Municipal wastewater reclamation: where do we stand? An overview of treatment technology and management practice

Abstract

Water reclamation implementation and management practices at municipal wastewater treatment plants throughout the world are reviewed and some implementation and operational issues are defined. The information is based on a conventional literature survey, on an in depth survey study of European, Israeli and Australian medium and large-scale water reclamation utilities and on the findings of a dedicated international workshop. The review identified over 3,300 water reclamation projects and designed the map of the main process technologies and their fields of product water application. The main conclusion of the enquiry is that the technological risks no longer represent a major concern for the development of water reclamation projects, rather issues such as the financing, failure management and social acceptance have become more critical.