18 ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Wastewater : knowledge , innovation , and research
Focusing on current gaps and barriers , we look at trends in knowledge , research , innovation , capacity building , and wastewater management .
Extracted from United Nations World Water Development Report 2017
Responses to challenges are presented in terms of capacity development , public awareness and improved collaboration , highlighting the potential for improving cost recovery and applying technological responses at appropriate scales .
TRENDS IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION With innovation and technological development evolving rapidly , there is a growing impetus for a paradigm shift towards wastewater management as part of a circular economy . Rather than thinking of reusing water as a costly add-on to wastewater treatment plants , the concept of converting them into ‘ resource recovery factories ’ that will use wastewater and sludge as a raw material and recover valuable products for marketing to end users is gaining increasing attention .
The evolution of wastewater management , especially in developed countries , has been tied to fighting epidemics and major technological breakthroughs . The nineteenth century ’ s basic activated sludge technologies ( treating wastewater using micro-organisms to remove organic matter from sewage ) allowed the transition from “ the sanitary dark ages ” to “ the age of sanitary enlightenment and industrial revolution ”. Technological developments in the late twentieth century focused on nutrient removal — nitrogen and phosphorus — to deal with the widespread problem of eutrophication and reduce environmental impacts of wastewater . Around the turn of the twenty-first century , with ever-increasing wastewater treatment requirements and institutional management capacities , the research and technological focus shifted to advanced processes in order to comply with more stringent regulations and effluent standards .
Future research and innovation trends in the field of wastewater will probably focus on resource recovery to reinvent the economics of the treatment and disposal of wastewater and sludge . Competing demands for water and other natural resources are also driving research and innovations in wastewater technology and management .
The latest major technological innovations in wastewater treatment are mainly aimed at improving treatment efficiencies . While in some parts of the developed world new treatment plants are constructed based on cutting-edge technologies , there is an increasing call for appropriate technologies matching the institutional and resource constraints of low-income countries , such as technologies that can operate with limited external energy needs and lower installation , operation , and maintenance costs than activated sludge systems , while achieving the same performance targets .
June 2018 Volume 24 I Number 4 www . plumbingafrica . co . za