IWA REUSE 2017 brought together water managers,
industry leaders, and cutting-edge researchers to learn current trends and
what’s next in water reuse policy and regulations, technology, operations, and
public. The program focused on four core topic areas: Water Reuse Management,
Water Reuse Applications, Water Reuse Sustainability, and Innovations in Water
Reuse Technologies.
Water professionals shared field experience, 400
abstracts, and a sense that water reclamation and reuse was going mainstream,
due to the twin forces of regulatory ‘push’ and market ‘pull’.
A number of presentations on successful research
of water reuse were made. The successful findings will help to ameliorate the emerging water scarcity problems of the
world. For example, a presentation made
by Michael McMennis, revealed that a 300MW California power plant he designed
had to reuse 87 percent of its wastewater for cooling. Yet industries are
investing in reuse to secure reliability. The Metropolitan Water District’s
General Manager Jeff Kightlinger discussed his city’s plan to build America’s
largest advanced purification plant, to reuse over 567,000 m3/day. This was
very amazing.
Singapore has moved a step ahead in pioneering
and marketing of (recycled) NEWater to augment on the high demand for portable
water. Such milestones suggested the larger world is at last recognising the
inherent but neglected value of wastewater, defined by George
Tchobanoglous as “a renewable, recoverable source of drinking water, resources,
and energy.”
Beyond recent technology advances, timely discussions focused on the role of
and demand for water reuse in mitigating climate change impacts, or applied to
water and food, urban and industrial use. There is growing application of water
reclamation and reuse as key elements of integrated water resource management.
However, despite all the innovations, there is
need for further research and discussion on the importance of source control
and the impact that the type and performance of the wastewater treatment
plant has on the downstream advanced water treatment plant.” This could be a
feasible research area for future students in the Water and Environmental
Engineering Laboratory.
I therefore wish to encourage all students to
actively engage in water treatment research because it is the for tomorrow.
Katalo Ronald
