was commissioned in the Sultanate of Oman at
thickness, (2) higher surface porosity of the skin, (3) sup- Al Khaluf. This new plant shares pre-treatment facilities
pressed macrovoid formation, and (4) higher permeability with an existing RO desalination plant, providing a good
of the membrane (Taurozzi et al. 2008). opportunity to compare both technologies. Results were
better than expectations, especially on resistance to foul-
The very efcient transport of water through CNT mem- ing and product water quality. Moreover, despite the very
branes seems promising for energy reduction in seawater bad quality of the source seawater, the FO membranes
desalination. However, the road to useful industrial appli- have not been cleaned or replaced over the year of opera-
cations of CNT membranes may be yet a long and arduous tion. In contrast, RO membranes from the other desalina-
one owing to the selectivity and cost requirements (Verweij tion plant had to be cleaned every two to four weeks and
2007). Maximous et al. (2009) prepared PES ultraltration had been replaced over the one year operation time. This
membrane with entrapping Al2O3 nanoparticles and used clearly demonstrates the low fouling propensity of the FO
this membrane at the activated sludge ltration. Al2O3 process compared with the RO membrane process.
nanoparticles decreased the adhesion or the adsorption
of the EPS on the membrane surface and increased the Other key advantages of the FO desalination process
ltration performance of membrane. are (1) the energy consumption is lower by more than
30% compared with conventional RO, (2) chlorine toler-
In particular, incorporation of quorum quenching nanoma- ance and compatibility with a variety of biocides with FO
terials makes the membranes reactive instead of a simple membranes, (3) inherently low product boron levels, and
physical barrier. Kim et al. (2011) prepared an acylase- (4) higher availability than conventional RO plant owing to
immobilized nanoltration membrane with quorum low fouling and simple cleaning when required.
quenching activity. This membrane prohibited biofouling,
namely the formation of mature biolm on the membrane The success of the FO process at the industrial level
surface owing to the reduced secretion of EPS. depends on how to prepare an efcient FO membrane
having minimal internal and external concentration polari-
Overall, these nanomaterials could contribute to the devel- zations as well as how to separate salt free water effectively
opment of specic membranes in many desired ways. One from the draw solution (Ng et al. 2006).
challenge in the future will be to use these developments
to tailor membranes for processes that rely on driving Membrane Distillation (MD)
forces other than pressure, such as forward osmosis or
membrane distillation. MD uses hydrophobic porous membranes as supports for
a liquid/vapour interface and the vapour is transported in
the membrane pores by diffusion. Indeed MD is particu-
Forward Osmosis (FO) and Membrane larly interesting because the principle itself of the trans-
Distillation (MD) fer and selectivity of these membranes does not depend
on the osmotic pressure of the solution as for the RO or
In the context of climate change, the environmental and the FO.
energy issues become essential and must be taken into
account in the design of membrane systems and in their Recent work has shown the use of the MD process for
mode of operation, so that membrane processes remain the over-concentration of brines up to very high salt con-
or become competitive. The relatively high energy demand centrations and thus for improving the recovery of RO
to operate conventional pressure driven membrane proc- plants (Mricq et al. 2010), for the crystallization of salts
esses (MF, UF, NF, RO) still remains a challenge to be man- for their valorization (Ji 2010). Another interesting applica-
aged. As alternatives to reverse osmosis (RO), membrane tion is when coupling the MD process with solar energies
distillation (MD) and forward osmosis (FO) are being con- (Mricq et al. 2011; Guilln-Burrieza et al. 2011) or the
sidered for low-energy seawater desalination and waste- recovery of heat, which can make MD become a sustain-
water reuse able process. The work in progress on this topic through-
out the world relates to the design and development of new
Forward Osmosis (FO) membrane modules (Winter et al. 2011) and integrated
systems, and on the characterization and long-term con-
FO, a novel low-energy and natural process, has been sig- trol of membrane fouling and its properties (Krivorot et al.
nicantly developed in the past few years as an alterna- 2011). Some platforms with long-term testing of the MD
tive membrane technology for desalination. Many studies system coupled with solar energy or waste heat recovery
47
IWA Specialist Groups
are under operation in many countries such as the Neth- Ji X., Curcio E., Obaidani S.A., Proo G.D., Fontananova E. and
erlands, Spain, Tunisia and Singapore. Drioli E. (2010) Membrane distillation-crystallization of
seawater reverse osmosis brines. Separation and Purication
Technology 71(1), 7682.
Judd, S., the MBR site, http://www.thembrsite.com/features.
Conclusions and outlook php.
Kim J.H., Choi D.C., Yeon K.M., Kim S.R. and Lee, C.H. (2011)
Membrane fouling and energy consumption when oper- Enzyme-immobilized nanoltration membrane to mitigate
ating membrane processes are still important challenges biofouling based on quorum quenching. Environmental
that need to be optimized and improved using innovative Science and Technology 45, 16011607.
tools and technologies, as well as best operational prac- .Krivorot M., Kushmaro A., Oren Y. and Gilron J. (2011) Factors
tices. Nevertheless, for a wide range of applications in affecting biolm formation and biofouling in membrane
distillation of seawater. Journal of Membrane Science
several areas, membrane treatment is becoming a com-
376 (12), 15-24.
petitive and economically viable option.
Kwok S.C., Lang H. and OCallaghan P. (2010) Water Technology
Markets 2010: key opportunities and emerging trends.
The main factors inuencing the rapid growth of mem- Global Water Intelligence.
brane technology are the following: Kurihara M. (2011) International Conference on Seawater Desali-
nation & Wastewater Reuse, Quingdao, China, June 21.
(1) multiple global challenges such as energy/resource Lesjean B., Tazi-Pain A., Thaure D., Moeslang H. and Buisson H.,
shortage, climate change and rapid population (2011) Ten persistent myths and the realities of membrane
growth; bioreactor technology for municipal applications. Water
Science and Technology 63(1), 3239.
(2) improvement in membrane materials and modules; Maximous, N., Nakhla, G., Wan, W. and Wong, K. (2009) Prepa-
and ration, characterization and performance of Al2O3 /PES
membrane for wastewater ltration. Journal of Membrane
(3) operational stability such as better antifouling, integrity Science 341, 6775.
testing of membrane processes. Mricq, J.P., Laborie, S. and Cabassud, C., (2010) Vacuum
membrane distillation of seawater reverse osmosis brines.
The key drawbacks of membrane technologies are high Water Research 44(18), 52605273.
energy consumption and relatively high cost. In addition, Mricq JP., Laborie S. and Cabassud C., (2011) Evaluation of
questions still remain about the durability and lifespan of systems coupling vacuum membrane distillation and solar
the membranes: the 20-year lifespan claimed by manufac- energy for seawater desalination. Chemical Engineering
turers in continuous MBRs has yet to be proved through Journal 166(2), 596606.
Ng, H.Y., Tang, W. and Wong, W.S. (2006) Performance of
operational experience.
forward (direct) osmosis process: membrane structure
and transport phenomenon. Environmental Science and
Owing to its aforementioned intrinsic properties, mem- Technology 40, 24082413.
brane technology will be the centre of one of the core Taurozzi, J.S., Arul, H., Bosak, V. Z., Burban, A.F., Voice, T.C.,
technologies for us to face multiple challenges in the Bruening, M.L. and Tarabara, V.V. (2008) Effect of ller
future. Membrane technology will provide great help to incorporation route on the properties of polysulfonesilver
meet ve of the fteen Global Challenges (TMP 2011) nanocomposite membranes of different porosities. Journal
for Humanity, namely sustainable development and cli- of Membrane Science 325, 5868.
mate change, water scarcity and water quality, balance TMP (The Millennium Project) (2001) Global challenges for
population and resources, health issues and reduction of humanity, Available at <http://www.millennium-project.org/
diseases and immune microbes, renewable energy and millennium/challenges.html> (assessed July, 2011).
Verweij, H., Schillo M. and Li J. (2007) Fast mass transport
energy conversion.
through carbon nanotube membranes. Small 3, 1996
2004.
Wang, R., Shi, L., Tang, C.Y., Chou, S., Qiu, C. and Fane, A.G.
References (2010) Characterization of novel forward osmosis hollow
ber membranes. Journal of Membrane Science 355(12),
Chou S., Shi L., Wang R., Tang C.Y, Qiu C. and Fane A.G. 158167.
(2010) Characteristics and potential applications of a novel Winter, D., Koschikowski, J. and Wieghaus, M., (2011) Desalination
forward osmosis hollow ber membrane. Desalination using membrane desalination; experimental studies on full
261(3), 365372. scale spiral wound modules. Journal of Membrane Science
Drews A. (2010), Membrane fouling in membrane bioreactors- 375(12), 104112.
characterisation, contradictions, cause and cures. Journal Xiong, Y. and Liu, Y. (2010) Biological control of micro-
of Membrane Science 363, 128. bial attachment: a promising alternative for mitigating
Frenkel, V. (2010) Membrane technologies for water and waste- membrane biofouling. Applied Microbiology and Biotech-
water treatment. International Water Association Conference nology 86, 825837.
IWA-2010, June 24, 2010, Moscow, Russia. Yeon, K.M., Lee, C.H. and Kim J. (2009) Magnetic enzyme carrier
Guilln-Burrieza E. et al. (2011) Experimental analysis of an air for effective biofouling control in the membrane bioreactor
gap membrane distillation solar desalination pilot system. based on enzymatic quorum quenching. Environmental
Journal of Membrane Science 379(12), 386396. Science and Technology 43, 74037409.
48
IWA Specialist Groups
Aluminium 100 200 200 50 200 Source treatment and process control
Antimony 20 5 6 Source treatment (rare)
Arsenic 10 10 10 Source treatment (common)
Barium 700 2000 Source treatment (rare)
Boron 2400 1000 Source treatment (rare)
Cadmium 3 5 5 Source protection (industry)
Calcium Source and point-of-use treatment
Chromium 50 50 100 Source protection (industry)
Copper 2000 2000 1300 Restrict use and corrosion control
Iron 200 300 Source treatment and pipe rehabilitation
Lead 10 25 (10) 15 Pipe removal and corrosion control
Magnesium Source and point-of-use treatment
Manganese 50 50 Source treatment
Mercury 6 1 2 Source protection (industry)
Molybdenum Source treatment (rare)
Nickel 70 20 Restrict use and corrosion control
Selenium 40 10 Source treatment (rare)
Sodium 200,000 Source treatment or blending
Uranium 30 30 Source treatment (rare)
Zinc Restrict use and corrosion control
49
IWA Specialist Groups
50
IWA Specialist Groups
cost of replacing corroded iron mains, or their refurbish- potentially remaining problems from legacy leaded brass
ment, is very high and at the national level can total many and solder, and the ability of corrosion control to contain
billions of US dollars/EU euros. Silicate and polyphosphate such problems.
based corrosion inhibitors can partly ameliorate problems
with old iron mains, but are no substitute for mains reha- Ultimately the key to all the problems associated with met-
bilitation. Systems with slightly acidic water supplies and als and metalloids in drinking water is knowledge. The
very low alkalinity, as commonly derived in mountainous Specialist Group is therefore committed to initiating and
areas, are particularly corrosive, made worse by the pres- promoting knowledge exchange through a series of Best
ence of fulvic and humic acids (organic acids that leach Practice Guides, review publications and associated train-
from bog-land). ing. Updates on these initiatives are available from IWAs
Water Wiki.
Corrosion problems can also be signicant when drink-
ing water passes through domestic pipe-work and, addi-
tional to problems with lead (see above), include: (1) Conclusions
failure of copper pipe-work as a consequence of pitting
corrosion; (2) failure of brass ttings due to dezincica- Metals and related substances in drinking water have an
tion; (3) leaching of nickel from nickel-chrome plated immense signicance, not always appreciated, spanning
components; (4) leaching of cadmium from galvanised human health, the management and refurbishment of
iron pipe-work; and (5) failure of galvanised iron pipes water supply infrastructure and the use of metal compo-
once the protective zinc layer has dissipated. In various nents in domestic pipe-work systems.
ways, the quality of the drinking water strongly inuences
these corrosion problems, examples being pH (both high There is scope for the improvement of regulatory systems,
and low), chloride and natural organic matter. This implies particularly in over-coming sampling problems, so that
a close link with source water quality and the extent and monitoring data can reliably identify the situations requir-
reliability of its treatment. In this context, the nal water ing corrective attention. Effective regulation is also required
quality after desalination requires careful consideration. to ensure that the metal components used in water supply
systems are safe and do not cause problems for drinking
water consumers. There is also scope to extend the use of
Looking to the future risk assessment in water supply management, including the
problems associated with domestic pipe-work systems.
At the prompting of the World Health Organization (3, 5),
the global water supply sector is increasingly implement- Multi-disciplinary research must be encouraged in the
ing a risk managed approach to operations, through eld of metals and related substances in drinking water,
Drinking Water Safety Plans, on a source to tap basis. especially in relation to potential health impacts.
It is important that corrosion control needs are prop-
erly identied through adequate awareness, appropriate
monitoring and any other investigations that might be References
necessary, such as water corrosivity testing. A major and
immediate priority must be to optimise corrosion control 1. Mukherjee, A.B. and Bhattacharya, P. (2001) Arsenic in
to reduce lead in drinking water. Concurrently, it will be groundwater in the Bengal Delta Plain: slow poisoning in
important for the deciencies in the regulation of metals Bangladesh. Environmental Reviews 9(3): 189220.
in drinking water quality to be rectied, and for regulatory 2. World Health Organization (2010) Booklet on Childhood Lead
and testing systems that control the use of metal materi- Poisoning.
als to be effective. 3. World Health Organization (2008) Guidelines for Drinking-
water Quality: Third Edition incorporating 1st and 2nd
The prospect of a future possible tightening of WHOs addenda, Vol. 1, Recommendations, WHO, Geneva.
4. Quinn, M.J. and Sherlock, J.C. (1990) The correspondence
guideline value for lead in drinking water is very daunt-
between U.K. action levels for lead in blood and in water.
ing as it seems likely that even optimised corrosion control
Food Additives and Contaminates 7, 387-424.
will not be capable of securing compliance. As a matter of 5. World Health Organization (2011) Guidelines for Drinking-
priority, policy makers should be developing strategies for water Quality: Fourth Edition. WHO, Geneva.
total lead pipe replacement, which could include legisla- 6. International Water Association (2010) Best Practice Guide
tion to force owners to certify their homes as lead pipe on the Control of Lead in Drinking Water. IWA Publishing,
free at the time of sale or letting. There is also a need to London.
understand better, through further research, the extent of
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IWA Specialist Groups
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IWA Specialist Groups
Figure 1. Organic carbon sources in wastewater can be viewed as a viable feedstock that can be integrated with other bio-
mass feedstocks into the biorenery concept, producing value-added chemicals, fuels and energy from renewable resources
and also used for recovery of resources, e.g. phosphorus.
of P and N in EBPR biomass. Optimising N and P removal Another attractive alternative for organic matter recovery
efciency in WWTPs simultaneously reduces the need for from wastewater is the generation of carbon-based bio-
supplemental addition of carbon sources and chemical products. Biodegradable plastics such as polyhydroxyal-
precipitants and reduces oxygen demand, thereby lowering kanoates (PHA) are increasing in demand compared with
operational costs. Microbial ecology has an important role petroleum-based plastics, since they can be produced
in this context since increasing our knowledge on the iden- from renewable resources, including wastewater (Fig. 2).
tity and metabolism of the microbial communities respon- PHA production through mixed microbial cultures has
sible for biological nutrient removal aid the development of been recently shown to be competitive with traditional pure
novel processes, optimise existing processes and improve culture approaches, and has the potential to become more
mathematical models. Some examples therein include the widely applied (Dias et al., 2008; Johnson et al., 2008).
anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process (Strous Other value-added chemicals that can be produced from
et al., 1999), minimising greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. wastewater include alcohols, organic acids and lipids,
N2O) (Kampschreur et al., 2009; Yu et al., 2010), methane- which are used as fuels or for the synthesis of bioplastics/
driven denitrication (Raghoebarsing et al., 2006) and biopolymers (Kleerebezem and van Loosdrecht, 2007).
maximising the growth of polyphosphate accumulating Most of these compounds are produced through anaerobic
organisms (PAOs) over their competitors, the glycogen fermentation, which is also critical for achieving PHA pro-
accumulating organisms (GAOs) (Oehmen et al., 2010a,b). duction and EBPR, since volatile fatty acids produced via
fermentation are the key compounds taken up during each
Technologies for organic matter conversion into bioenergy process. The microbial communities responsible for fer-
sources such as methane through anaerobic digestion and mentation processes have been rarely studied (e.g. Kong
recovery of the biogas are widely implemented at WWTPs, et al., 2008), and improved knowledge is needed here in
substantially lowering the energy budget required to operate order to better manage the often-limiting carbon sources
the plant. Methods of further increasing the energetic pro- and optimise the processes that consume them; namely,
ductivity are being actively researched, particularly through denitrication, EBPR and bioenergy/bioproduct formation.
bioelectrochemical systems (e.g. microbial fuel cells) and
biohydrogen production (Logan et al., 2006; Kleerebezem
and van Loosdrecht, 2007). These technologies can also B. Understanding stability of microbial
be combined to generate hydrogen via microbial electroly- populations
sis cells (Rozendal et al., 2008). The microbial ecology of
these systems is not well understood at present, and can be The applicability of any microbiological treatment system
quite complex considering the wide variety of organic sub- strongly depends on the stability of the microbial ecosys-
strates present in wastewater. Further research could yield tem, e.g. in relation to N-removal, settling properties of
ways of optimising bioenergy production through minimis- activated or granular sludge, or methane production. Poor
ing energetic losses via competing metabolic pathways. functional stability may result in process break down and
53
IWA Specialist Groups
Figure 2. Bacteria with large amounts of intracellular bioplastic, poly-hydroxy-alkanoates (PHA) as they use as storage
polymers.
poor reliability and performance of the system. Such insta- suggesting this is a general feature of similar ecosystems.
bility of wastewater treatment operation has often been This is extremely interesting and indicates we only need to
reported but it is not always known whether it is due to vari- deal with a limited number of core microbes for a certain
ation in the microbial populations or their function. Thus, to type of treatment process, almost independently of the
ensure efciency and stability in future treatment systems variations in plant design and operation. It is possible to
we need better knowledge about the identity of the key study these core organisms by advanced single cell tech-
microbes, their functions, interactions, and factors regulat- niques alone or in combination with the -omics approach
ing their presence. Furthermore, more general principles (see below) to reveal details in their metabolism and nd
governing the stability of such microbial ecosystems should selective principles for control of certain populations and
be developed and founded on proper theories in microbial management of the community. Good examples are con-
ecology, thus providing a more generic and comprehensive trol of lamentous microorganisms involved in foaming and
approach to establish and control communities. bulking (Nielsen et al., 2009b, Fig. 3). Little is known about
the stability of the populations in such treatment systems.
Interestingly, new research has shown that microbial Some studies show a relatively high community stability
ecosystems in very similar treatment processes seem to whereas others show only minimal stability although the
have a common core community of species or ecotypes functional stability may be higher. More detailed studies
shared among different plants. The most recent example with modern molecular methods are strongly needed to
is microbial communities in 25 Danish treatment plants enlighten this important issue.
performing EBPR, where most of the bacterial types were
present in all plants despite signicant differences in plant The rst steps have been taken to form general concepts
design, operation and wastewater type (Nielsen et al., and theories for management of microbial communities, e.g.
2010). Digesters treating surplus sludge from treatment by Microbial resource management (Curtis et al., 2003;
plants (Rivie`re et al., 2009) and even the human gut (Qui McMahon et al., 2007; Verstraete et al., 2007). However,
et al., 2010) also seem to have such core communities, we need more comprehensive studies of selected highly
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IWA Specialist Groups
Figure 3. Filamentous microorganisms in activated sludge system. If present in large numbers, they cause foaming or poor
settling properties and a deteriorated solid-liquid separation (bulking). Control of these organisms is now possible in most
cases due to an increased knowledge about their identity and ecology.
relevant communities in water engineering for studies by developed to study sub-cellular systems (DNA, RNA, and
the novel comprehensive approaches in microbial ecology. protein, respectively) of single organisms to multi-species
Furthermore, the new knowledge should be transferred to assemblages (Wilmes et al., 2009). Together they describe
a better understanding and practical recommendations for the genetic blueprint of a microbial community (metagen-
full-scale plants in the entire water cycle. This Specialist omics), the genes within the community that have been
Group will take on this important future task. recently transcribed into messenger RNA (metatranscrip-
tomics), and those genes that have been translated into
protein (metaproteomics). A meta-omics-driven approach
C. The use of the new-omics technologies treats the community as a system, within which are
in water engineering (what is it and what embedded the sub-cellular systems normally studied by
can it do?) microbiologists. The three techniques have the potential
to be extremely powerful when employed on the same
There is no doubt that molecular tools have provided an samples, providing a data-rich snapshot of both genetic
unprecedented window into the structure and dynamics of potential and gene expression at two different levels (i.e.
microbial communities in water engineering systems. How- mRNA and protein).
ever, recent advances in the application of systems-level
molecular biology to microbial ecosystems have opened Metagenomics is already being used extensively to
doors about which we previously could only dream (Raes assess the metabolic potential of microbial communi-
and Bork, 2008). Metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, ties in diverse habitats ranging from the oceans to soil to
and metaproteomics are three techniques that apply tools the human gut (Vieites et al., 2009; Wooley et al., 2010;
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IWA Specialist Groups
Gilbert and Dupont, 2011). Conceptually the technology is microbial ecology research community at large, and the
simple: sequence all of the DNA present in a sample. New eld is advancing rapidly. This is particularly true for com-
so-called next-generation sequencing chemistries such putational methods for analysing meta-omics datasets
as those employed by 454 pyrosequencing and Illumina/ (Metzger et al., 2011). Some of the most exciting advances
Solexa platforms have enabled massive parallelisation that relate to building predictive models of metabolite ux
produces thousands to millions of individual sequences through communities based on comparative time series
per reaction. DNA extracted from water, sludge, or biolms analysis (Stolyar et al., 2007; Zhuang et al., 2010). Still,
can be sequenced directly, often without any amplication most such efforts are limited to relatively simple systems
or cloning, reducing biases that complicated the interpre- with only a few community members. Much work remains
tation of results and confounded early metagenomics stud- to be done before we can scale-up and apply these tech-
ies. Similarly, the metatranscriptome can be sequenced niques to the signicantly more complex and dynamic real-
following removal of ribosomal RNAs and subsequent world systems relevant to water engineering. The potential
reverse transcription to convert mRNA into DNA (Poretsky for linking omics-based intra-cellular-scale metabolite ux
et al., 2009). Metaproteomics requires separation of pro- models to system-scale process-based models is exciting
teins in gels or by liquid chromatography, fragmentation and certainly justies the required effort.
into peptides, and analysis by tandem mass-spectrometry
(Wilmes et al., 2008). Importantly, successful identica-
tion of parent proteins from peptide mass spectra requires Conclusions
the sequence of reference genomes (or a metagenome)
sharing extremely high identity (>90%) with the target Microbial ecology is an integrated part of water engineer-
organism(s). Generally, this requires that metagenomes be ing, and the fascinating development in technologies to
determined from the same sample (or subsample) used to study microbial communities that has taken place the past
interrogate the metaproteome. 510 years will make a revolution in the way we can ana-
lyse, understand and manipulate microbial communities in
The promise of meta-omics approaches for studying the all aspects of water engineering systems. Most engineers
microbial ecology of water engineering systems has the have not been exposed to this exciting development and
potential to revolutionise our understanding of microbial even fewer can foresee how this can be used in water engi-
behavior and interactions. Molecular tools based on 16S neering. We demonstrate with a few hot topics these new
rRNA and other single genetic loci have taught us much capabilities and perspectives and hope this can inspire
about drivers of microbial community change in systems many researchers, developers, consultants and other per-
such as activated sludge, anaerobic digesters, and drink- sons involved in water engineering to take actively part in
ing water biolms. However, most of these studies have this exciting new era.
fallen short of directly linking community structure to
process performance. A full assessment of community
function is needed to make this link. For example, Can- References
didatus Accumulibacter phosphatis is one well studied
polyphosphate accumulating organism in activated sludge Curtis, T.P., Head, I.M. and Graham, D.W. (2003) Theoretical
operated to achieve EBPR (He and McMahon, 2011). The ecology for engineering biology. Environmental Science and
Technology 37: 64a70a.
abundance of Accumulibacter cells and the species-level
Desvignes, D.V. et al. (2009) Towards the denition of a core of
diversity within the genus have been documented across
microorganisms involved in anaerobic digestion of sludge.
activated sludge systems and over time within systems, ISME Journal 3: 700714.
but neither has taught us much about the metabolic Dias, J., Oehmen, A., Seram, L.S., Lemos, P.C., Reis, M.A.M.
mechanisms that control phosphorus removal. It was not and Oliveira, R. (2008) Metabolic modelling of polyhydroxy-
until the metagenome of Accumulibacter-enriched sludge alkanoate copolymers production by mixed microbial cul-
became available (Martin et al., 2006) that we could begin tures. BMC Systems Biology 2: 59.
to reconstruct most biochemical pathways involved in the Gilbert, J.A. and Dupont, C.L. (2011) Microbial metagenomics:
carbon and phosphorus cycling so characteristic of EBPR, beyond the genome. Annual Review of Marine Science 3:
and to track expression of genes expected to be key to the 347371.
He, S. and McMahon, K. (2011) Candidatus Accumulibacter
process. The expression of genes detected at either the
gene expression in response to dynamic EBPR conditions.
mRNA or protein level provides an extremely convincing
ISME Journal 5: 329340.
piece of evidence for operation of corresponding biochem- Johnson, K., Jiang, Y., Kleerebezem, R., Muyzer, G. and van
ical pathways, nally conrming proposed metabolic mod- Loosdrecht, M.C.M. (2008) Enrichment of a mixed bacterial
els based on bulk metabolite measurements. Observed culture with a high polyhydroxyalkanoate storage capacity.
dynamics in mRNA and protein levels in for instance the Biomacromolecules 10: 670676.
nitrication and denitrication pathways are currently Kampschreur, M.J., Temmink, H., Kleerebezem, R., Jetten,
helping to rapidly understand the mechanism for net N2O M. S. M. and van Loosdrecht, M.C.M. (2009) Nitrous oxide
production in wastewater treatment plants. This will help emission during wastewater treatment. Water Research 43:
to develop process adaptations that further minimise the 40934103.
environmental impact of wastewater treatment processes Kleerebezem, R. and van Loosdrecht, M.C.M. (2007) Mixed
culture biotechnology for bioenergy production. Current
(Kampschreur et al., 2009; Yu et al., 2010).
Opinion in Biotechnology 18: 207212.
Kong, Y., Xia, Y. and Nielsen, P.H. (2008) Activity and identity of
Although simple in concept, in practice meta-omics
fermenting microorganisms in full-scale biological nutrient
approaches face signicant technical challenges. These removing wastewater treatment plants. Environmental Micro-
include nucleic acid or protein extraction limitations, errors biology 10: 20082019.
introduced by next-generation sequencing technologies, Logan, B.E. et al. (2006) Microbial fuel cells: methodology and
and interpretation of enormous complex datasets. How- technology. Environmental Science and Technology 40:
ever, many of these challenges are being tackled by the 51815192.
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Martn, HG, et al. (2006) Metagenomic analysis of two enhanced Rozendal, R.A., Hamelers, H.V.M., Rabaey, K., Keller, J. and
biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) sludge communities. Buisman, C.J.N. (2008) Towards practical implementation
Nature Biotechnology 24: 12631269. of bioelectrochemical wastewater treatment. Trends in
McMahon, K.D., Martin, H.G. and Hugenholtz, P. (2007) Biotechnology 26: 450459.
Integrating ecology into biotechnology. Current Opinion in Seviour, R. and Nielsen, P.H. (2010) Microbial Ecology of
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Metzger, K.J., Klaper, R. and Thomas, M.A. (2011). Implications Stolyar, S. et al. (2007) Metabolic modeling of a mutualistic
of informatics approaches in ecological research. Ecological microbial community. Molecular Systems Biology 3: 92.
Informatics 6: 412. Strous, M., Kuenen, J.G. and Jetten, M.S.M. (1999) Key
Nielsen, P.H., Kragelund, C., Seviour, R.J, and Nielsen, J.L. physiology of anaerobic ammonium oxidation. Applied and
(2009a) Identity and ecophysiology of lamentous bacteria Environmental Microbiology 65: 32483250.
in activated sludge. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 33: Tandoi, V., Jenkins, D. and Wanner, J. (2005) Activated Sludge
969998. Separation Problems: Theory, Control Measures, Practical
Nielsen, P.H., Lemmer, H. and Daims, H. (2009b) FISH Handbook Experiences. IWA Publishing, London.
of Wastewater Treatment. IWA Publishing, London, UK. Vandenkoornhuyse, P. et al. (2010) Integration of molecular
Nielsen, P.H. et al. (2010) A conceptual ecosystem model of functions at the ecosystemic level: breakthroughs and
microbial communities in enhanced biological phosphorus future goals of environmental genomics and post-genomics.
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Oehmen, A., Lopez-Vazquez, C.M., Carvalho, G., Reis, M.A.M. and Verstraete, W. et al. (2007) Microbial resource management: the
van Loosdrecht, M.C.M. (2010a) Modelling the population road to go for environmental biotechnology. Engineering in
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Oehmen, G., Carvalho, G., Lopez-Vazquez, C.M., van Loosdrecht, microbiology. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 33: 236255.
M.C.M. and Reis, M.A.M. (2010b) Incorporating micro- Wilmes, P. et al. (2008) Community proteogenomics highlights
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phate accumulating organisms and glycogen accumulating sludge performing enhanced biological phosphorus removal.
organisms. Water Research 44: 49925004. ISME Journal 2: 853864.
Poretsky, R.S., Hewson, I., Sun, S.L., Allen, A.E., Zehr, J.P. and Wilmes, P., Simmons, S.L., Denef, V.J. and Baneld, J.F. (2009)
Moran, M.A. (2009). Comparative day/night metatran- The dynamic genetic repertoire of microbial communities.
scriptomic analysis of microbial communities in the North FEMS Microbiology Reviews 33: 109132.
Pacic subtropical gyre. Environmental Microbiology 11: Wooley, JC, A Godzik, and I Friedberg. (2010) A primer on
13581375. metagenomics. PLoS Computational Biology 6: e1000667.
Qin, J. et al. (2010) A human gut microbial gene catalogue estab- Yu, R., Kampschreur, M.J., van Loosdrecht, M.C.M. and
lished by metagenomic sequencing. Nature 464: 5965. Chandran, K. (2010) Mechanisms and specic direc-
Raes, J. and Bork, P. (2008) Systems microbiology timeline tionality of autotrophic nitrous oxide and nitric oxide gen-
molecular eco-systems biology: towards an understanding eration during transient anoxia. Environmental Science and
of community function. Nature Reviews Microbiology 6: Technology 44: 13131319.
693699. Zhuang, K. et al. (2011) Genome-scale dynamic modeling of the
Raghoebarsing, A.A. et al. (2006) A microbial consortium couples competition between Rhodoferax and Geobacter in anoxic
anaerobic methane oxidation to denitrication. Nature 440: subsurface environments. ISME Journal 5: 305316.
918921.
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the chemicals of concern, taking into consideration the moulds are among the most frequently reported causes of
background effects of different waters, differing cultural T&O in source and treated waters (Watson 2010). VOCs
preferences, and differing past experiences. fall in two broad biosynthetic groups, those produced at
cell disintegration, which tend to occur in more episodic
Classical sensory analysis techniques, mainly coming events (e.g. pigment and lipid derivatives), and those syn-
from the food industry, have been used to character- thesized throughout growth which tend to generate pro-
ize the background taste of water as a result of mineral tracted odour dynamics (e.g. terpenoids and thiols). No
content. It has been particularly useful for studies which single VOC is exclusive to one species (i.e. a chemical
investigate on the blending of conventional resources and ngerprint), while most organisms produce a number of
demineralised water obtained by membrane technologies. these compounds. Nevertheless among algae and cyano-
Some recent interesting papers have recently addressed bacteria there are broad differences in the most important
the metallic sensation such as from iron species, and its VOCs produced by individual taxonomic groups and there-
orthonasal and retronasal perception: it has a signicant fore, in the timing and nature of their impacts on source
odour component and therefore should be considered as water odour. The most common sources of T&O are cyano-
a avour (Dietrich 2009). bacteria, renowned for potent terpenoids (Geosmin and
MIB), biogenic sulphides (isopropyl thiols) and carotene
A wide array of techniques are available to detect trace derivatives (-carotene and -ionone) and golden brown
organic chemicals responsible for the most common types algae (diatoms, Chrysophyceae and Synurophyceae)
of odours including geosmin, 2-MIB, haloanisoles (earthy- which produce rancid/shy/cucumber smelling oxylipins
musty), halophenols and iodoforms (medicinal) and MTBE (polyunsaturated fatty acid derivatives). Less commonly
(sweet solvent). Headspace solid phase micro-extraction reported sources are green algae (Chlorophyta; noted
(HSPME) and spinning bar solvent extraction (SBSE) com- for thiols and fatty acid derivatives), dinoagellates and
bined with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry cryptophytes (also produce oxylipins and carbonyl com-
(GC/MS) are among the most efcient methods for terpe- pounds). Actinomycetes were traditionally also considered
noids, unsaturated and aromatic hydrocarbons, biogenic a major source of T&O (notably geosmin and/or MIB); more
sulphides and sweet solvent odours, but closed loop strip- recently their importance relative to other biota has been
ping (CLSA) GC/MS in combination with large volume questioned (Zaitlin and Watson 2006; Jttner and Watson
injection or selected ion monitoring is still quite useful to 2007). In addition, it should be noted that all organisms
scan environmental samples for a variety of analytes, or indirectly contribute to T&O during the decomposition of
detect haloanisoles at their extremely low odour thresholds their cells by heterotrophic bacteria; this is a major source
(about 30 picograms per litre). of malodours along shorelines and beaches. The follow-
ing sections enlarge on two of the most common types of
biological T&O.
Biological Sources and Molecular
Methods To date, 2-MIB and geosmin are the two most widely
reported and studied T&O compounds in water environ-
Biologically derived VOCs produced by algae, cyanobacteria, ment (Figure 1). Numerous studies have focused on the
heterotrophic bacteria (notably some actinomycetes) and occurrence, sources, analysis, and control of these two
Figure 1. Global reported occurrence of geosmin and 2-MIB in water environment (Prepared by De-Wei Chang)1
1
Prepared based on 107 articles relevant to the occurrence of geosmin and 2-MIB published between 1983 and 2011
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chemicals in drinking water and aquaculture industries. as sexual pheromones, or in chemical defence against
These VOCs have an extremely important inuence on micrograzersanalogous to the wound-induced response
human behaviour. On the one hand, they undermine in higher plants (Watson 2003).
consumer condence in supplies, but in some cases,
they may be indirectly benecial. They are not known to The complicated nature of odorants and producers also
be toxic to humans at levels encountered in even hyper- requires more study to further elucidate the biochemical
eutrophic systems. However, they are produced by some pathways for different odorants in different organisms. In
of the cyanobacteria that also produce toxins, and the addition, more research is needed in the area of mitiga-
low incidence of human poisonings by cyanotoxins may tion and treatment, and the biota and pathways involved in
be partly attributable to the avoidance of water with the biodegradation of odorants in natural and engineered
signicant odour (Jardine and Hrudey 1999) (although it environments. Progress has been slow, for a number of
should be noted that there is no consistent relationship reasons. (1) At any given time, there is a diversity of VOCs
and these VOCs should not be used to diagnose cyano- in a water body, one or more of which may cause T&O. (2)
bacterial toxins). In addition, geosmin is an important food Most biological communities are also highly diverse, and
avourant (e.g. Camembert cheese, beetroot, coffee and it is often difcult to link specic VOCs and species. (3)
Shiitake mushrooms). The major odour source may not necessarily be the most
abundant species: VOC production per unit cell varies over
Traditionally, identication of biological odour sources has orders of magnitude (e.g. Jttner and Watson 2007). (4)
used a combination of chemical analysis together with Benthic and epiphytic algal populations can be signicant
microscope and/or culture methods. This is problematic; invisible sources of T&O in source water. (5) VOC produc-
not all species are culturable, they may change lose the tion and detection sites can be spatially distinct due to VOC
capacity for production under certain culture conditions diffusion or transport with water masses, or active/passive
and morphologically identical strains recognised using movement of the biota. (6) VOC production may be intra-
a microscope may differ in VOC production. Recently, or extracellular, and vary over population cycles with envi-
molecular methods such as denaturing gradient gel elec- ronmental conditions. (7) Most water quality studies have
trophoresis (DGGE), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), focused on processes within aquatic systems, although it
and quantitative PCR (qPCR), have been employed to is clear that the watershed can make a signicant contri-
identify the presence of potential odorant producing genes bution to surface water odour.
in environmental samples. Initially, 16S ribosomal RNA
(16S rRNA) combined with DGGE, PCR, or qPCR has been
used to identify and/or quantify geosmin-producing cyano- Treatment Methods
bacteria, such as Anabaena. Similar methods have also
been employed to construct the bacterial communities in The primary objective of the water treatment is its disin-
water treatment processes involving biodegradation, such fection and to obtain a product with a suitable chemical
as sand lters, and to identify the bacteria responsible for purity for human consumption. However, it is important to
the destruction of odorants. Recently, signicant advances also consider the important of the organoleptic properties
have been made in the understanding of the biosynthesis of nished water. The effects of treatment on the T&O of
of geosmin and 2-MIB by both cyanobacteria and actino- water can be driven by three mechanisms: rst, the typical
mycetes, and providing the basis for the development of residual disinfectant avour, which is the main character-
molecular methods to quantify the genes responsible for istic of tap water for consumers, as opposed to bottled
their biosynthesis (Giglio et al. 2011). The method has water; secondly, the disinfection by-products, which are
been tested in Myponga Reservoir, South Australia, which produced by chemical reaction between the disinfectant
has frequent blooms of a geosmin producing cyanobacteria and the organic matter present in water; and third, the
Anabaena circinalis. Comparison of results from qPCR, cell change in the saline content, which is relevant when mem-
counts and geosmin measures showed that the approach brane techniques are used.
might provide reasonably good estimates of geosmin-
producing cyanobacteria in source waters. However, the The typical disinfectant avour has been studied espe-
method still requires more validation on eld samples, and cially for chlorine and chloramines. Signicant knowledge
extrapolation to other cyanobacteria before this approach has been achieved about several aspects of its perception,
can be fully incorporated into monitoring programs. such as detection thresholds and masking or synergetic
effects with compounds present in water. It is also well
Lipid degradation products (oxylipins; notably 2,4- known that perception is dependent on persons and also
heptadienal, 2,6-nonadienal, 2,4-decadienal and 2,4,7- between populations with different consumption habits.
decatrienal) are common causes of odour in surface Concerning the disinfection by-products, notable ndings
waters (and many oily foods), responsible, for example, have been obtained about their identication and effects,
for shy smells associated with spring plankton blooms, such as the fruity avours in ozonated waters due to alde-
rock biolms and nets. Oxylipins are produced by algae hydes formation (Anselme et al. 1988). And third, the
with high cell content of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty membrane technology improves the avour of waters by
acids such as linolenic, linoleic and eicosapentaenoic acid reducing the concentration of organic compounds. But,
(EPA), particularly golden brown algae (chrysophytes, syn- on the other hand, these processes notably reduce the
urophytes, diatoms), dinoagellates and other agellates. saline content of the water and alter the proportions of
Because production is triggered by enzymes released at the ions. These changes in the mineralization modify the
cell disruption, these VOCs are generated at the end of taste of the water and can inuence the perception of the
an algal population cycle, or during disruptive processes consumer.
such as grazing or treatment. However, some release also
occurs during growth: there is now strong evidence that Some processes (e.g. chlorination, ozonation) exacerbate
some unsaturated PUFA derivatives serve active roles T&O by releasing cell-bound VOCs, and/or producing
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IWA Specialist Groups
2
It should be noted, however, that some species of cyanobacteria (and algae) can bloom under a climate regimes ranging from arctic
to tropical.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Emerging biological sensors, including adenosine triphos- Membranes have been a revolution in the water treatment
phate (ATP), immunoassay and molecular techniques, and sector. In the future, more efcient materials will be avail-
uorescence-based methods may also provide information able, and it will be possible to achieve better removal of
about bacteria/algae/cyanobacteria in water, potentially undesired compounds.
allowing for rapid interpretation of off avours in water.
However, studies are required to test and validate these
on-line sensors during off avour episodes. Conclusions
Methods to characterize the odorants for algal blooms are Although off avours in the aquatic environment continue
urgently required, as the issues are increasingly observed. to be a major drinking water issue in many countries, the
The chemicals may be different from conventional geo- different nature of the issues found in particular regions
smin and 2-MIB. For example, an important group of the substantiates the importance of the problems. Monitoring
compounds include sulphur-related compounds, which and analytical methods for off avour chemicals require
has been reported in Wuxi, China in 2008, where water further studies, in particular for on-line and/or near real
supply for the city was interrupted due to sulphide relevant time analytical capacities, and also an enrichment of the
compounds (Yang et al. 2008). taste-and-odour wheel from the FPA method with new
descriptors and compounds. Sensory analysis is a useful
Finally, as the eld of risk communication grows, the com- complementary tool to chemical analysis for understanding
munication to the public about the taste and odour quality taste-and-odour events. It is being used to understand per-
of water needs more attention. The public has become ception of the water consumers, for example about disin-
more knowledgeable, or more accessible to information on fectants or blending of conventional and membrane treated
water quality. The Internet is loaded with good and bad waters. Further study of odour threshold concentrations
information that the public uses to make judgements about and how to set aesthetic-based drinking water standards
the safety of water. Water suppliers need to be primary for water supply is an area of future research as well.
sources of information about their water, especially when
off avours occur. This requires training of water suppliers The genes responsible for the biosynthesis of geosmin and
in risk communication and in the tools the public uses to 2-MIB have been decoded and more studies are needed
obtain information, such as social networking. Fortunately, to verify the approach for quantication of odorant produc-
we can take advantage of the advances being made in ing genes as well as to nd their correlation with odorant
other elds, such as crisis management, to guide develop- concentrations. Extrapolating the approach to other spe-
ments for better public communication and education on cies and genera of cyanobacteria and odorant degrading
taste and odour. bacteria will certainly establish a foundation for better
monitoring techniques. Climate change obviously may
have the potential to signicantly inuence water quality.
Compound/Odour Specific Treatment Its impact on the growth of cyanobacteria, the generation,
Methods fate, and transport of odorants in water deserves a system-
atic analysis and more research.
Drinking water supplies have traditionally focussed their
efforts on providing a product with health guarantees. As anthropogenic pollution in source water becomes an
However, the consumer does not evaluate the water by important concern, methods to rapidly identify and moni-
taking into account the regulations but rather in terms of tor the chemicals and avours responsible for episodes
its aesthetic properties. For this reason, the water suppli- are increasingly demanded. On-line instrumentations and
ers are making a noteworthy effort to improve the odour biological monitors may have the potential to be applied
and taste of water by developing better treatment tech- directly and indirectly to monitor for odorants, although
nologies. method development and validation are required. Treat-
ment of the most common episodes caused by geosmin
Traditionally, taste and odour issues have become relevant and 2-MIB has been standardized. However, for other
when the supplier faces a T&O event. Although sometimes emerging chemicals, selection of treatment trains depends
the causative agent has been anthropogenic, the most on the nature of the chemicals. The effectiveness for the
common episodes have been produced by natural agents control of different combinations of odorants and treat-
like geosmin and 2-MIB, which are produced by certain ment processes requires further investigation.
cyanobacterial blooms. For the compounds other than
geosmin and 2-MIB, selection of treatment depends on
the nature of the chemicals. The control of different com- References
binations of odorants and treatment processes requires
further investigation. Anselme, C., Duguet, J.P. , Mallevialle, J. and Suffet, I.H. (1988)
Removal of taste and odors by ozonation. Journal American
Granular and powdered activated carbon have been Water Works Association 80(10), 4551.
shown to be very effective at reducing the concentrations Bruchet, A. (1999) Solved and unsolved cases of taste and odor
of undesired compounds, but they are not able to remove episodes in the les of Inspector Cluzeau. Water Science
and Technology 40(6), 1521
certain compounds, such as some sulphur-related com-
Dietrich, A. (2009) The sense of smell: contribution of orthonasal
pounds from anaerobic reactions. Other choices should and retronasal perception applied to metallic avour of
be made, including oxidation and advanced oxidation drinking water. J. Water Supply: AQUA 58(8), 562570.
processes in this case. It is necessary to investigate alter- Giglio, S., Chou, W.K.W., Ikeda, H., Cane, D.E. and Monis, P.T.
natives such as ozonation combined with UV irradiation or (2011) Biosynthesis of 2-Methylisoborneol in Cyanobacteria.
hydrogen peroxide. Environ. Sci. Technol. 45, 992998
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IWA Specialist Groups
Jardine, C.G, Gibson, N. and Hrudey S.E. (1999) Detection of Watson, S.B. (2003). Chemical communication or chemical
odour and health risk perception of drinking water. Water waste? A review of the chemical ecology of algal odour.
Science and Technology 40(6), 9198. Phycologia 42: 333350.
Jttner, F. and Watson S.B. (2007). Biochemical and ecological Watson, S.B. (2010) Algal taste and odour. Chapter 9 in Algae:
control of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol in source waters. Source to Treatment. AWWA Manual of Water Supply
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73(14), 43954406. Practice, M57, ISBN 978-1-58321-787-0.
Paerl, H.W. and Huisman J. (2008) Blooms like it hot. Science Yang, M., Yu, J.W., Li, Z.L., Guo, Z.L., Burch, M. and Lin, T.F.
320, 57. (2008) Taihu Lake Not to Blame for Wuxis Woes. Science
Storey, M.V., van der Gaag, B. and Burns, B.P. (2011) Advances 319, 158.
in on-line drinking water quality monitoring and early Zaitlin B. and Watson, S.B. (2006). Actinomycetes in relation to
warning systems, Water Research 5, 741747. taste and odour in drinking water: myths, tenets and truths.
Suffet, I.E., Khiari, D. and Bruchet, G. (1999) The drinking water Water Research 40:17411753.
taste and odor wheel for the millennium: beyond geosmin
and 2-methylisoborneol, Water Science and Technology
40(6), 114.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Resources-oriented sanitation
Written by Ebba af Petersens, Marika Palmr Rivera, Tove Larsen, Grietje Zeeman, Gnter Langergraber
and Elisabeth Kvarnstrm on behalf of the Specialist Group
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IWA Specialist Groups
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Sweden has national environmental objectives where one
supported a productive sanitation project in Niger during of the targets is that by 2015 at least 60% of the phospho-
2009 which was implemented by CREPA (Le Centre rus in wastewater should be reused on productive land;
Rgional pour lEau Potable et lAssainissement faible half of which arable land. Since most of the wastewater is
cot) and PPILDA (Project for the Promotion of Local Ini- treated in conventional wastewater treatment plants, the
tiative for Development in Agui). A policy study from that focus for this target has been the reuse of sludge from
project recommended to work on three levels: (i) stake- wastewater treatment plants as fertiliser. There is however
holder level, (ii) framing of productive sanitation in existing and on-going debate about the pollutants in sludge. The
strategies and programs, (iii) to promote resources-oriented national organisation for co-operation between water and
sanitation , for widespread of productive sanitation in Niger. wastewater utilities has launched a system for control of
On the issue of stakeholders it was recommended to work sludge quality for reuse in agriculture, and the Swedish
with farmer-to-farmer visits, inter-village groups, women national farmers association is positive regarding the
organisations and locally active NGOs. Stakeholders impor- use of quality controlled sludge as fertiliser. However, the
tant on regional level in Niger are the de-concentrated state farmers association has stated that they prefer source-
technical services, other on-going projects and the coor- separated urine and blackwater, and that Sweden should
dinating body of water and sanitation actors on regional adopt a long term strategy for the conversion of conven-
level: CREPA. The regional level actors are important in tional wastewater systems to source-separating systems.
Niger, where the decentralisation process is not yet fully
functional. Thus, the technical capacity available with the
de-concentrated state technical services is very important.
The interaction with other projects could be to try and intro-
duce the concept of urinals in CLTS (Community-Led Total
Sanitation) projects. This would be a simple way to build
upon the CLTS method and allowing for simple reuse with-
out compromising the CLTS goal of zero open defecation.
Sweden
Since the beginning of the 1990s, there has been an
on-going debate in Sweden about the sustainability of the
current wastewater systems in terms of nutrient recovery.
This debate led to the development of sanitation systems
with urine-diversion and by now, there are approximately
ten thousand porcelain urine-diverting toilets installed in
Sweden and at least 1015 larger systems for reuse of
human urine, of which most are managed by municipali-
ties. Although these systems have proven to have great
potential, the technology needs to be further developed
(especially urine-diversion toilets) in order to be more con-
venient and user-friendly.
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IWA Specialist Groups
including urine and blackwater, is under way, which sets the moment, most practical research takes place in rural
requirements regarding hygenisation, heavy metal con- areas of developing countries, because there is a huge
tent, etc., and facilitates the use of these fractions on demand on implementation of sanitation systems. Besides
arable land. technological challenges, e.g. lack of attractive source
diverting toilets for urban areas, the importance of includ-
A lot of knowledge on how to install and manage urine ing soft factors (e.g. operation and maintenance) already
diversion and blackwater separation systems has been in the planning process for a sustainable implementation
gained in research and pilot projects, but this knowledge has to be stressed.
needs to be transferred to implementers, technicians,
municipalities, etc. Toilet design needs improvement, but Another important factor for achieving a paradigm shift,
the market today is far too small for the manufactures to for designing the new wastewater systems for the 21st
invest in product development, and without a better toilet century and beyond including resource-efciency, is
design it is difcult to attract a bigger market. There is also an urgent need for the wastewater sector to think about
a lack of economic incentives for home owners, farmers problem-solving and product-adapting in both ends of the
and other stakeholders. wastewater chain. There is a consumer also at the end,
the farmer, and her/his demands on the nutrients from the
If existing infrastructure for conventional water-borne sani- society, its quality and availability should lead the devel-
tation exists an abrupt change to resources-oriented sani- opment of new, innovative resources-oriented sanitation
tation is not realistic. Therefore a strategy for a gradual (50 systems. An increased understanding of the farmer as
years) transition from conventional to resources-oriented a client rather than an alternative to a landll for todays
sanitation should be developed. New settlements and sludge would create a new platform where it is more likely
those parts of the old system that have to be renewed can that resources from the society can be reused safely in
be converted to resources-oriented concepts more eas- agriculture with a high acceptance. It makes all the sense
ily. Additionally, the development of guidelines on plan- in the world for the wastewater sector to look at the waste
ning and implementation of resources-oriented sanitation sector where source diverting and composting of organic
concepts from an organisation well-accepted among engi- household waste is quite commonplace these days, where
neers (such as the DWA in Germany) shall contribute to large-scale trials to create a compost from mixed house-
more widespread implementation of resources-oriented hold waste seem out-dated. If the toilet fraction of the
systems. wastewater, the blackwater or urine and faeces separately,
would be kept separately it is logical that the equivalent
development of an accepted reuse of the high nutrient-
Conclusions (and outlook) containing wastewater fractions could be achieved.
In view of the immense problems arising from global pop- The technical part of the system needs to be functioning
ulation growth, urban development and climate change awlessly in order for complete acceptance in the long run
on a global scale, a paradigm change of sanitation and and there is a need for client thinking also in the end of
excreta management is necessary. Source diversion is the chain. However, a fully functional technical system is
a promising concept for achieving resource efciency in not the only key to full acceptance of resources-oriented
wastewater management, but it will take a large effort of sanitation. Nothing will happen on a larger scale without
research and technical development in order to develop political buy-in and active steering in the sector. The waste-
competitive technologies. For rural areas, a large number water sector, being heavy on infrastructure, is conservative
of technologies are available, but compact, attractive tech- and to achieve a paradigm shift in such a sector some
nologies for urban areas are missing. One main challenge rm, high-level political decision-making is necessary.
of source diverting technologies is the requirement for Thus what is ultimately needed for achieving the paradigm
decentralised, complete solutions. With more wastewater shift is political boldness to lead and push for the shift, as
fractions, the transport issue becomes critical and at the well as technological, innovative and managerial boldness
same time, several technologies must be implemented. At within the wastewater sector.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Decentralised wastewater
management: an overview
Prepared by the Specialist Group on Sanitation and Water Management in Developing Countries
of the International Water Association
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IWA Specialist Groups
Pit latrines Pour ush toilets + pit latrines Flush toilets + septic tanks
Composting toilets Pour ush toilets + septic tanks Aqua privy
Toilet
On-site Dry urine separation toilets + Wet urine separation toilets +
storage units treatment system
Greywater Soak pit and inltration
Septic tank
Off-site Most above options but with public toilets (off-site with respect to the households)
Flush toilets/Greywater +
sewerage system +
treatment system
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IWA Specialist Groups
Content of a good feasibility study for nancing of the system should be investigated and a
nancing plan prepared. Thereby, the full range of public
A good feasibility study for comparing centralised with and private nancing sources should be considered.
decentralised wastewater management options should
investigate the following aspects: Institutional aspects
Technical feasibility. Arrangements for O&M as well as any arrangement for
Costs. public-private partnerships (PPPs) should be investi-
Environmental aspects. gated in the light of the required capacity for operating
Social, socio-economic and nancial aspects. and nancing the system. Issues of monitoring and control
Institutional aspects. should be considered.
Technical feasibility
Conclusions
Topographical and other local factors will need to be sur-
veyed in order to clarify which concepts and technologies Decentralised wastewater management can be a viable and
are technically feasible and can be maintained sustainably cost-effective solution and should be considered when-
at the local level. ever possible. It covers a large variety of options and also
includes mixed approaches such as partly decentralisation
or decentralisation of some elements and at the same time
Costs centralisation of others. As an example, whereas certain
wastewater fractions may be collected locally they may be
A cost estimation should encompass the investment and treated centrally (e.g. centralised sludge treatment).
the O&M costs for at least 1015 years. Capital invest-
ment, re-investment, annual recurring costs (O&M), and Various options should be considered and a compre-
benets should be quantied to select economically viable hensive feasibility study should identify which is the best
technologies. The O& M cost may include the personnel level or mix of decentralised and centralised wastewater
and material cost for regular operation, repair and main- management.
tenance work, costs for energy and other consumables.
The economic benets associated with the technology
such as biogas, fertilisers or water for reuse should also Acknowledgements
be calculated. At the feasibility stage, the various options
for sanitation technology can be compared with the total The following members of the Specialist Group have con-
net present value (NPV). A NPV calculates future invest- tributed to and/or reviewed this document:
ment and operation costs for a certain time span using a
discount rate, which trades off present capital and future Dr. David Baguma, United Nations University
running costs and benets (a shorter time span and
higher discount rate give less weight to future costs and Dr. Walter Betancourt, Instituto Venezolano de Investiga-
benets). ciones Cienticas
Mr. Jaime L. Garcia-Heras, CEIT, Spain
Environmental aspects Ms. Ayesha I. Davis, The Luis Berger Group, Panama
Dr. Vikram M. Pattarkine, PEACE USA, USA
What is the required efuent quality of the treated waste- Mr. Bill Peacock, Halcrow, India
water? Where can efuents be discharged? Are there any
Dr. Michael D. Smith, WEDC, Loughborough University,
hygienic concerns? Benets of side products such as
UK
biogas, fertiliser or reused water shall be considered under
the cost calculation. Note, however, that those aspects Mr. S. Vishwanath, independent consultant, India
may also be considered under environmental aspects if Dr. Juliet Willets, University of Technology Sydney,
required (e.g. if saving of water is an environmental goal). Australia
Prof. Zukii Yosop, University Technology Malaysia,
Social, socio-economic and financial Malaysia
aspects + Markus, Hamanth, Jonathan
Involvement of the future users and stakeholders is a key for
successful planning. Further the affordability and options
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IWA Specialist Groups
Figure 1. Breakdown of biosolids use in the USA according to 2007 NEBRA study. Illustration from Dentel (2011).
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IWA Specialist Groups
In more populated regions of the developed world, various treatment facilities. The exception is China, which has
types of thermal oxidation are more commonly practised not included digestion in its programme for development
(Spinosa 2011). In this case, the energy value from the of large treatment facilities (Xu 2011). For dewatering, it
sludge can be recovered, but this is only signicant if the appears that lter presses and belt lters are more fre-
sludge has been well dewatered. Thermal oxidation may quently utilised than are centrifuges (e.g. Cisneros 2011;
offer the opportunity to recover phosphorus for use as a Snyman 2011). Drying beds are more common in the
fertiliser, although the technology is unproven to date. It developing world. Composting and landlling are also
would also preclude co-incineration with less P-rich mate- favoured in countries where more complex processes are
rials such as solids waste. impractical.
Quantied surveys on stabilisation and dewatering prac- Future trends in sludge processing are tied to economic
tices are not available for most countries. In the USA, development. The most rapid growth in sludge quantities
data are available from the 2007 NEBRA survey, shown in and management is expected in China (Xu 2011), with
Figures 2 and 3. Percentages based on numbers of instal- growth also in South Korea as ocean disposal is elimi-
lations differ from those according to biosolids amount, nated, and in Turkey as it works toward EEC environmental
because smaller facilities are more likely to use less com- standards.
plex processes such as aerobic digestion and belt lter
press dewatering. Larger treatment plants are more likely
to utilise anaerobic digestion, centrifugation and com-
posting. Thus, even though many facilities employ aero-
General trends and Challenges
bic digestion, larger facilities use anaerobic digestion and
composting. Likewise, only 11% of the facilities dewater by Concerns with land application
centrifugation, but this method is applied to roughly half
of all biosolids that are dewatered. By number or by mass, In regions using land application, there is widespread con-
over 90% of all dewatering is by centrifugation, belt lter cern (e.g. NRC 2002) about emerging contaminants in
press or drying beds. Dewatering is a key step in economic sewage sludge. Improved risk assessment methodologies
sludge processing if drying, incineration or signicant are sought to better establish standards for these constitu-
transportation are to be practised. ents. Studies (Viau et al. 2011) also suggest that risks from
emerging pathogens, such as norovirus, may be much
Outside the USA, mesophilic anaerobic digestion appears greater than estimated based on the commonly monitored
to be the main type of biological stabilisation for large bacterial indicators such as faecal coliform. This will lead
Figure 2. Dewatering operations by type (NEBRA 2007). Number of operations based on responses from 50% of states,
sludge masses based on 25% of all states.
Figure 3. Stabilisation operations by type (NEBRA 2007). Number of operations based on responses from 50% of states,
sludge masses based on 25% of all states.
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IWA Specialist Groups
to inclusion of new or emerging contaminants or patho- produce well stabilised biosolids. The mechanisms of
gens, or different indicator organisms for monitoring path- pathogen destruction in these processes are undergoing
ogen levels. increasing scrutiny in order to assure reliability and prevent
regrowth.
The controversy regarding contaminants in land-applied
biosolids is unlikely to end regardless of specic limitations Drying and pelletising technologies are of increasing inter-
on contaminant levels. The presence of contaminants at est in providing a usable product without the operating
any detectable levels has been used to support the term complexities of composting. Drying can be based on either
toxic sludge (e.g. SourceWatch.org 2010). Detection of direct or indirect heating methods, and the processes are
synthetic organic contaminants in sludge-derived compost often of a proprietary nature (e.g. microwave heating). Pel-
at ppb and low ppm levels (PRWatch.org 2010) was also letising offers the aesthetic qualities of composted sludge
used to support the toxic sludge label (e.g. PBDEs at with a more controlled production process. The process
731 ng/g; triclosan 1312 ng/g; nonylphenol 7065 ng/g). reliability and exibility are combined with a lower process
Numerous web sites can be located devoted solely, and footprint. Potential drawbacks are the varying sise, nutri-
vociferously, to the prohibition of land application of biosol- ent quality, odour and other properties of different pellet
ids, declaring that sewage sludge is poison. types. The costs of drying and pellet production are, of
course, linked more closely to energy expenses than in the
Careful and comprehensive characterisations of organ- case of composting.
ics in sludge have been completed recently. The US EPA
conducted a Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey
(2009) of 84 different samples, measuring for metals,
Technology trends and challenges
polyaromatic hydrocarbons and other semi-volatile organ-
Many emerging technologies for sludge management were
ics, inorganic anions, polybrominated diphenyl ethers,
reviewed by the EPA (USEPA 2006). The technologies
and 97 pharmaceuticals, steroids, and hormones. Bis
were classied as established, innovative (new, but with
(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate was found in all samples, in con-
some pilot or full scale experience), or embryonic (in the
centrations up to hundreds of mg/kg. Some PBDE con-
development or lab stage in the USA). Table 9.1 lists the
geners were in the mg/kg range. Twenty seven metals
innovative technologies and the potential benets. The
were found in virtually every sample. Three pharmaceu-
greatest number of these is in the categories of stabilisa-
ticals (cyprooxacin, diphenhydramine and triclocarban)
tion and dewatering.
were found in all 84 samples, and nine were found in
at least 80 of the samples. Three steroids (campesterol,
Of these processes, one of signicant interest is the
cholestanol and coprostanol) were found in all sam- TM
Cambi thermal hydrolysis process, because the Blue
ples, and six steroids were found in at least 80 of the
Plains wastewater treatment plant in Washington, D.C. is
84 samples. However, these results reect not only the
currently constructing four of these process trains with a
number of chemical constituents in sludges, but also the
410 dry tonne per day total average capacity. The system
acute sensitivity of contemporary analytical methods and
will be augmented by burning digester gas in turbines to
equipment.
provide both power and heat, the latter being used for the
Cambi process. Completion is scheduled for 2014.
Another study (McClellan and Halden 2010) used 110
archived EPA biosolids samples, combined to create ve
One process, called SlurryCarb, was indicated in the
mega-composites from which to obtain an averaged
EPA study to be embryonic, but would now be classied
value of 72 sludge constituents. Triclocarban and triclosan
as innovative. This process, developed by Atlanta-based
were found at the highest concentrations, 368 and
Enertech Environmental, pressurises sludge above its
12.63.8 mg/kg, respectively. The study concluded that
saturated steam pressure and raises the temperature to
biosolids recycling is a signicant mechanism for the
effect oxidation of organic material. Most water is main-
environmental release of pharmaceuticals and personal
tained in the liquid state to avoid energy expenditures
care products.
of evaporation (Dickinson et al. 2006). The processed
sludge is amenable for use as a fuel, and it is claimed that
In the USA, incineration of sewage solids will fall under
overall process produces about twice as much energy as
more stringent Clean Air Act standards if the EPAs pro-
it consumes (Enertech 2008). Supported by Mitsubishi, a
posed classication as a solid waste is approved (USEPA
demonstration plant was successfully operated in Japan,
2010). This will not eliminate thermal oxidation as an
and a full scale plant commissioned in Rialto, California
option, but will increase costs where outdated furnaces
in 2009.
may be in use. The same trend may ensue elsewhere.
Another management option being explored in the USA
Process trends and challenges is deep well injection of sludge, currently being studied
in Los Angeles, injecting 400 wet tons per day to a depth
Technology development worldwide has focused mainly on of 1700 m (Sanin et al. 2011). The sludge generates
reducing sludge masses and/or producing biosolids with methane through thermophilic anaerobic digestion, which
Class A or equivalent properties. Traditional composting is is then to be recovered as a fuel. The gas composition,
waning as a stabilisation option for larger US cities, in part according to lab tests, should be over 90% methane due
due to operating costs, and also to odours. Aerobic ther- to solubilisation of the carbon dioxide at the high pres-
mophilic digestion processes have been of interest, but sure (150 atm), yielding over 90% methane in the col-
poor dewaterability and an unfavourable energy balance lected gas. Because the nondegradable carbon and the
may limit further implementation. Thermophilic digestion CO2 remain underground, the practice is also viewed as
processes are gaining attention because they can also carbon sequestration.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Potential Benet
Bene t Relative to Established Technologies
Produces Class A
((non Agriculture)
LLow Capital Cost
Reduces Solids
Reduces Odour
Benecial Use
Innovative Technology and Advancement
oor Thickens
LLow Annual
Biosolids
Costs
C
P
B
B
Conditioning
MicrosludgeTM (chemical destruction of cells)
Ultrasonic
Thickening
Flotation thickening anoxic gas
Membrane thickening
Recuperative thickening
Stabilisation
Aerobic/anoxic
Anaerobic bafed reactor (ABR)
Columbia biosolids ow-through thermophilic ttmnt
High rate plug ow (BioTerminator 24/85)
Temperature phased anaerobic digestion (TPAND)
Thermal hydrolysis (CAMBITM Process)
Thermophilic fermentation (ThermoTechTM)
Three-phase anaerobic digestion
Two-phase-acid/gas anaerobic digestion
Vermicomposting
Dewatering
Quick dry lter beds
Electrodewatering
Metal screen ltration - inclined screw press
Bucher hydraulic press
DABTM system
Geotube container
Thermal Conversion
Reheat and oxidise (RHOX)
Supercritical water oxidation
Minergy - vitrication
Drying
Belt drying
Direct microwave drying
Flash drying
Fluidised bed drying
Other
CannibalTM process
Lystek
Injection into cement kiln
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IWA Specialist Groups
Research trends and challenges ing or dewatering. Methods for signicantly enhancing
anaerobic digestion efcacy are being sought worldwide to
As indicated above, concerns with sludge/biosolids constit- increase the yield of methane as an energy-rich product.
uents are ongoing in the USA. Controversies have included A recently developed technology known as the microbial
the possible risks from dioxins, furans, and co-planar fuel cell is another means, which could produce signicant
PCBs, which the EPA decided not to regulate after a reas- amounts of electricity directly from sludge (Dentel et al.
sessment completed in 2003. Antimicrobials, ibuprofen, 2004). Research is currently focused on using this proc-
caffeine, plasticisers, ame retardant chemicals, endo- ess for wastewater treatment, but its use on sludge would
crine disruptors and antibiotics are nearly ubiquitous in avoid meeting of efuent standards while still having sig-
biosolids. The decision to include many additional sludge nicant energy potential.
constituents in the Targeted National Sewage Sludge
Survey (USEPA 2009) provides additional knowledge of Sustainability and sludge treatment: Some municipalities
concentrations, but not of exposure or risk levels. are initiating greenhouse gas inventories (e.g. Willis 2010)
which help establish a triple bottom line basis for design
Pathogen reactivation and regrowth are questions of grow- and operational decisions in wastewater treatment facilities,
ing concern, although this has been based on indicator including sludge and biosolids management. Operationally,
organism (faecal coliform) measurements to date. The this means that the nutrient value, energy value, and green-
reactivation can occur when sludge is processed through house gas contributions of sludges must all be balanced,
thermophilic digesters and dewatered by high-speed cen- or counterbalanced, in determining the most environmen-
trifuge. Research also indicates that centrifugal dewatering tally conscionable management scheme. Important future
can exacerbate faecal coliform regrowth following stabili- decisions on sludges will be made on this basis, but the
sation, e.g. during storage or transportation, which means methodologies for doing so are yet to be established and
that the densities determined after stabilisation do not commonly accepted. In principle, even the environmental
reect levels when the material is released of plant custody risks from emerging pathogens and contaminants must be
(Qi et al. 2004). For the many plants using PSRP (process incorporated in any such methodology.
to signicantly reduce pathogens), faecal coliform meas-
urement is not required but the discrepancy still underlies
the use of PSRP. The regrowth/reactivation phenomenon Concluding remarks
is being studied so that its implications can be addressed
in future regulations and practices. Additional indicator Two trends in sludge management are countervailing:
organisms are clearly needed to reect the diverse levels of greater concern about its potentially harmful constituents,
pathogen resistance to treatment processes (Viau 2011). but greater awareness of its nutrient and energy values.
How these are reconciled will depend on public and gov-
Studies of odour sources and mechanisms are also ernmental prioritisations, but also on whether suitable
ongoing. Standardised methods of quantifying odours will technologies are developed and accepted to meet these
be needed if any limits are to be added to biosolids regula- issues with acceptable solutions.
tions. However, odours have yet to be clearly correlated
with health or ecological harms (Viau 2011).
References
Selected hot topics Cisneros, B.J. (2011) Mexico. In Wastewater sludge: a global
overview of the current and future prospects. 2nd ed. IWA
Near-term challenges in sludge management will centre Publishing, London.
around topics such as the following: Dentel, S.K. (2011) United States. In Wastewater sludge: a global
overview of the current and future prospects. 2nd ed. IWA
Dewatering of wastewater sludges: Approximately 50% of Publishing, London.
the energy content in wastewater is still contained in the Dentel, S.K., Strogen, B., and Chiu, P.C. (2004) Direct generation
sludges that have been generated in purifying the water. of electricity from sludges and other liquid wastes. Water
Sci. Technol. 50(9), 161168.
In addition, the sludge contains much less water relative
Dickinson N.L., Bolin K.M., Overstreet E. and Dooley B. (2006).
to the combustible or biodegradable matter. However, for
Slurry dewatering and conversion of biosolids to a renewable
thermal treatment to extract this energy, even more water fuel, U.S. Patent application 20060096163.
must be removed so that its heat of vaporisation does EnerTech Environmental (2008). The Slurry-Carb Process,
not negate the heat of combustion of the organic matter. Renewable Energy from Biosolids, http://www.enertech.
Efcient dewatering is thus cost effective, and this is the com/downloads/SlurryCarbOverview.pdf.
case for other treatment options, e.g. when transportation LeBlanc, R., Matthews, P. and Richard, R.P. (2008) Global Atlas
of the sludge solids (and water) are necessary. However, of Excreta, Wastewater Sludge, and Biosolids Management:
current dewatering processes cannot easily exceed 35% Moving Forward the Sustainable and Welcome Uses of a
solids except with prohibitive process times or energy Global Resource. UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-
input. Research into improved dewatering processes, or HABITAT).
McClellan, K. and Halden, R.U. (2010). Pharmaceuticals and
into pretreatment processes that signicantly improve
personal care products in archived US biosolids from the
dewaterability, is economically attractive. A gamut of phys- 2001 EPA national sewage sludge survey. Water Research
ical, chemical, and biological processes are being trialled 44(2), 658668.
globally; many of these are listed in Table 8.1. National Research Council (2002). Biosolids Applied to Land.
Advancing Standards and Practices. National Academies
Energy extraction from liquid sludges: An alternative to Press: Washington, D.C.
high-level dewatering is the development of methods for NEBRA - North East Biosolids and Residuals Association (2007).
energy extraction from the liquid sludge before thicken- A National Biosolids Regulation, Quality, End Use & Disposal
75
IWA Specialist Groups
Survey. NEBRA, Tamworth NH, USA. www.nebiosolids.org/ USEPA (2006). Emerging Technologies for Biosolids Manage-
uploads/pdf/NtlBiosolidsReport-20July07.pdf. ment, Washington, D.C., EPA-832-R-06005.
NEBRA - North East Biosolids and Residuals Association (2010). USEPA (2009). Targeted National Sewage Sludge Survey,
Information Update: US EPA Denes Sewage Sludge as Washington, D.C., EPA-822-R-08014.
Solid Waste. www.nebiosolids.org/uploads/pdf/Info-EPA- USEPA (2010). Identication of Non-Hazardous Materials That
DenesSludge-May10.pdf. Are Solid Waste: Proposed Rule, www.epa.gov/epawaste/
PRWatch.org (2010). San Franciscos Free Organic Biosolids nonhaz/dene/index.htm#proposed.
Compost is Toxic Sludge, and Not Good For You!. www. Viau, E., Bibby, K., Paez-Rubio, T. and Peccia, J. (2011) Toward a
prwatch.org/taxonomy/term/106. consensus view on the infectious risks associated with land
Qi Y.N., Gillow S., Herson D.S. and Dentel S.K. (2004) Reactiva- application of sewage sludge. Environ. Sci. Technol. 45(13),
tion and/or growth of fecal coliform bacteria during centrifu- 54595469.
gal dewatering of anaerobically digested biosolids. Wat. Sci. Willis J. (2010). Example Using the Local Governments
Tech. 50(9), 115120. Operations Protocol at DCWASA, MABA Workshop on
Sanin, F.D., Clarkson, W.W., and Vesilind, P.A. (2011) Sludge Greenhouse Gas Accounting for Wastewater Treatment &
Engineering. DEStech Publications, Lancaster PA-USA. Biosolids Management, Eatontown, N.J., www.mabiosolids.
SourceWatch.org (2010), Breaking News on Toxic Sludge. www. org/uploads/pdf/conferenceproceedings.
sourcewatch.org/ index.php?title=Portal:Toxic_Sludge. Xu, G. (2011) China. In Wastewater sludge: a global overview of
Snyman, H.G. (2011) Africa. In Wastewater sludge: a global the current and future prospects. 2nd ed. IWA Publishing,
overview of the current and future prospects. 2nd ed. IWA London.
Publishing, London.
Spinosa, L., ed. Wastewater sludge: a global overview of the current
and future prospects. 2nd ed. IWA Publishing, London.
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as two part tariffs, promotion of change in consumer experiences, mainly from European countries, to illustrate
behavior to foster water use efciency, etc.); how combining affordable water pricing, tariff structures,
The measures to be taken in term of regulation, respon- cross-subsidisation mechanisms (between water service
sibilities breakdown or evolution of economic models of subscribers and taxpayers, between domestic and no
utilities, in order to prevent conict of interest among domestic users) and social policies, in order to maintain
water utilities (which are paid according to the number access to water and sanitation services.
of cubic meters sold and should, at the same time,
encourage water savings among consumers) From a concrete perspective, and to extend linkage with
The growing resort to non conventional resources and other water institutions, we plan to organise, in 2014, one
the way to design adapted tariffs for using alternative workshop on this topic during one major Conference (such
water resources. as the 2014 IWA Congress, the Singapore Water Week, the
Stockholm Water Week). Being organised one year before
From a concrete perspective we plan the following the deadline to achieve the Millennium Development
activities. Goals, the results of this workshop could be used in 2015
by other organisations when they assess the situation.
To organise a workshop on these topics during the 2012
IWA Congress; To support topics like the above we are planning to extend
To make a presentation on these topics in 2013, either our activities on the international surveys and statistical
during the Stockholm Water Week which is organised data we produce every two years.
each year in August or during the Singapore Water Week
which importance is increasing. The latter occasion We would like to enlarge the gathering and analysis of data,
would also help in networking with Asian institutions. so that we can turn data into knowledge. Examples of new
approaches could be cross relation analysis, more use of
Many institutions are already dealing with the Millen- time series, etc.
nium Development Goals. As a Specialist Group we dont
have the means to organise worldwide and comprehen- Data on customer behaviour are more or less lacking in the
sive surveys to check if these goals are achieved like information that we collect. So we are planning to gather
United Nations Agencies are doing. However, the issue more information on topics like bad payments, willingness
of how people are maintaining access to water services to pay for intelligent metering, consumption levels and to
once they got their connections is less observed and compare and analyse for instance the results of different
analysed. countries and different cities.
Therefore we would like to point out two specic topics. Furthermore, we would like to enlarge the database more
with data of continents and countries which are missing for
In developing countries. What pricing policies and social the most part, like Africa, South America and Asia.
policies have to be implemented to help people recently
connected to public networks to pay their bills and then
to keep on beneting from the water services? There are Conclusion
many possible and complementary solutions: extension
of nancial solidarity, education programme to prevent Within the IWA community, the Statistics and Economics
overconsumption among new subscribers, twinning Specialist Group is the central group for elaborating eco-
electricity and water services in Africa (for the rst one nomic topics like water pricing policies.
to subsidised the second one)
In developed countries. It is sure that the Millennium Although in the past many activities in this respect were
Development Goals concern above all the developing developed by the Group, there is still a lot to discuss. That
countries. However, poverty also extends into the is why we will be dealing more in detail with this topic in
developed countries, and is forcing them to nd solutions the coming years, mainly focusing on water pricing policies
to maintain access to water for poor people already con- in situations of water scarcity, on maintaining access to
nected. For them, the challenge is not to create new service water services once people are connected, and improving
lines as in the developing countries. Thus we will present and enlarging our statistical information.
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of what psychologists Kegan and Lahey (2009) call the Sustainability sees Information Technologies (IT) and the
higher mental complexity of leading to learn. web as central in supporting this Association-wide mission.
Organised according to the Triple Bottom Line, the Sus- Populations in many LAMICs are young; young water pro-
tainability Concepts Paper describes the state-of-the-art fessionals in these countries have ready access to cell
as follows: phones, computers, and the internet; these are, above all,
their technologies and their means of communication.
On environmental benignity: Things are in transition, Yet language, income, and geography often bar the access
from a sole focus on eco-efciency from being of these young water professionals to IWA meetings and
less bad in lowering the water metabolism of cities publications. What form of Global Water Platform what
to an absolute minimum towards including the com- further development of www.globalwaterplatform.org; what
plementary focus on eco-effectiveness (Dyllick and genuinely relevant and effective innovations in internet
Hockerts 2002; McDonough and Braungart 2002), i.e., technologies will place the assets of IWA knowledge at
pursuit of the environmental good of cities and their the disposal of these LAMIC water professionals? How will
water infrastructures as net contributors to ecosystem they in their turn change and enhance IWAs knowledge
services in their surrounding watersheds (Beck et al. assets? How, at bottom, is the IWA Sustainability Specialist
2010). The work of The Natural Step (www.naturalstep. Group to serve under-served audiences in promoting best
org) and DHV (www.dhv.nl) in re-engineering the Soer- practices in sustainability and to see their practices shape
endonk wastewater treatment plant in The Netherlands the evolving concepts of sustainability?
is exemplary. It stands (with others) at the frontiers of
practice. There is more, however, to the current trends and chal-
On economic feasibility: Grand economic theory about lenges guiding the work of the Specialist Group than the
our environmental bequests of natural capital to future vital task of serving the needs of global communication
generations (Solow 1993; Sumaila and Walters 2005; around the water sector. Since the Groups inception in
Farley and Daly 2006) has for the moment markedly 2006, its policy has deliberately been one of not hosting
outstripped contemporary practice in counting the cost research symposia every 23 years. It is now time for this
of what it might take, for example, to stimulate the recov- policy to be changed. There are issues much in need of
ery of nutrients as resources from wastewater (becom- research and enquiry, such as the following.
ing more good) instead of seeking to be utterly rid of
them as pollutants (becoming less bad).
On social legitimacy: Water scientists and engineers Sustainability in the language of
are leaders, amongst other policy and social scientists business & economics: making
(Gatzweiler 2006; Boulanger 2008; Thompson 2008;
Ney 2009; Romer 2010), in bringing the equally lofty
resource recovery happen
notion of a refurbished pluralist democracy to work on
There has been time enough over the past two decades for
the ground (Beck et al. 2011): in demonstrating practi-
water professionals to think their way out of the mind-set
cal paths towards more desirable governance (and away
of holding up the classical water-based paradigm of urban
from failing governance); and in resolving some of the
wastewater infrastructure as the single, most environmen-
most intractable and widespread challenges of sustain-
tally benign form of IUWM within IWRM. Niemczynowicz
able environmental stewardship (Gyawali 2004). These
(1993) has disabused us of any wish we might have to
are challenges, for instance, of rapidly urbanising water-
cling to this orthodoxy alone. There has been time enough
sheds, with burgeoning populations, who have spiritual
also for policy and social scientists to think about the
associations with water (Davis 2008), yet who are not
socially legitimate options for engineering our way out of
served by classical systems of water and wastewater
the attaching state of institutional and technological lock
infrastructure (Gyawali 2004). At the frontiers of practice
in. We have become quite inventive about what might be
can be found the work of the Nepal Water Conservation
put in its place: separation at source of domestic, munici-
Foundation on the Kathmandu-Bagmati city-watershed
pal, and industrial material ows; decentralisation; systems
couple (NWCF 2009).
of dry sanitation; low-impact development; smart water;
ecological engineering; green chemistry; and so on.
We are urged to Think Globally, Act Locally. In the Sus-
tainability Concepts Paper we advocate its complement,
Computational assessments suggest that extending the
as in:
(conventional) wastewater infrastructure of a city such
Engineers Acting Most Locally to engender a com- as Metro Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to eliminate a further 50
munity eager to engage in Thinking Globally tonnes of polluting phosphorus beyond current perform-
ance levels, might easily cost around $2-4M (on an annu-
alised basis). Yet with source separation, enabled through
Trends and challenges the installation of urine-separating toilets (USTs) (Larsen
et al. 2009), there could be as much as 1,700 tonnes of
resourceful phosphorus to be recovered each year in
Global water platform: seeing sustainability the citys raw wastewater, along with 16,600 tonnes of
in practice nitrogen, with a combined market value of $22M as fer-
tiliser. Indeed, these nutrients might alternatively be used
The over-arching challenge for the Group remains that of to produce biofuels from algae, or dispensed to rivers in
getting the message out with regard to sustainability. As a carefully controlled manner as nutrient supplements
IWA turns its strategic intentions towards Lower and Mid- for restoring and enhancing watershed ecosystem services
dle Income Countries (LAMICs), the Specialist Group on (Beck et al. 2010).
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Farley, J. and Daly, H. (2006) Natural capital: the limiting Ney, S. (2009) Resolving Messy Policy Problems: Handling Con-
factor a reply to Aronson, Blignaut, Milton and Clewell. ict in Environmental, Transport, Health and Ageing Policy.
Ecological Engineering 28, 610. Earthscan, London.
Gatzweiler, F.W. (2006), Organizing a public ecosystem service Niemczynowicz, J. (1993) New aspects of sewerage and water
economy for sustaining biodiversity. Ecological Economics technology. Ambio 22(7), 449455.
59, 296304. NWCF (2009) The Bagmati: Issues, Challenges and Prospects.
Graham, D.W. and Smith, V.H. (2004) Designed ecosystem serv- Technical Report, prepared by Nepal Water Conservation
ices: application of ecological principles in wastewater treat- Foundation (NWCF) for King Mahendra Trust for Nature
ment engineering. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, Conservation, Kathmandu, Nepal.
2(4), 199206. Romer, P. (2010) For richer, for poorer. Prospect, February,
Gyawali, D. (2001) Rivers, Technology and Society. Himal Books, 3438.
Kathmandu, Nepal. Senge, P., Smith, B., Schley, S., Laur, J. and Kruschwitz, N.
Gyawali, D. (2004) Water, sanitation and human settlements: cri- (2008) The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals and
sis, opportunity or management? Water Nepal 11(2), 720. Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable
Hawken, P., Lovins, A. and Lovins, L.H. (1999) Natural Capital- World. Doubleday, New York.
ism: The Next Industrial Revolution. Rocky Mountain Insti- Sharma, A.K, Grant, A.L, Grant, T., Pamminger, F. and Opray, L.
tute, Snowmass, Colorado. (2009) Environmental and economic assessment of urban
Holling, C.S. (1996) Engineering Resilience Versus Ecological water services for a greeneld development. Environmen-
Resilience, in Engineering Within Ecological Constraints tal Engineering Science 26(5), 921934 (doi:10.1089/
(P Schulze, ed.). National Academy Press, Washington DC, ees.2008.0063).
pp 3144. Solow, R.M. (1993) Sustainability: an economists perspective. In
Kegan, R. and Lahey, L.L. (2009) Immunity to Change: Selected Readings in Environmental Economics (R. Dorfman
How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and N. Dorfman, eds), 3rd edition. Norton, New York.
and Your Organization. Harvard Business Press, Boston, Starkl, M., Brunner, N., Flgl, W. and Wimmer, J. (2009) Design
Massachusetts. of an institutional decision-making process: the case of
Kennedy, C., Cuddihy, J. and Engel-Yan, J. (2007) The changing urban water management. J Environmental Management
metabolism of cities. J Industrial Ecology 11(2), 4359. 90(2), 10301042 (doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.03.012).
Kenway, S.J., Howe, C. and Maheepala, S. (2007) Triple Bottom Sumaila, U.R. and Walters, C.J. (2005) Intergenerational
Line Reporting of Sustainable Water Utility Performance. discounting: a new intuitive approach. Ecological Economics,
AWWA Research Foundation, Denver, Colorado. 52, 135142.
Kenway, S.J., Gregory, A. and McMahon, J. (2011) Urban Thompson, M. (2002) Man and nature as a single but complex
water mass balance analysis. J Industrial Ecology, 15(5), system. In Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change, vol.
693-706. 5 (P Timmerman, ed.). Wiley, Chichester, pp. 384393.
Kenway, S.J., Lant, P. and Priestley, A. (2011) Quantifying the Thompson, M. (2008) Organising and Disorganising: A Dynamic
links between water and energy in cities. Journal of Water and Non-linear Theory of Institutional Emergence and Its Im-
and Climate Change 2(4), 247259. plications. Triarchy, Axminster.
Kremen, C. (2005) Managing ecosystem services: what do Willis, R.M., Stewart, R.A., Panuwatwanich, K., Jones, S. and
we need to know about their ecology? Ecology Letters 8, Kyriakides, A. (2010) Alarming visual display monitors
468479. affecting shower end use water and energy conservation in
Larsen, T.A., Alder, A.C., Eggen, R.I.L., Maurer, M. and Lienert, Australian residential households. Resources, Conservation
J. (2009) Source separation: will we see a paradigm shift in and Recycling 54(12), 11171127 (doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.
wastewater handling? Environmental Science & Technology 2010.03.004).
43(16), 61216125.
McDonough, W. and Braungart, M. (2002) Cradle to Cradle:
Remaking the Way We Make Things. North Point Press,
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Sevruk, B., Niemczynowicz, J. (Ed.) (1996). Atmospheric Willems, P., Arnbjerg-Nielsen, K., Olsson, J., Nguyen, V.T.V.
Research 42(14), 1292 (Special Issue Closing the gap (2011) Climate change impact assessment on urban rainfall
between theory and practice in urban rainfall applica- extremes and urban drainage: methods and shortcomings.
tions, St. Moritz, Switzerland, 30 November 4 December Atmospheric Research, 10.1016/j.atmosres.2011.04.003.
1994).
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atmosres.2011.04.023.
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Unmechanised ponds are notoriously known for being Challenges in expanding pond applicability
simple wastewater treatment processes. They are simple and sustainability:
to design, build and operate. Their dimensioning usually
uses reasonably well-known recommended organic load- Explore energy and carbon management opportunities.
ing rates, hydraulic retention times and rst-order kinetics.
Their detailed design has traditionally concentrated mainly
on the conguration of inlet and outlet structures and on Practical challenges
protection and sealing of embankments and pond bot-
tom. Their construction is simple, comprising mainly earth
movement. Routine operation is indeed trouble free, and Reduction of land requirements
is more related to maintenance practices than to proper
operational control measures. Ponds do not involve elec- In warm-climate regions, facultative ponds usually require
2
tromechanical equipment and do not consume energy. between 2 and 4 m per inhabitant. In temperate climates,
approximately double the area is required and in cold cli-
When comparing with the performance of other treatment mates (where surprisingly they are also used), larger land
processes, facultative ponds produce efuents with inter- requirements are observed. If a series of maturation ponds
mediate levels (but in many cases satisfactory) of organic are included in the treatment line, the total area may dou-
matter content, somewhat high suspended solids con- ble. This poses a practical limitation, because in many
centrations (owing to the presence of algae) and very low cases there will not be a large area, somewhat at and
or null counts of protozoan cysts and helminth eggs. If a with reasonably good soil in the vicinity of the commu-
series of maturation ponds is included, a very high level nity. Although there are no formal size limitations for ponds
of pathogenic bacteria and viruses removal is achieved. (there are pond systems with 400 ha), in many cases land
Owing to their high hydraulic retention times, ponds are restriction will conne ponds to small or medium-sized
usually robust to withstand variations in inuent quantity communities.
and quality, and even careless operation.
To increase ponds applicability, a reduction of land require-
As a result of these points, there are thousands of ponds ments is obviously welcome. The inclusion of anaerobic
applied on a worldwide basis. Although these attributes ponds ahead of the facultative ponds may reduce the area
make them a very important choice for wastewater treat- to around 2/3 of that needed for facultative ponds only.
ment at developing countries, ponds are also widely used In some warm-climate countries, UASB (upow anaerobic
in developed regions, especially at small communities. sludge blanket) reactors are replacing the anaerobic and
facultative ponds, and the overall system of UASB reac-
However, similarly to other treatment processes, there tors + maturation ponds becomes smaller (but still land
are challenges that need to be faced to enhance ponds intensive).
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IWA Specialist Groups
Reduction of suspended solids in the Increase of the effluent use for agricultural
effluent irrigation
Well operating facultative and maturation ponds rely on a Efuents from facultative ponds are usually suitable for
good production of microalgae, which are responsible for restricted irrigation (good helminth eggs removal), and
photosynthesis. However, a large amount of these algae efuents from maturation ponds may be t for unrestricted
leave with the nal efuent, and are responsible for the irrigation (irrigation of crops that are eaten uncooked or
increase of suspended solids and particulate BOD in the unpeeled), since these ponds are able to remove coliforms
wastewater discharged to water bodies. If the efuent to low counts and comply with the World Health Organiza-
from a pond needs to have its quality improved in terms of tion guidelines.
organic matter and suspended solids, then algae removal
is a good choice. This widens up considerably the applicability of ponds,
because they become not only a good wastewater treat-
Some of the possibilities are: (a) intermittent sand lters, ment process, but also a technology that is able to lead to a
(b) rock lters, (c) microsieves, (d) ponds with oating productive use of the nal efuent. Pond efuents contain
macrophytes, (e) land application, (f) wetlands, (g) coagu- water, organic matter and nutrients, which are required by
lation and clarication processes, (h) otation, (i) aerated soil and crops. Irrigation with pond efuents is success-
biolters and (j) trickling lters. fully done in several countries around the world, especially
those located in arid or semi-arid regions. However, it is
Sand ltration produces an efuent with excellent quality, felt that much more could be done on this respect in many
but tend to clog very quickly. Coarse rock ltration is not other countries. A suitable efuent is being generated,
so efcient, but gives a good contribution and is much but there is no managerial structure to link treated efu-
less prone to clogging (they can run for years without ent producers (sanitation companies) and farmers. The
cleaning). Recent experiments with aerated rock lters challenge here is more institutional than technical, but is
have shown good removal of other constituents, such as certainly an issue that needs to be well looked in many
coliforms. Floating macrophytes, such as duckweed, are countries.
used in several ponds in order to reduce sunlight penetra-
tion and thus decrease algal growth. These ponds give the
possibility of using the high-protein content duckweed for
sh ponds, but require a good strategy for their removal Scientific challenges
from the pond surface.
Understanding the mechanisms of pathogen
The inclusion of any of these processes, especially the
mechanised ones, should naturally nd a justication from
removal
the point of view of the needs of the receiving water body
Ponds are very important treatment systems for the
(and not only as a safeguard in terms of compliance to
removal of pathogenic organisms. Protozoan cysts and
discharge standards), since they imply an elevation of the
helminth eggs are removed by sedimentation, while bacte-
treatment costs and operational complexity. Wastewater
ria and viruses are mainly removed by inactivation mecha-
treatment by ponds must remain simple, and the challenge
nisms, especially in maturation ponds. Molecular biology
here is to improve their efuent quality without deviating
detection methods are being more widely applied in ponds
from the primary characteristic of conceptual simplicity.
research, allowing the qualitative or quantitative identi-
cation of the actual pathogen species, instead of relying
Reduction of risks of malodours from only on traditional indicators, such as coliforms. More and
anaerobic ponds more PCR (polymerase chain reaction), FISH (uores-
cence in situ hybridisation) and quantitative PCR methods
Anaerobic ponds are open anaerobic reactors, and thus are being applied in ponds research, opening up a new
may be subject to the release of malodorous gases, espe- road of important discoveries.
cially hydrogen sulphide. Substantial experience exists on
how to reduce these risks, based on the implementation of A lot is already known about the removal of pathogens in
ponds far away from houses, adoption of suitable organic ponds, including sedimentation and inactivation. However,
loading rates, a good knowledge of the inuent charac- the mechanisms involved in the inactivation of bacteria and
teristics (amount of sulphate in the wastewater) and the viruses are receiving more attention. From these mecha-
utilisation of inlet pipes close to the pond bottom, to allow nisms, elucidation of steps involved with sunlight inactiva-
good contact between organic matter and biomass. How- tion have been achieved, involving direct damage of DNA
ever, because a natural treatment process is being used, structures by UVB and indirect damage by endogenous
there is always the risk that during a certain period some- and exogenous sensitizers. These mechanisms are inu-
thing will not go on as planned, and obnoxious odours may enced by environmental conditions in the ponds, such as
be emanated. dissolved oxygen, algae, humic substances and pH, and
affect in a different way bacteria and viruses. Inactivation
Some anaerobic ponds are being covered to capture the in the dark also deserves attention, and involves predation,
gas and thus control their release into the atmosphere. high pH, algal toxins and stress.
This also creates the opportunity of biogas utilisation and
carbon credits compensation. However, in many cases the However, the prediction of pathogen removal efciency
anaerobic ponds are very large, and the challenge is to reli- involves not only the kinetic aspects of inactivation, but
ably cover a large surface area without allowing gases to also the hydraulic behaviour of the ponds, which are inu-
escape, and still keeping simplicity as a key element. enced by the presence of bafes, the length-to-width ratio
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and the placement of inlet and outlet structures. Advance- of both models, later on designers started to incorporate
ments in this eld have been achieved, as discussed fur- the dispersed-ow model, which accommodates uid dis-
ther below. persion in the equations for prediction of efuent quality,
thus approximating more to the reality of actual reactors.
Experimental determination of the dispersion number
Understanding the mechanisms of nutrient using tracers has been done at several sites, leading to
removal empirical equations for their simple estimation, based on
physical characteristics of the pond.
Stabilisations ponds are not very efcient in the removal
of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus). However, specic More recently, computational uid dynamics (CFD) mod-
congurations, such as maturation ponds and high-rate els have been used, allowing the study of the best arrange-
algal ponds are able to achieve high nitrogen removals. ment for inlet and outlet structures and for the placement of
In the literature, always cited classical mechanisms for N bafes, aiming at increasing pollutant removal efciencies.
removal are: assimilation of ammonia and nitrate by algal This better representation of the specic hydraulic behav-
biomass, conventional nitrication-denitrication, sedi- iour of each pond is of course associated with a higher
mentation of dead biomass and accumulation on sludge degree of complexity, but the increase in the availability
layer after partial hydrolysis and ammonia volatilisation. and use of CFD software may result in its more systematic
Amongst those, ammonia volatilisation due to high pH use by consulting companies in the design of ponds.
induced by photosynthesis has been frequently referred
to as the main mechanism. However, recent researches Traditional kinetic models for the prediction of efuent con-
are pointing out that this may not be the case. Tracer centrations from stabilisation ponds have used rst-order
15
experiments with N-stable isotopes and eld measure- reactions, but recent approaches focus on the representa-
ments of actual ammonia lost by volatilisation have shown tion of biomass growth rates and the resulting uptake or
that the fraction of N removed by this mechanism may release of constituents. Structures similar to the IWA acti-
be small and have only a minor inuence on the overall vated sludge model (ASM) are being developed for ponds,
removal. Nitrication has been observed in some ponds with the added degree of difculty that not only bacterial
and not in others a possibility is that the presence of growth and decay need to be modelled, but also algal bio-
ammonia in the form of free ammonia (NH3) due to high mass. At a higher level are recent models that jointly incor-
pH values may inhibit the growth of nitrifying organisms. porate CFD and ASM models, being thus hopefully able to
Organisms responsible for anaerobic ammonia oxidation provide a better representation of the hydrodynamics and
(anammox) are also being investigated, using molecular reaction kinetics at stabilisation ponds.
biology mechanisms, in order to see if they play an impor-
tant role in nitrogen removal. Anyway, nitrogen removal With the development of more advanced and reliable
in shallow ponds seems to be greater than in deeper mathematical models, designers will hopefully have better
ponds. tools to tailor each pond to the particular inuent and site
characteristics, as well as efuent quality requirements.
Regarding phosphorus, a major removal mechanism
could be the precipitation of the phosphates in the form
of hydroxyapatite or struvite under high pH conditions. In Challenges in expanding ponds
the case of phosphorus removal, the dependence of high
pH values is larger than with nitrogen: the pH should be at applicability and sustainability
least 9 so that there is a signicant phosphorus precipita-
tion. Such high pH values are not consistently maintained, As with other wastewater treatment processes, sustain-
night and day, in most ponds, and this could be the reason ability issues are now a matter of considerable concern
why phosphorus removal efciencies are not large in most and research focus. Ponds are inherently sustainable in
ponds. Recent research has identied the possibility that the sense that they are a natural process, simple, with-
algae can also develop a mechanism of luxury P uptake, out energy demand, robust and able to operate within the
like phosphate accumulating bacteria do in activated expected removal efciency even under some unfavourable
sludge. If this in indeed the case, and one is able to control operational conditions. However, sustainability nowadays
the environmental conditions that favour this mechanism, also incorporates other aspects, such as green-house
an important possibility for phosphorus removal in ponds gas emissions and the possibility of producing energy.
may be obtained. Methane emission, which could be a concern in terms of
greenhouse effect, is important only in anaerobic ponds.
The road is still open for more fundamental research that Besides the fact that not all pond systems use anaerobic
can widen the understanding of mechanisms, thus allowing ponds, some of these ponds are now being covered, with
ponds to be more effective in nutrient removal, enhancing gas capture and burning or treatment and recovery. Credit
their applicability in situations in which the efuent needs carbon analysis is currently being undertaken in several
to be discharged to sensitive water bodies. pond systems.
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Concluding remarks ponds are large open reactors, their hydraulic behaviour
is very much inuenced by temperature, wind and place-
The inherent simplicity of a natural wastewater treatment ment of inlet and outlet structures. The representation of
process is one of the rst concepts that come to mind ponds hydrodynamics represents another challenge.
when one thinks on stabilisation ponds. For some practi-
tioners, there may be an impression that everything that Fortunately, with the advancement of eld and laboratorial
is needed is already known in this relatively old treatment detection techniques and mathematical modelling tools,
process. scientists are now coming somewhat closer in the under-
standing and representation of the mechanisms involved
However, as was seen in this text, this does not mean that in ponds behaviour. The expectation is that this will assist
everything that relates to ponds is really simple: in the eld in a better prediction of the removal efciency of key pol-
of wastewater treatment, it is one of the most complex sys- lutants under different environmental conditions, leading
tems to understand, describe and model. From the biolog- to better designs, tailored to each situation.
ical point of view, the simultaneous interaction of different
groups of bacteria with different algae species leads to a This text presented many challenges that need to be
very complex ecological system, with mutualistic relation- faced on a short or medium term. It is difcult to specify
ships between heterotrophs and autotrophs. The under- which of those will prevail and be more embraced by the
standing, quantication and mathematical representation technical community. What is denitely known is that
of the several different resulting biochemical reactions and ponds research will continue in depth around the world,
the growth rates of the various organisms involved are a and that the future is open for ponds researchers and
challenge for ponds researchers. In addition, because practitioners!
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Hassan (1998) stated that the secret of Egyptian civilisa- processes chose an agro-pastoral lifestyle and, driven by
tion was that it never lost sight of the past; because of the motives and pressures related to that choice, interacted,
unpredictability of the Nile River oods and the production allied, established symbiosis with or assimilated other
of grains suggest order and stability. The ancient Egyptians groups, opening to all the package of specic concepts
depended upon the Nile not only for their livelihoods, but that will lead to a leap in complexity and establish the oasis
they also considered the Nile to be a deic force of the as a complete system for the support of lives and liveli-
universe, to be respected and honoured if they wanted it hoods. Through oases, these groups ensured physical and
to treat them favourably. The river annual rise and fall were economic survival in hostile but mineral-rich areas that
likened to the rise and fall of the sun, each cycle being had become strategic in the Chalcolithic Period and Iron
equally important to their lives, though both remaining a Age. It is in this context that was introduced the technology
mystery. Since the Nile sources were unknown up until the of catchments tunnels a factor that allows the enormous
19th century, the Ancient Egyptians believed the water- spread of oases. They are known in Iran as qanat or kareez,
course to be a part of the great celestial ocean, or the sea in Morocco as khettara and in Algeria as foggara. This
that surrounds the whole world. technique has been in use for thousands of years, over a
vast area extending from China to Persia, Spain, and even
The rst actual recorded evidence of water management Latin America. As it is well known, catchments tunnels are
was the mace head of King Scorpion (ca. 27252671 BC), underground channels consisting of verticals shafts con-
the last of the predynastic kings, which has been inter- nected at their bottom with a sub-horizontal tunnel bring-
preted as the tool to initiate a ceremonial start to breaching ing water from an aquiferous stratum. The underground
the rst dyke to allow water to inundate the elds or the tunnel has a slight downward slope useful for the water
ceremonial opening of a new canal. Mohenjo-Daro was a tapped to run down it and into the open air by gravity. That
major urban centre of the Indus civilisation during the early these techniques are not the result of an imposition by a
Bronze Age, located about 400 km north of present-day central power, but expressions of the knowledge of local
Karachi, Pakistan. This planned city, built around 2450 BC populations, is demonstrated by their extreme variety and
received water from at least 700 wells and had bathrooms environmental adaptability, and by the diverse terminology
in houses and sewers in streets as well as thermal baths used in each countries.
(Jalter 1983). The Mesopotamians were not far behind.
The Sumerians, during the Bronze Age, and other ancients Other great civilisations such as the Minoans, located on
that inhabited Ancient Mesopotamia provided an enor- modern-day Crete, ourished during the Bronze Age (ca.
mous amount of information about themselves through 32001100 BC). They had wonderful water and waste-
cuneiform tablets. Water provided by the Euphrates and water systems, such as those found in Knossos, Malia,
Tigris Rivers shaped their societies. Elaborate irrigation Phaistos, Zakros, and other sites. These systems included
systems were developed requiring continuous canal main- aqueducts, cisterns, ltering systems, sedimentation
tenance and construction of waterworks. Sedimentation in basins, rainfall-harvesting systems, terracota pipes for
many canals was such a critical problem, that it was easier water supply and sewage, and sewerage and drainage sys-
to abandon these canals and build new ones. One Sumer- tems. As the Minoans developed trade relations with the
ian epic indicates that humans were created specically to Greek mainland, they came to inuence the Myceneans
dig irrigation ditches. The Sumerian epics also referred to (ca. 1,6001,100 BC). The contact of Mycenaeans with
the effect of uncontrolled human activity on the soil and Minoan Crete played a decisive role in the shaping and
environment, being interpreted as Gods curses, what we development of Mycenaean culture and the dissemination
now understand as the environmental effects of intense of Minoan water and wastewater technologies in the cen-
irrigation (Mays 2008 and 2010). tral Greece and other parts of Europe. While the two civi-
lisations were almost opposites culturally, Mycenean and
Meanwhile, on the periphery of these areas (e.g. in Arabia Minoan art and technology showed signs of cultural diffu-
and in the deserts of Iran, Pakistan and India), food pro- sion. The strong bond of Minoans with Myceneans ended
duction through farming and nomadic pastoralism, hunt- when the Myceneans decided to invade Crete. After a brief
ing and shing, intensied as the various capacities of period of Mycenean control the Minoan civilisation disap-
the desert environment came to be used more efciently. peared. The Myceneans were the most direct ancestors
Its the creation of the oases: humankinds most impor- to the later Greeks. Mycenean culture and power reached
tant realisation to survive in arid areas of the planet. An its peak around 1300 BC. Then the cultural diffusion that
oasis is never a natural or casual creation. It is formed by resulted from trade contacts with the Hittite Empire and
small-scale local communities possessing environmental Egypt started to deteriorate. All these remarkable civilisa-
understanding specic to sites made habitable by applying tions had one thing in common, even with the advanced
techniques whose invention and preservation require con- capabilities to provide water supply, these civilisations
siderable effort. The oases associate different skills and all collapsed. The interesting question is whether water
elements that already exist by using them in a new way. It resources sustainability was a signicant component for
is the fruit of the union of the environmental know-how of their failure (Mays et al. 2007).
nomadic hunter-gatherers and herdsmen, with the water
techniques of farmers (Laureano 2000). In the later archaic (750500 BC) and classical (500336
BC) periods, both historical sources and archaeological
The creation of the oases depends on the possession of excavations provide evidence that water and wastewater
hydraulic qualied expertise and the combined use of ani- technologies were advanced and widespread in Greece.
mals and plants suitable for the purpose, conditions that Greeks built on the previous knowledge of hydraulics and
were rst met in the early age of metals, around the third water resources, but yet they also failed. The advancement
millennium BC. In this period nomadic populations that had of urban water technology and management is illustrated
remained on the margins of the ages great city-building by the aqueduct of Samos (known as tunnel of Eupalinos)
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and the Peisistratean for Athens (Koutsoyiannis et al. There is no doubt that the ancient societies in Mesoamerica
2008). and the Southwestern United States did fail partially from
the depletion of natural resources and climate change,
The Romans replaced the Greek rule in most locations, at least particularly as related to water (Mays 2007). The
inherited the technologies and developed them further. In period from about 150 AD to 900 AD, was the most remark-
addition, the Romans substantially increased the applica- able in the development of Mesoamerica. During the Clas-
tion scale and implemented water projects in almost every sic period the people of Mexico and the Maya area built
large city (De Feo et al. 2011). The Greek and Roman water civilisations comparable with the advanced civilisations in
technologies are not only a cultural heritage but are the other parts of the world. In Mesoamerica those ancient
underpinning of modern achievements in water engineer- urban civilisations developed in arid highlands where
ing and management practices. A few examples are the irrigation (hydraulic) agriculture allowed high population
Hadrianic aqueduct in Athens and that in ancient Olympia densities. In the tropical lowlands, however, there was a
known as Nymphaion of Herodes of Atticus which were dependence on slash-and-burn (milpa) agriculture which
constructed in the 2nd century A.D. Apparent character- kept the bulk of the population scattered in small hamlets.
istics of technologies and practices not only by the Greeks The non-urban lowland civilisation possibly resulted from
and Romans, but in many other ancient civilisations are responses to pressures set up by the hydraulic, urban
durability and sustainability (De Feo et al. 2011). Now- civilisation. Teotihuacan (City of the Gods) in Mexico is the
adays, the popular but inaccurate image is that Roman earliest example of highland urbanism (Mays 2010).
aqueducts were elevated throughout their entire length
on lines of arches, called arcades. Roman engineers, as Different water and wastewater techniques were applied
their Greek predecessors, were very practical and there- according to local conditions. For example, water supply
fore whenever possible the aqueduct followed a steady in some Minoan settlements was dependent on springs
downhill course at or below ground level (Hansen 2006). and in others on a surface runoff or groundwater sys-
As a matter of fact, on average 87% of the length of the tems. Despite this diversity, common construction mas-
Romes aqueduct system was underground (De Feo et al. tery seems to have been applied in several places in a
2011). The longest aqueduct in the Roman world was con- relatively reduced time span. It can be suggested that a
structed in the Campania Region, in Southern Italy. It is the group of people living in prehistoric sites were aware of
Augustan Aqueduct Serino-Naples-Miseno, which is not the principles of water relevant technologies. This sug-
well known owing to there being no remains of spectacular gests the existence of master craftsmen responsible for
bridges, but it was a masterpiece of engineering (De Feo constructing and maintaining the water supply system of a
and Napoli 2007). community. They should also be in charge for the solution
of some water related problems and were able to provide
Also, management practices were integrated, combin- palaces and settlements with efcient, decentralised, envi-
ing both large-scale and small-scale systems that have ronmental friendly and even sophisticated water supply
allowed cities to sustain for millennia. The durability of and wastewater systems (Angelakis et al. 2011).
some of the systems that operated up to present times,
as well as the support of the technologies and their sci-
entic background by written documents enabled these The link between traditional
technologies to be inherited by present societies despite
regressions that have occurred through the centuries
knowledge and water resources
(e.g. in the Dark Ages). For instance, the spectacular sustainability
ruins of Pompeii provides a clearer understanding of a
Roman urban water distribution system, with similari- At the beginning of this new millennium a water crisis which
ties to a modern water distribution system. In fact, the threatens humans existence in many parts of the world is
ending point of a Roman aqueduct was the castellum being experienced. One might ask, how sustainable is it
divisorium which had the double function of serving as to live in a world where approximately 1.1 billion people
a disconnection between the aqueduct and the urban lack safe drinking water, approximately 2.6 billion peo-
distribution network as well as dividing the water ow to ple lack adequate sanitation, and between 2 million and
various uses and/or geographical areas of the city. From 5 million people die annually from water-related diseases?
the castellum divisorium, the three pipes conveyed the In the attempt to solve this water crisis the concepts of
water to different parts of the city lling water towers: water resources sustainability is creating concern. Water
the castellum secondarium or castellum privatum (De resources sustainability is the ability to use water in suf-
Feo et al. 2011). It happened e.g. after the fall of the cient quantity and quality from the local to the global
Roman Empire, when water sanitation and public health scale to meet the needs of humans and ecosystems for
declined in Europe. Historical accounts tell of incredibly the present and the future to sustain life, and to protect
unsanitary conditions heavily polluted water, human humans from the damages brought about by natural and
and animal wastes in the streets, and water thrown out human-caused disasters that affect sustaining life (Mays
of windows onto people in the streets. Consequently vari- 2007). The overall goal of water resources management
ous epidemics ravaged Europe. During the same period, must be water resources sustainability.
Islamic cultures, on the periphery of Europe, had reli-
giously mandated high levels of personal hygiene, along A component of water resources sustainability is the use of
with highly developed water supplies and adequate sani- traditional knowledge, which constitutes the ancient knowl-
tation systems, which in several cases were the same old edge of humanity (www.tkwb.org). The United Nations
Greek and Roman facilities, preserved along the centu- Convention to Combat Desertication (UNCCD) provided
ries (Mays 2008 and 2010). the following denition of it: Traditional knowledge consists
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IWA Specialist Groups
of practical (instrumental) and normative knowledge con- Past, present and future cities
cerning the ecological, socio-economic and cultural envi-
ronment. Traditional knowledge originates from people It is well accepted that urbanisation will continue to
and is transmitted to people by recognisable and expe- increase in the future and its impacts to the environment
rienced actors. It is systematic (inter-sector and holistic), and especially to water and wastewater will continue to
experimental (empirical and practical), handed down from increase signicantly. In the food-chain, production of
generation to generation and culturally enhanced. Such a meat, sh and dairy products consume 2.9-fold more
kind of knowledge supports diversity and enhances and water, 2.5-fold more energy, 13-fold more fertiliser and
reproduces local resources. 1.4-fold more pesticides than the vegetarian ones. Thus,
in the near future their production will account for more
Where can traditional knowledge help in water resources than 50% of the overall water consumption.
sustainability to be implemented? Because water impacts
so many aspects of our existence, there are many facets On the other hand, the old water and wastewater tech-
that must be considered in water resources sustainability. nologies developed in ancient civilisations, which are the
How do we overcome our modern day shortcomings and underpinning of the modern achievements, may provide
strive for water resources sustainability? Possibly one way valuable insights for sustainable water and wastewater
is to study the past. The use of traditional knowledge may engineering and management practices in the future cit-
play a major role in solving some of the present day and ies. Lessons to be learnt from the past could be relevant
future water resources sustainability issues, especially in to (a) Design philosophy of water and wastewater projects
developing parts of the world. (e.g. construction and operation period); (b) adaptation to
the environment; (c) management (balancing water avail-
Many civilisations, which were great canters of power and ability with the demand); (d) architectural aspects of the
culture, were built in locations that could not support the cities; (e) diet habits; and (f) sustainability, as a design
populations that developed. Now we nd ourselves in simi- principle (Koutsoyiannis et al. 2008; Mays 2010).
lar situations in many places around the world. Arid zones
cover 41.3% of the worlds land surface, corresponding As an example, currently, engineers typically use a design
to 34.7% of the planets inhabitants (2.1 billion people). period for structures of about 40 to 50 years as dictated
Urban growth in these areas has been largely sustained by economic considerations. Sustainability, as a design
by tapping remote water resources. Under the growing principle, has entered the engineering lexicon only in the
pressure of global warming, these resources are becom- last decade. Naturally, it is difcult to estimate the design
ing increasingly insufcient and are at risk of complete principles of ancient engineers but it is notable that sev-
collapse in the medium and long term. The situation of eral ancient works have operated for very long periods,
urban centres in arid regions is therefore critical. Only so some until recent times and other are still operative. For
much water ows in the worlds rivers: the concentration of example, wastewater and stormwater drainage systems
resources in built-up areas has worked to the detriment of were functioning in Minoan settlements since the Bronze
outlying lands, depriving ora and fauna of the water their Age (Angelakis et al. 2005). These include bathrooms and
vital processes require and hence triggering processes of other sanitary and purgatory facilities, as well as wastewater
soil degradation, erosion and desertication. and storm sewer systems. In fact, the hydraulic and archi-
tectural function of sewer systems in palaces and cities are
One might argue that if the ancient societies had our regarded as one of the salient characteristics of Minoan
present day technologies, they would not have failed. How- civilisation. They were so advanced that they can be suc-
ever, even newer technologies, are not the answer for our cessfully compared with their modern counterparts.
present day problems; therefore, there is need to rely on
traditional knowledge to tackle these problems.
What relevance does the failure or collapse of ancient civi- Epilogue (and outlook)
lisations have upon modern societies? Learning from the
past and discovering the reasons for the success and fail- Many civilisations, which were great centres of power and
ure of other societies seems very logical. We certainly are culture, were built in locations that could not support the
a much more advanced society than those of the ancient populations that developed. Now we nd ourselves in simi-
societies, but will we be able to overcome the obstacles lar situations in many places around the world. How do we
to survival before us? The collapse of some civilisations balance the mega water projects with the methods of tra-
may have been the result of the very processes that had ditional knowledge? Koutsoyuannis et al. (2008) explored
been responsible for their success (e.g. the Mayans and the legacies and lessons on urban water management
Romans and others). learned from the ancient Greeks. They summarised the
lessons learned as follows:
What relevance do ancient civilisations have upon modern
day water resources sustainability? Or better yet, what can a) The meaning of sustainability in modern times should
we learn from these ancient civilisations? Diamond (2005) be re-evaluated in light of ancient public works and
proposed a ve-point framework for the collapse of socie- management practices. Technological developments
ties: (a) damage that people inadvertently inict on their based on sound engineering principles can have
environment, (b) climate variability, (c) hostile neighbours, extended useful lives.
(d) decreased support by friendly neighbours, and (f) soci-
etys responses to its problems. Three of these can relate b) Safety, with respect to water, is of critical importance in
to water resources sustainability. the sustainability of a population.
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IWA Specialist Groups
c) In water-short areas, development of cost-effective technologies perspective, this is particularly true because
decentralised water and wastewater management pro- water is the beginning of life as stated by (Aristotle, Meta-
gram is essential. physics, 983 b.). Thus, we have to recover the ability to
think young, to think sustainable!
d) Traditional knowledge could play important role for sus-
tainable water supply in the future cities.
References
e) Climate variability is not a new phenomenon. People
have always had to cope with the uncertainty natural Angelakis, A.N., Koutsoyiannis, D. and Tchobanoglous, G.
phenomena and unpredictability of the environment. (2005). Urban wastewater and stormwater technologies in
Precisely these conditions have shaped knowledge and the Ancient Greece. Water Research 39(1): 210220.
adapted it locally to respond to adversity with appro- Angelakis, A.N., Dialynas, M.G. and Despotakis, V. (2011). Evolu-
priate techniques for capturing and distributing water, tion of water supply technologies in Crete, Greece through
protecting soil, recycling and optimising energy use. the Centuries. In: Evolution of Water Supply Throughout Mil-
These techniques constitute a great reserve of biologi- lennia. IWA Publishing, London, UK (in press).
cal diversity and sustainable knowledge. Angelakis, A.N., Salgot, M., Paranychianakis, N.V. and De Feo,
G. (2010). 2nd Newsletter: IWA-SG on Water and Waste-
water Technologies in Ancient Civilizations. IWA, pp. 124,
The use of traditional knowledge does not directly apply http://www.iwahq.org/Home/Networks/Specialist_groups/
techniques of the past but instead, attempts to understand List_of_groups/Water_and_Ancient_Civilizations/.
the logic of this model of knowledge (Laureano 2007). De Feo, G. and Napoli, R.M.A. (2007). Historical development of
Traditional knowledge allowed ancient societies to keep the Augustan aqueduct in Southern Italy: Twenty centuries
ecosystems in balance, carry out outstanding technical, of works from Serino to Naples. Water Science and Technol-
artistic, and architectural work that has been universally ogy: Water Supply 7(1), 131138.
admired. The use of traditional knowledge has been able De Feo, G., Mays, L.W. and Angelakis, A.N. (2011). Water
to renew and adapt itself. Traditional knowledge incorpo- and Wastewater Management Technologies in Ancient
rates innovation in a dynamic fashion, subject to the test of Greek and Roman Civilizations. In: Treatise on Water
Science (P. Wilderer, ed.), vol. 1, pp. 322, Academic Press,
a long term, achieving local and environmental sustainabil-
Oxford, UK.
ity. An important subject for the sustainability in develop-
Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fall or
ing nations of the world is to research the implementation Succeed. Viking, New York, USA.
of methods of traditional knowledge for water supply. Many Hassan, F.A. (1998). Climate change. Nile oods and civilization.
of these techniques may prove to be very valuable over the Nature and Resources 32(2), 3440.
more conventional (more sophisticated) ones. Hansen, R.D. (2006) Water and wastewater systems in impe-
rial Rome. http://www.waterhistory.org (accessed February
The ancients for the most part lived in harmony with 2010).
nature and their environment, those that did not failed. Jalter, M. (1983). La Sant par les Eaux. 2000 ans de thermal-
Their actions should be warnings to us, in other words the isme. S.I. lInstant Durable, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
Koutsoyiannis, D., Zarkadoulas, N., Angelakis, A.N. and
ancients have warned us. Today we do not live in harmony
Tchobanoglous, G. (2008). Urban water management in
with nature and the environment.
Ancient Greece: legacies and lessons. ASCE, Journal of
Water Resources Planning & Management, 134(1): 4554.
Usually we dene ancient civilisations as those conned Laureano P. (2000). The Water Atlas, Traditional Knowledge to
far away into past and, therefore, dated as very old. How- Combat Desertication. UNESCO, Laia Libros, Barcelona,
ever, compared to the time scale they were the dawn of Spain.
civilisation, their being ancient is more properly referred to Laureano P. (2007). Ancient water techniques for proper
as being young civilisations. If we relate the evolution of management of Mediterranean ecosystems. Water Science
civilisation using the human life as the time scale, rather & Technology, Water Supply 7(1): 237244.
than centuries, it would be more immediate to recognise Mays, L.W. (ed.) 2007). Water Resources Sustainability.
the ancient civilisations like young whereas the mod- McGraw-Hill, New York, USA.
Mays, L.W. (2008). A very brief history of hydraulic technol-
ern civilisation as old. It is well known that young people
ogy during antiquity. Environmental Fluid Mechanics 8(5):
have a greater risk attitude, compared to the elderly and 471484.
thus the rst civilisations were more genuine, spontane- Mays, L.W. (ed.) (2010). Ancient Water Technologies. Springer,
ous, instinctive as well as they had a greater risk attitudes The Netherlands.
that leading them toward the construction of wonderful Mays, L.W., Koutsoyiannis, D. and Angelakis, A.N. (2007). A brief
and fantastic works, better understanding the human history of urban water supply in antiquity. Water Science &
needs and wishes. In the light of the water and wastewater Technology: Water Supply 7(1): 112.
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Technical advance in water reuse Table 2.1 illustrates the most common treatment trains
for the main water reuse applications. Non-conventional
Over 3000 water reuse projects have been assessed by a (extensive or natural) treatment processes are an efcient,
survey conducted a few years ago (Bixio et al. 2005), some easy to operate and cost effective solution for developing
of them in an advanced planning phase. The major part of countries and rural areas for full treatment or polishing of
the water recycling schemes are located in Japan (>1,800) secondary efuents.
and the USA (>800), followed by Australia (>450), Europe
(>200), the Mediterranean and Middle East area (>100), One of the major technical challenge of wastewater treat-
Latin America (>50) and Sub-Saharan Africa (>20). Now- ment for agricultural water reuse is to ensure the health
adays, this number should be signicantly higher with the safety, and at same time to conserve the fertilising value
fast development of water reuse in China, India and the of wastewater. Advanced physico-chemical primary treat-
Middle East. As mentioned previously, agricultural and ment, implemented in Mexico, achieved this objective by
urban irrigation remains the major use of recycled water. means of the combination of high-rate clarication and
disinfection, without the removal of dissolved carbon,
Several mature treatment technologies enable to produce nitrogen and phosphorus, the last two being the main fer-
recycled water quality to meet the water quality require- tilising elements.
ments for the intended reuse applications. The major tech-
nical challenge is to ensure the reliability of plant operation It is important to underline that even for irrigation, recycled
to consistently meet water reuse regulations. water of microbiological quality identical to that of drinking
Table 2.1. The most common wastewater treatment schemes recommended for the major water reuse applications
Extensive (non-conventional)
Type of reuse treatment trains Intensive treatment trains or mixed technical solutions
1. Restricted E.1a. Stabilisation ponds I.1a. Secondary treatment by activated sludge (AS)
irrigation in series (including I.1b. Other secondary treatment trains, e.g. trickling lters,
aerated lagoons) bioltration
E.1b. Wetlands in series I.1c. Advanced primary treatment (high rate clarication) and
E.1c. Others: inltration- ltration
percolation, algae I.1d Idem as a,b,c with a disinfection step
ponds, etc. (chlorination or (UV) or maturation ponds)
2. Unrestricted E.2a. Not recommended I.2a. Secondary treatment by activated sludge with
irrigation, E.2b. Only in special cases tertiary ltration and disinfection (Cl, UV or ozone)
e.g. crops trains E.1. with a well I.2b. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) followed by disinfection
eaten raw designed and monitored (Cl or UV)
polishing step such as I.2c. Secondary treatment by activated sludge
maturation ponds followed by soil-aquifer treatment (SAT)
3. Urban uses, E.3. Not recommended I.3a. Idem as I.2a,b,c
e.g. irrigation of I.3b. Secondary treatment by activated sludge followed by
parks, golf tertiary ultraltration (MF or UF) with chlorination
courses
4. Dual distribution E. 4. Not applicable I.4. Idem as I.2a,b or I.3b with ozonation as disinfec-
in-building for tion step or activated carbon for colour removal
toilet ushing
5. Aquifer recharge E. 5. Not applicable I.5. Idem as I.2a,b
via inltration
basins
6. Indirect potable E.6. Not applicable I.6a. Multibarrier conventional treatment processes,
reuse, e.g. direct e.g. AS or BRM followed by ozonation,
aquifer or ltration, activated carbon, nal disinfection
reservoir recharge I.6b. Advanced membrane treatments, e.g. AS or
BRM followed by MF/UF, reverse osmosis (RO)
and advanced oxidation (UV/H2O2)
7. Industrial uses E.7. Not applicable I.7a. AS or BRM with nitrication followed by chlorination (cooling)
(cooling or boiler I.7b. AS followed by MF/UF and RO with a dou-
water) ble pass RO for high pressure boiler water
I.7c. BRM followed by RO with a double pass
RO for high pressure boiler water
Source: adapted from Lazarova 2001, Bixio et al. 2005 and Asano et al. 2007
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IWA Specialist Groups
Advance in science and technology greatly contributes takes the natural path of rainwater as it lters through
to the implementation of new more efcient wastewater sand and gravel to the deep aquifers of the groundwater
treatment trains. Advanced technologies, especially mem- basin. Some of the recycled water, 21 to 57%, depending
branes, enable the production of high quality recycled on the time of the year, is injected into Orange Coun-
water equivalent to drinking water quality. A number of tys seawater intrusion barrier. The GWR System helps
recent projects and/or expansions of existing reuse facili- decrease Orange Countys dependency on imported
ties have chosen membrane technologies, in particular water from the Colorado River and Northern California. It
for indirect potable reuse (Water Replenishment Project takes a resource that would otherwise be wasted to the
in Orange County, California; Wulpen Aquifer Recharge ocean, puries it and provides a new source of water.
Project in Belgium; Western Corridor in Australia; Additionally, the new facility uses approximately one-half
NEWater Projects in Singapore). The high reliability of the amount of energy required to transport the imported
membrane treatment and the decreasing membrane cost surface water. It also minimises the amount of ow to the
favour the implementation of membrane tertiary treat- ocean outfall during storms, preserving the countys vital
ment for non-potable applications such as urban uses coast. The GWR System maintains water diversity in an
for landscape irrigation, toilet ushing and re protection arid region, provides high-quality water for the ground-
(Sydney Olympic Park and Rouse Hill, Australia), as well water basin and protects the environment by reusing a
as for industrial purposes as cooling or boiler water (West precious resource.
Basin Water Recycling Project, California; Luggage Point
Project, Australia). Another well-known project for high-quality recycled
water production is Singapore NEWater. In 2002, the
The Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) System in rst NEWater plant was born. Singapores NEWater con-
Orange County, California, is the largest water purication sists of polishing treated wastewater (both from domestic
project in the world for indirect potable reuse (265,000 and industrial origin) by a three-stage tertiary treatment
3
m /d; 70 mgd). The GWR System produces high-quality of ultraltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet. The
recycled water that exceeds all state and federal drink- NEWater quality surpasses the World Health Organization
ing water standards and enables to meet the annual requirements for drinking water and is used mostly by the
needs of local population. The GWR System takes highly industry (cooling of air conditioners) but also for indirect
treated wastewater and puries it using a state-of-the- potable reuse. It is expected that NEWater will meet 30%
art, three-step process microltration, reverse osmosis, of Singapore water needs by 2011, providing a secure
and advanced oxidation by ultraviolet (UV) radiation and alternative to the traditional water sources represented by
hydrogen peroxide. The majority of the treated water is importations from neighbour Malaysia and by the local
pumped to recharge lakes in Anaheim where the water catchments.
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IWA Specialist Groups
An important new concept in water reuse is the t to lenges. Water reuse practices have to be adapted to each
use approach, which consists in the production of recy- local situation in order to be safe, amenable, benecial and
cled water quality that meets the needs of the end users. sustainable, both nancially and environmentally. Water
When water reuse is implemented for different purposes, reuse quality criteria shall be consistent and enforced by
the most cost efcient solution is to use several tertiary good management of recycled water quality with on-line
treatment trains to produce designed water for each control.
type of use. The best world example of the application of
this concept is the West Basin Water Recycling Plant in The convergence of water reuse regulations is a very impor-
3
California (315,000 m /d), which produces ve quality tant challenge for the worldwide development of water
recycled water: (1) disinfected tertiary efuent for irriga- reuse and its integration in urban water management. New
tion, (2) nitried disinfected tertiary efuent for industrial regulations should be based on health protection, but also
cooling make-up water, (3) high-quality softened recycled including treatment goals and a simple not very expensive
water after microltration (MF), reverse osmosis (RO) and water quality monitoring. A costly compliance monitoring,
advanced oxidation (UV + H2O2) for the salt-intrusion as those required by few recent regulations, could be an
barrier, (4) MF/RO disinfected water for cooling and low- impediment to water reuse development.
pressure boiler feed and (5) MF and double pass RO for
high pressure boiler feed water. Economic viability of water reuse projects is another signi-
cant challenge that can be afforded by means of adequate
Advanced treatment technologies and innovative analytical water management policies. In fact, the value of recycled
methods are making possible the production of recycled water is determined by the use to which it is put. Full cost
water similar and even better that drinking water quality. recovery is a desirable objective but depends on ability to
Nevertheless, the scientic evidence for the elimination pay and the importance of other management objectives,
of emerging contaminants and pathogens is not enough including social and environmental criteria. Unfortunately,
to achieve the public acceptance and political support for water reuse pricing is suffering from the competition
some water reuse projects. Such an example is the West- with undervalued and/or subsidised conventional water
ern Corridor Recycled Water Project in Australia, which is resources and the lack of nancial incentives.
intended to supplement drinking water reservoirs using a
seven-barrier system to ensure the highest recycled water An understanding of social and cultural aspects of water
quality. This planned indirect potable reuse project puries reuse is necessary to develop sustainable water recycling
the efuent from six wastewater treatment plants by micro- schemes. Reuse projects can fail for lack of social support,
ltration, reverse osmosis and advanced oxidation before and reuse for potable purposes meets with the strongest
supplementation of the water supply dams (an environ- opposition. Even for non-potable reuse purposes, public
mental barrier). The goals of the research are optimising attitudes such as perception of water quality and willing-
existing processes and/or investigating alternative technol- ness to pay or to accept a wastewater reuse project play
ogies, monitoring and evaluating contaminants of concern an important part. In every country, the publics knowl-
and, where possible, developing strategies to further mini- edge and understanding of the safety and applicability of
mise or eliminate the identied risks. Research demon- recycled water is a key factor for the success of any water
strates that recycled water treated using the seven-barrier reuse programme. Consistent communication and easy to
system adopted complies with all relevant standards and understand messages need to be developed to the public
regulations for recycled water. However, conveying these and politicians explaining the benets of water reuse for
scientic ndings successfully to the large public and the long term water security and sustainable urban water
convincing them that recycled water from this process is cycle management.
perfectly safe and valuable alternative water supply for the
growing population is still a very challenging task. Energy shortage is nowadays a worldwide problem.
Recently, alternative or renewal energy has attracted great
Owing to the emerging high demand of high quality recy- attention. In the sector of wastewater treatment, energy
cled water, membrane technology is a hot topic in water consumption has been carefully examined and research
reuse R&D. MBR have already been proven to sustain works on energy minimisation in wastewater treatment
higher efuent quality for reverse osmosis (RO) and more and/or water reuse through novel processes are currently
cost effective novel ltration methods are being inves- under investigation. The bottleneck for high-end water
tigated. One of them is the forward osmosis (FO) where recycling systems, which usually involve membrane tech-
separation occurs by using the osmotic pressure gradient nologies and consume substantial amount of energy has
between the feed solution and a highly concentrated draw been noted. In the near future, the challenges in water
solution. Treatment and recovery of RO brine generated reuse would be the development of novel processes that
during water reclamation is also under consideration using consume less energy and/or enhance energy recovery.
innovative technologies such as capacitive deionisation
that uses an electric eld and porous electrodes to sep-
arate the anions from the cations and ultimately remove Conclusions
salts from the feed solution.
Water recycling and reuse are rapidly growing practices
worldwide that can be sustainable, cost competitive and
Challenges of water reuse energy saving options to increase water availability, pro-
viding thus a viable solution to adapt to climate change.
Despite the growing development of water reuse world- Water reuse has been recognised as the solution for water
wide, its full-scale implementation and operation still face shortage problems worldwide. Water reuse industry ben-
several regulatory, economic, social and institutional chal- ets from technology advances and innovations, but also
98
IWA Specialist Groups
faces several new challenges such as concerns on health Savic, D. and Thoeye, C. (2005). Municipal wastewater
impacts, energy footprint and social and economic consid- reclamation: where do we stand? An overview of treatment
erations. It is believed that there is still a long way to achieve technology and management practice. Water Science and
the ultimate goal of sustainable water management world- Technology: Water Supply, 5(1) 7785.
Global Water Intelligence (2010). Municipal Water Reuse Mar-
wide, where water reuse plays a key role in establishing a
kets. Media Analytics Ltd.,Oxford, United Kingdom.
benecial linkage between water, nature and human. Jimenez, B. and Asano, T (eds) (2008). Water Reuse: An Inter-
national Survey of Current Practice, Issues and Needs. IWA
Publishing, London.
References Lazarova, V. and Bahri, A. Eds. (2005). Irrigation with recycled
water: agriculture, turfgrass and landscape, CRC Press,
Asano, T., Burton, F.J., Leverenz, H.L., Tsuchihashi, R. and Boca Raton, FL, USA.
Tchobanoglous, G. (eds) (2007). Water Reuse: Issues, Leverenz, H.L., Tchobanoglous, G. and Asano, T. (2011). Direct
Technology, and Applications, McGraw-Hill, New York. potable reuse: a future imperative. Journal of Water Reuse
Bixio, D., De Heyder, B., Cikurel, H., Muston, M., Miska, V., and Desalination, 1(1), 210.
Joksimovic, D., Schfer, A.I., Ravazzini, A., Aharoni, A.,
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IWA Specialist Groups
Leaps and bounds have been made in areas related to in the future. These are, amongst others, climate change
river basin management on a global scale, in line with vari- aspects, groundwater and marine topics as well as the
ous technological advances of the 21st century. We review installation of adaptive and exible institutions. To address
six emerging trends related to water science, research and these emerging issues several recommendations for future
management. transboundary water management are made.
1
Adapted from Kirsty L. Blackstock; Perri Standish-Lee; Michael Weyand; Wendell Koning, Alan Vicorya and Peter Litheratry, Transboundary
waters: the role of integrated water resource management, IWA, Water 21, October 2011, pp. 2224.
2
Adapted from Climate Change Impacts on River Basin and Freshwater Ecosystems: Some Observations on Challenges and Emerging
Solutions, Avi Ostfeld, Stefano Barchiesi, Matthijs Bonte, Carol R. Collier, Katharine Cross, Geoff Darch, Tracy A. Farrell, Mark Smith, Alan
Vicory, Michael Weyand and Julian Wright.
3
Adapted from John Riddiford, Water Management in Challenging Times A Perspective from South-East Australia, IWA W&RBM News-
letter, February 2010.
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IWA Specialist Groups
Figure 1. The Danube River Basin - covering 19 European states: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Switzerland, Ukraine.
be changes in temperature conditions. It is expected that subtropical and lower mid latitudes, especially in regions
there is a tendency to dryer and hotter summers as well currently already dry; Increased intensity and variability
as wetter and milder winters. However, although different in precipitation will likely increase risks of ooding and
calculations on climate modelling have been made, there droughts (in many locations suffering extreme poverty
is still uncertainty as to what extent these changes in tem- like Bangladesh).
perature will occur. Secondly, it is expected that there will Water supplies from glaciers and snow cover will likely
be a change in the intensity of heavy storm events but, decline, reducing river base ows and increasing peak
similar to the temperature changes, to what extent is still ows and consequently changing the water quality
uncertain. To gain knowledge about possible climate con- (Bonte and Zwolsman 2010).
ditions in the future, it is thus necessary to use climate There is a high condence that rising water tempera-
change models in predicting impacts of climate change tures and related changes in ice cover, total dissolved
on river basin and freshwater ecosystems. The majority solids (TDS), oxygen levels and circulation will impact
of global circulation models predict that climate change freshwater biological systems.
will result in severe changes in the water cycle leading to In addition, freshwater species often serve as excel-
signicant drying in some areas of the world and wetting lent indicators of ecosystem functions. Key threat driv-
in others. More detailed modeling identies specic spatial ers which can be identied include increasing dam
and temporal complexities, such as strong changes in the density; river fragmentation; consumptive water losses,;
seasonality of river ows. Despite uncertainty pertaining to over abstraction; increase in cropped land; increase in
methods, assumptions and input data of climate change impervious surfaces; wetland non-connectivity; increases
models, most models point towards a trend of an increas- in invasive species and aquaculture; and, increased load-
ing frequency of ooding and droughts events. ings of organics, pesticides, sediments, nitrogen and phos-
phorous (Vrsmarty et al. 2010). Habitat loss and degra-
The fourth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on dation present particular challenges to freshwater species
Climate Change (Bates et al. 2008) predicted the following that, in many cases, cannot relocate, with ecosystems of-
impacts on freshwater resources and ecosystems, ranging ten highly concentrated in relatively restricted areas.
from likely to a high degree of condence in their occur-
rence based on observational records and climate change Eventually, the combination of these factors erodes the
projections. resilience of ecosystems until they cease to cope with
sudden changes. Managing rivers based on identication
Global warming is likely to cause large-scale changes in and implementation of environmental ows can help pro-
the hydrologic cycle impacting timing, intensity and du- tect the resilience of aquatic ecosystems. Environmental
ration of water ows. Precipitation and average annual ows are based on maintenance of variable ows both
runoff will increase in high latitudes but decrease in some within and between seasons and years to meet ecological
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IWA Specialist Groups
needs such as provision of healthy, diverse sh and ripar- process representations. Catchment scale river water
ian habitat, channel maintenance and water quality (Poff quality modelling with the Environment Agencys SIMCAT
et al. 2010; Arthington et al. 2010). stochastic-deterministic river quality model is regarded as
the best current approach to support decision making for
river water quality planning in the UK.
3. Water quality modelling and
4,5 Water quality monitoring is performed to collect and ana-
artificial neural network lyse various water quality constituents. The data collected
covers a wide range of parameters over a given period
Water quality models are useful tools, which can, for
of time and is benchmarked against various standards
example, be used to project and assess the effects of
to ascertain its benecial use. Currently, as mentioned
climate change in river basins. In Malaysia, water qual-
above, there are various water quality models that are used
ity modeling is widely used to draft sustainable river basin
to assess and project effects of climate change in river
management strategies. They have become an integral
basins. These models have some limitations (Ali 2007),
part of environmental management including for environ-
related to their underlying formulations and structure. Arti-
mental impact assessments (EIAs) and river rehabilitation
cial Neural Networks (ANN) are used to solve complex
initiatives (Zainudin at al. 2009). Computer models enable
engineering problems where it is difcult to develop models
pre-visualisation of impacts from proposed developmental
from the fundamental principles, particularly when dealing
activities before it actually occurs, which enables a thor-
with non-linear systems. ANN is a system loosely modeled
ough environmental management plan under various test
on the human brain. It resembles the human brain in two
scenarios with optimal cost and deteriorative implications.
respects: the knowledge is acquired by the network through
Models are also used as an investigative tool in relation to
a learning process, and inter-neuron connection strengths
assessment and development of abatement measures that
known as synaptic weights are used to store the knowledge.
need to be taken to maintain or achieve a specic target
ANN can be dened as a distributed computational system
quality. Once the baseline model has been developed,
composed of several individual processing elements oper-
each reach (tributaries and main-stem) can be scruti-
ating largely in parallel, interconnected according to some
nised to determine its Waste Assimilative Capacity (WAC).
specic topology (architecture) and having the capability
Depending on the current condition of the river, whether it
to self-modify connection strengths during the processing
is still within or beyond the desired water quality, the total
of element parameters (learning) (Haykin 1994). Some
amount of pollution load that it can still sustain or needs
research has been carried out to apply ANN to water qual-
to reduce can then be determined using the water quality
ity forecasting (Palani et al. 2008). It is expected that the
model (Mills et al. 1986). There are various types of models
ongoing global research in water science will move in the
available in the market, both open source and commercial,
direction of enhanced utilisation of more robust modeling
and each with its own advantages and limitations, as well
tools, such as ANN to become a key component in meeting
as specic focus areas. The input data and competency
higher level of water quality and increased demand.
of the modeler are important variables for consideration to
attain convincing and reliable model output. Nothing gives
the modeler a better indication of the water quality charac- Development of decision support
teristics of a water column than conducting an on-site eld 6,7
survey collecting water quality and hydraulic data. systems (DSS)
Catchment based water quality modeling is gaining wide- Integration of water quality models and geographical infor-
spread use in the UK to understand where the greatest mation system (GIS) tools gives rise to decision support
benet in a catchment can be achieved through end system (DSS) platforms that eases use for the end-user
of pipe and diffuse pollution reductions. Model results and enables graphical analysis of potential impacts. Such a
are used to target cost-effective investment by the envi- system was developed for the world-famous Three Gorges
ronmental regulators, the water industry, and those with situated on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, that has
responsibilities for agriculture and urban diffuse pollu- a total length of 193 km. There are more than 8,500 com-
tion. SIMCAT is a mathematical model that describes the mercial ships in operation, 17 cities and more than 1,700
quality of river water throughout a catchment by using a industrial enterprises located by the reservoir. Industrial,
Monte-Carlo simulation approach to predict the behavior municipal and ship efuent has become the main pollution
of the summary statistics of ow and water quality, such as source for the Yangtze River and results in, on average, 12
the mean and a range of percentiles. A key feature of SIM- water pollution accidents in the Three Gorges Reservoir
CAT is the ability to derive quality relationships between Area (TGRA) every year. An integrated GIS based water
points in a river based on the statistics of observed pollution management information system for the TGRA,
data. This enables SIMCAT to consider errors associated called WPMS_ER_TGRA, was developed. The ArcGIS
with sampling of data rather than errors associated with Engine was used as the system development platform and
calibration of more detailed deterministic water quality Visual Basic as the programming language. The simulation
4
Article contribution from Zaki Zainudin and Bob Crabtree from the IWA Specialist Group on Watershed and River Basin Management.
5
Article contribution from Mohammed Saedi Jami, Bioenvironmental Engineering Research Unit (BERU), Kulliyyah of Engineering, Inter-
national Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).
6
Adapted from Zhai Jun, An Integrated Geographic Information (GIS)- Based Water Pollution Management Information System for the
Three Gorges Reservoir Area, P.R. China., IWA W&RBM Newsletter, September 2010.
7
Adapted from Pau Prat, Llus Corominas and Manel Poch, Environmental Decision support system to select Robust operational strategies
in Urban water Systems (ENDERUS). IWA W&RBM Newsletter, September 2010.
102
IWA Specialist Groups
analysis of pollution incidents is mainly divided into three safe drinking water. Classes of emerging contaminants
steps: add or edit the accidental pollution source; quickly now detected in the aquatic environment that are of rel-
calculate the concentration eld and its movement in time; evance for drinking water production include endocrine
and, analyse and visually show the simulation results. disrupting compounds such as hormones and compounds
with hormone-like properties, pharmaceuticals, illicit and
Subsequently, the GIS-based information system was non-controlled drugs, sweeteners, personal care products,
applied to the emergency water pollution management complexing agents, nanoparticles, peruorinated com-
following a shipwreck that released 10 tons of phenol into pounds, ame retardants, pesticides, and fuel additives.
the Yangtze River over 2 hours. The results showed that
WPMS_ER_TGRA can assist with emergency water pollu- The individual compounds are observed in concentrations
tion management by simulating the transfer and diffusion of that are generally considered too low to cause acute effects.
accidental pollutants in the river. Furthermore, it can iden- Nevertheless, health effects due to long-term exposure to
tify the affected area quickly and show how it will change a mixture of low concentrations of all kinds of emerging
over time within a few minutes of an accident occurring. contaminants cannot be excluded with current knowledge.
Moreover, contamination of drinking water with man-made
In Spain, the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) in substances is considered to be unwanted. Drinking water
collaboration with the Laboratory of Chemical and Environ- companies use the precautionary principle to prevent the
mental Engineering (LEQUIA) are working on the project release of emerging contaminants into the environment as
Environmental Decision support system to select Robust the preferred approach to safeguard sustainable drinking
operational strategies in Urban water Systems (END- water production. In the mean time, they use extensive
ERUS) that aims at developing an Environmental Deci- monitoring of their water sources; and, the development
sion Support System (EDSS) that addresses management and application of advanced treatment techniques to pre-
problems in urban water systems, including the sewer pare safe drinking water.
system, wastewater treatment plants, storage tanks and
the receiving water bodies. The EDSS will suggest opera- In Canada, in addition to those contaminants previously
tional strategies that will improve the overall performance of identied, attention is now being given to the presence of
the system and, at the same time, will contribute to achiev- pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment, that are com-
ing the environmental standards promoted by both the monly used in the livestock industry. There are approxi-
European Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/ mately 6.4 million head of cattle, 2.1 million pigs, 11.8
EEC) and the Spanish Plan Nacional de Calidad de las million chickens, and 0.7 million turkeys in the province of
Aguas (PNCA) 2007-2015. The EDSS will include specic Alberta (Statistics Canada 2006). Many of these animals
knowledge about: i) the physical, chemical and biological receive medication; however, information regarding specic
processes taking place in the different operational units pharmaceuticals and their usage volumes in Alberta, and
comprising the UWS; ii) the complex interactions amongst other provinces of Canada, are not routinely collected. Peni-
these units, and, nally iii) a set of upstream actions based cillin was the most commonly used antimicrobial and was
on literature, previous experiences or simulation studies administered in the animalsdrinking water and by injection.
mainly focused on the protection of the receiving water. In Alberta, Forrest at al. (2011), analysed 247 water sam-
ples from 23 watersheds during the open water season
ENDERUS will dene operating strategies to achieve differ-
between, May 2005 and May 2006. Samples were analysed
ent objectives. These strategies will be evaluated by means
for 27 commonly used veterinary pharmaceuticals. Trace
of dynamic mathematical models of the integrated urban
(ngL-1) concentrations of antimicrobials were detected in
water system and by using environmental legislation and
51% of the samples (127 out of 247 samples). Maximum
economic and social criteria. The operating strategies will
concentrations for the nine antimicrobials detected ranged
also be characterised using sensitivity analysis (to nd the
between 3 and 250 ngL-1 (Forrest at al. 2011). The anti-
most sensitive parameters in the urban water system) and
microbials detected and their concentrations were found
estimating the robustness against changes in the waste-
to be similar to those in some recent European and North
water composition, in the sewer system conguration, and
American livestock pharmaceutical stream surveys.
against toxic, hydraulic and pollutant shocks.
8
Adapted from Corine J. Houtman, Emerging contaminants in surface waters and drinking water production, IWA W&RBM Newsletter,
March 2011.
9
Adapted form Joon Ha Kim, Joo-Hyon Kang and Sung Min Cha, Non-Point Source (NPS) Monitoring and Management Strategies Using
Constructed Wetlands, IWA W&RBM Newsletter, February 2010.
103
IWA Specialist Groups
to increase further, up to 50%, by 2015. Therefore, best Bonte, M. and Zwolsman, J.J.G. (2010). Climate change induced
management practices (BMPs) are becoming an emerg- salinisation of articial lakes in the Netherlands and con-
ing issue in Korea (Kim et al. 2007). sequences for drinking water production. Water Research
44(15): 44114424.
Ducks Unlimited (2011). How DU conserves Wetlands and Wa-
Constructed wetlands are widely recognised as a cost-
terfowl and Annapolis Royal Wetland. http://www.ducks.
effective method to reduce NPS pollution in both urban and
org/conservation/how-we-conserve / http://www.ducks.ca/
rural area (Gunes and Tuncsiper 2009, Poe et al 2003). province/ns/projects/annapolis/index.html
Forrest, F., Lorenz, K., Thompson, T., Keenliside, J., Kendall, J.
The Korean government launched a new mitigation pro- and Charest, J. (2011). A scoping study of livestock antimi-
gram to reduce the elevated pollution contribution from crobials in agricultural streams of Alberta. Canadian Water
diffuse by means of constructed wetland. Gwangju Insti- Resources Journal 36(1): 116.
tute of Science and Technology, a leading institution of Gunes, K. and Tunsciper, B., (2009). A serially connected sand
environmental science and technology in Korea, carried ltration and constructed wetland system for small com-
out the research on NPS management using constructed munity wastewater treatment. Ecological Engineering 35,
12081215.
wetlands since September 2008. The constructed wetland
Haykin S. (1994). Neural Networks: A Comprehensive Foundation.
is located at the Yeongsan watershed in the Jeolla Prov-
Macmillan College Publishing Company, New York, USA.
ince, the southwest part of the Korea. The results showed Kim, L.H., Ko, S.O., Jeong, S. and Yoon, J. (2007). Characteristics
that the removal efciency of the wetland was highly vari- of washed-off pollutants and dynamic EMCs in parking lots
able depending on the sampling strategies, meteorologi- and bridges during a storm. Science of the Total Environ-
cal conditions, and operation of the wetland system. The ment 376, 178184.
characteristics of particulates, including TSS and turbidity, Mills, W.B., Bowie, G.L., Grieb, T.M., Johnson, K.M. and Whit-
represented quite different patterns when the sampling temore, R.C. (1986). Handbook: Stream Sampling for Waste
frequencies increased or decreased. Clear evidence of the Load Allocation Applications, 1st edition. Washington, DCU-
relationship between hydrograph and pollutograph further SA: United States Environmental Protection Agency.
supported that pollutant loads could be reasonably esti- Palani, S., Lionga S. and Tkalicha P. (2008). An ANN applica-
tion for water quality forecasting. Marine Pollution Bulletin
mated based on rainfall depth and soil condition.
56(9): 15861597.
Poe, A.C., Piehler, M.F., Thompson, S.P. and Paerl, H.W. (2003).
In the United States and Canada, Ducks Unlimited (DU) is Denitrication in a constructed wetland receiving agricul-
an organisation committed to the conservation of wetlands tural runoff. Wetland 23(4), 817826.
and the development of constructed wetlands for waste- Poff, N.L., Richter, B.D., Arthington, A.H., Bunn, S.E., Naiman,
water treatment. Their conservation strategy is comprised R.J., Kendy, E., Acreman, M., Apse, C., Bledsoe, B.P., Free-
of the following elements (DU 2011): restoring grasslands, man, M.C., Henriksen, J., Jacobson, R.B., Kennen, J.G.,
replanting forests, restoring watersheds, working with Merritt, D.M., OKeefe, J.H., Olden, J.D., Rogers, K., Tharme,
landowners, working with partners, acquiring land, con- R.E. and Warner, A. (2010). The ecological limits of hydro-
servation easements, management agreements, and, the logic alteration (ELOHA): a new framework for developing
regional environmental ow standards. Freshwater Biology
use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
55(1), 147170.
Rajic , A., Reid-Smith, R., Deckert, A.E., Dewey, C.E. and McEwen,
Among notable projects that they have completed is the S.A. (2006). Reported antibiotic use in 90 swine farms in
construction of the 15 hectare Annapolis Royal wetland in Alberta. Canadian Veterinary Journal 47(5), 446452.
2002. The wetland is being used to treat the communitys SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute) (2009). Stockholm
wastewater before it enters the Annapolis River (Ducks Water Front Beyond the River: A Transboundary Waters
Unlimited 2011). The quality of efuent from Annapolis Special Issue [accessed 15th September, 2009] http://
Royal already met environmental standards, but it was www.siwi.org/documents/Resources/Water_Front/Water_
high in phosphorous and nitrogen, which are two nutrients Front_1_lowres.pdf
that, when abundant, reduce water quality and degrade Statistics Canada (2006). Census of Agriculture for Alberta.
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. Statistics and
habitat. The approach has improved the quality of water
Data Development. Agdex 852-1.
owing into the Annapolis River and the nutrients that ow
UNECE (2009) The Water Convention...at your service.
through the wetland enrich and enhance the area for wild- United Nations, Geneva. http://www.unece.org/env/water/
life (Ducks Unlimited 2011). The project also consists of a publications/brochure/Water_Convention_e.pdf
trail system and interpretive signage to encourage the local UNESCO (2009) United Nations World Water Development Report
community to come out and enjoy their wetland. 3: Water in a Changing World. The United Nations Educa-
tional, Scientic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris,
and Earthscan, London.
References Wu, C.Y., Kao, C.M., Lin, C.E., Chen, C.W. and Lai, Y.C. (2010).
Using a constructed wetland for non-point source pollution
Ali, M.Z. (2007). The application of the articial neural network control and river water quality purication: a case study in
model for river water quality classication with emphasis on Taiwan. Water Science & Technology 61(10), 25492555.
the impact of land use activities: a case study from several Vrsmarty, C.J., McIntyre, P.B., Gessner, M.O., Dudgeon, D.,
catchments in Malaysia. University Of Nottingham. PhD Prusevich, A., Green, P., Glidden, S., Bunn, S.E., Sullivan,
Thesis. C.A., Reidy, C., Liermann and Davies, P.M. (2010). Glo-
Arthington, A.H., Naiman, R.J. and McClain, M. E. (2010). Pre- bal threats to human water security and river biodiversity.
serving the biodiversity and ecological services of rivers: new Nature 467: 555561.
challenges and research opportunities. Freshwater Biology Zainudin, Z., Rashid, Z.A. and Jaapar, J. (2009). Agricultural
55: 117. non-point source modeling in Sg. Bertam, Cameron
Bates, B.C., Kundzewicz, Z.W., Wu, S. and Palutikof J.P. Highlands using QUAL2E. Malaysian Journal of Analytical
(2008). Climate Change and Water. Technical Paper of the Sciences 13(2), 170184.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva, IPCC
Secretariat.
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IWA Specialist Groups
105
IWA Specialist Groups
Produced wastewaters are characterised by variable ow content and biodegradability), they are particularly suit-
rates, as they are seasonal in nature, high in organic load- able for several different anaerobic processes, depending
ing (up to 10 gCOD/L and more during vintage) and in on the solids content of the waste(water) (Moletta 2005,
carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N > 30) and sometime low in 2009; Chamy et al. 2007).
pH. In terms of ow rate, 6070% is produced in three
months, during vintage and wine production. Because
of all these peculiarities, winery wastewaters need to be
Extensive treatment processes
properly treated in high-efciency systems before their
Beside high-performance processes, extensive processes
release in the sewerage system or the environment.
also need further development. These systems are histori-
cally very diffuse in the southern part of the planet (see,
The treatment of winery wastewater can realised using
for example, Arienzo et al. 2009; Mulidzi 2010). Recently,
several biological processes based both on aerobic or
the use of high-performance wetlands has also found
anaerobic systems using suspended biomass or biolms.
new application in the European context (Rochard et al.
Several systems are currently offered by technology provid-
2010).
ers and current research envisages the availability of new
promising technologies for winery wastewater treatment
(Andreottola et al. 2009). When considering the main wine Micropollutants management
producers, France, Italy and Spain, where vineyards and
cellars are more often part of the urban rather than rural Large amounts of pesticides and chemicals are used in
environment, intensive processes with small footprints are agriculture. In the light of a more sustainable viticulture,
preferred (Moletta et al. 2009) whereas in non-European the management of spraying residues and water for wash-
contests extensive treatment processes, like ponds and ing activities should be considered with particular atten-
constructed wetlands, can be preferred because of their tion (Rochard et al. 2009). These waters can be treated
low power demand and excess sludge production (Arienzo by physical, chemico-physical and biological processes,
et al. 2009; Mulidzi 2010). or a combination of those, to reduce the presence of these
harmful compounds. Although some commercial solutions
are already available, this topic remains on the agenda for
General trends and challenges future improvements.
106
IWA Specialist Groups
Bolzonella D. and Fatone F. (2010). Rduire lempreinte du vin management, March 30th April 3rd 2009, Verona and
sur leau, un d majeur. Revue des Oenologues et des Trento, Italy.
Techniques Vitivinicoles et Oenologiques, 137, 78. Moletta R. (2005) Winery and distillery wastewater treatment by
Bolzonella D., Fatone F., Pavan P. and Cecchi F. (2010). Applica- anaerobic digestion. . Water Science & Technology, 51(1),
tion of a membrane bioreactor for winery wastewater treat- 137144.
ment. Water Science & Technology 62(12), 27542759. Moletta R. (2009). Biological treatment of wineries and distillery
Cavazza A., Franciosi E., Pojer M. and Mattivi F. (2009). Wash- wastewater. In Proceedings of the V IWA International Spe-
ing grapes before crushing: effects on contaminants cialized Conference on Sustainable Viticulture: winery waste
and fermentation. Proceedings of the V IWA International and ecological impacts management, March 30th April
Specialized Conference on Sustainable Viticulture: winery 3rd 2009, Verona and Trento, Italy.
waste and ecological impacts management, March 30th Mulidzi A.R. (2010). Winery and distillery wastewater treatment
April 3rd 2009, Verona and Trento, Italy. by constructed wetland with shorter retention time Water
Chamy R., Pizarro C., Vivanco E., Schiappacasse MC, Jeison D., Science & Technology 61(10) 26112615.
Poirrier P. and Ruiz-Filippi G. (2007). Selected experiences Rochard J., Grinbaum M., Codis S., Coulon T. (2009). Manage-
in Chile for the application of UASB technology for vinasse ment of sprayer wash water: various treatment techniques
treatment. Water Science & Technology 56(2), 3948. and testing of a reed bed system. Proceedings of the V IWA
Guglielmi G., Andreottola G., Foladori P. and Ziglio, G. (2009). International Specialized Conference on Sustainable Viticul-
Membrane bioreactors for winery wastewater treatment: ture: winery waste and ecological impacts management,
case-studies at full scale. Water Science & Technology March 30th April 3rd 2009, Verona and Trento, Italy.
60(5), 12011207. Rochard J., Oldano A., Marengo D. (2010). Environmental inno-
Kerner S. and Rochard J. (2009). Quantication of greenhouse vation in winery efuent management: use of reed beds.
effect gas with the French method Bilan Carbone: from 12th International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water
the vine to the table. In Proceedings of the V IWA Interna- Pollution Control, Venice (Italy), 48 October 2010
tional Specialized Conference on Sustainable Viticulture: Rosso D., Bolzonella D. (2009). Carbon foot-print of aerobic
winery waste and ecological impacts management, March winery wastewater treatment. Water Science & Technology,
30th April 3rd 2009, Verona and Trento, Italy. 60(4), 11851190.
Moule C., Rochard J., Kerner S. (2009). Vitimax: Winery Shah, A.; Bulleri, J.; Ross, R.; Carter, J.; Long, M. (2008). Suc-
and phytosanitary efuent treatment system. Proceedings cessful plant scale winery wastewater treatment using
of the V IWA International Specialized Conference on Sus- membrane bioreactor in northern California. Proceedings of
tainable Viticulture: winery waste and ecological impacts WEFTEC 08, Chicago, IL, October 1823, 34083425.
107
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