Opportunities for decentralized treatment, sewer mining and effluent re-use

摘要

The environmental need for re-use is obvious. Technology already exists, or is being developed, to make this happen more reliably and economically. Membrane technology is now validated for large-scale municipal wastewaters. To date re-use has been constrained by unfavourable economics. This, in large measure, is because so much of the treatment infrastructure is invested in non-adding value pipes in the ground, storage and disposal. Decentralized treatment is the vehicle for converting non-adding value investment into advanced treatment making wastewater re-use more economically viable. This is achieved using advanced membrane solutions such as microfiltration and reverse osmosis technologies. As in the computer industry where laptops have placed power in the hands of the user, so decentralized treatment will open up opportunities for re-use hitherto believed impossible. Authorities can speed this evolution by changing regulatory requirements which concurrently insist on higher standards of discharge and encourage re-use and decentralized treatment of effluent.