Governing Non-Potable Water-Reuse to Alleviate Water Stress: The Case of Sabadell, Spain

Various advanced wastewater treatment methods to remove microplastics and prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to airborne microplastics

Microplastics (MPs) and SARS-CoV-2 interact due to their widespread presence in our environment and affect the virus' behaviour indoors and outdoors. Therefore, it is necessary to study the interaction between MPs and SARS-CoV-2. The environmental damage caused by MPs is increasing globally. Emerging pollutants may adversely affect organisms, especially sewage, posing a threat to human health, animal health, and the ecological system. A significant concern with MPs in the air is that they are a vital component of MPs in the other environmental compartments, such as water and soil, which may affect human health through ingesting or inhaling. This work introduces the fundamental knowledge of various methods in advanced water treatment, including membrane bioreactors, advanced oxidation processes, adsorption, etc., are highly effective in removing MPs; they can still serve as an entrance route due to their constantly being discharged into aquatic environments. Following that, an analysis of each process for MPs' removal and mitigation or prevention of SARS-CoV-2 contamination is discussed. Next, an airborne microplastic has been reported in urban areas, raising health concerns since aerosols are considered a possible route of SARS-CoV-2 disease transmission and bind to airborne MP surfaces. The MPs can be removed from wastewater through conventional treatment processes with physical processes such as screening, grit chambers, and pre-sedimentation.

How to Engage with Sustainability Issues We Rarely Experience? A Gamification Model for Collective Awareness Platforms in Water-Related Sustainability

Collective awareness platforms offer innovative ways to engage citizens in becoming aware of and contributing solutions to sustainability challenges, such as climate change, water scarcity, or extreme weather events. Although such platforms have been successful in engaging citizens to contribute and self-organize during or directly after emergency situations, it has proven rather hard to motivate citizens to participate in preparing their local communities to address sustainability challenges whose effects are likely to be felt in the future and which they have not experienced yet. In this paper, we discuss the development, implementation, and assessment of a gamification model for a collective awareness platform for water-related sustainability challenges. The model is designed to address the motivational drivers of different user types and uses visualization elements to support gamified interaction in a way that relates otherwise intangible, abstract issues to more immediate (short-term), tangible objectives. The model was empirically validated with 507 users through a series of online experiments. The results confirmed a positive motivational effect in a large majority of participants and the suitability of the model to address different user types and various water-related sustainability issues. The findings will inform the design of gamification models for collective awareness platforms in sustainability-related domains.

Water reclamation and reuse

Literature published in 2018 pertinent to water reclamation and reuse has been classified into five topics: safe reuse, treatment technologies, management, assessment, and case studies. Researches have been conducted to develop new technologies and improve conventional treatments for achieving sustainable wastewater reclamation, and increasing efforts have been made to facilitate safe water reuse. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The way of publicity greatly influences people's acceptance of water reuse and willingness to purchase produce irrigated with recycled water. Integrated process is the most commonly used treatment technology to reclaim water. There is a lack of local or regional regulatory and policy for sustainable water management.

Enhancing domestic water conservation behaviour: A review of empirical studies on influencing tactics

The world faces imminent drought-related challenges that, from a tap-water supply perspective, require increasingly expensive infrastructure enhancement and energy expansion to maintain sufficient service levels. This paper argues that enhancing domestic water conservation provides a promising alternative or necessary addition to reduce costs and to stimulate pro-environmental behaviour. Although the number of field experiments on how people's behaviour can be changed with respect to their daily water consumption is growing, to date, most studies in this field have focussed either on explanatory socio-economic factors (e.g. water pricing, income, or family composition) or behavioural intentions and personal characteristics related to behavioural change. Accordingly, there is limited empirically validated knowledge about the use and effectiveness of different influencing tactics to change behaviour. This paper provides a review of the empirically oriented literature in this field and aims to provide an up-to-date assessment that identifies eight different Behavioural Influencing Tactics (BITs) that target long-term water conservation behaviour within households. Our analysis is structured around three information processing routes: the reflective route, the semi-reflective route, and the automatic route. We conclude that the current body of literature is promising and provides a useful body of evidence on the range and effectiveness of individual water conservation mechanisms, but that needs further development to deepen our understanding of how to effectively prolong and reinforce newly formed water conservation routines.

Reusing Treated Waste-Water from a Circular Economy Perspective—The Case of the Real Acequia de Moncada in Valencia (Spain)

One of the most important challenges that agriculture faces is sustainable water management and its adaptation to climate change. This adaptation is more important in regions where recurrent draughts and overexploitation of water resources happen. However, historical irrigation systems, such as the Real Acequia de Moncada (RAM) in Valencia, have found innovative approaches to deal with this phenomenon. This paper analyzes the case of Massamagrell and Puçol, which reused the treated waste-water of the closest waste-water treatment plant (WWTP). The study focused from a circular economy perspective on the technological, agronomical, and social implications of this decision. Results show that there are clear benefits for both farmers and WWTP managers. On the one hand, additional nutrients and regularity in their water supply benefit farmers. On the other, WWTP managers can reuse the treated effluent in the system, contributing to the closure of the water cycle and avoiding pumping the treated water into the sea. However, more detailed information and coordination is needed among the different stakeholders. Questions regarding the illegal connection of waste pipes with the traditional irrigation or the payment of pumping costs for reuse have gone unanswered, and there is a need for better reflection from all stakeholders.

Pluvial Flooding in Utrecht: On Its Way to a Flood-Proof City

Downpours are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change. Cities are particularly susceptible to flooding from downpours because of their large share of impervious surfaces. Minimising pluvial flood risk requires all involved stakeholders to collaborate and overcome various barriers. Although an increase in citizen engagement in climate adaptation is generally preferred, experiences with inclusive decision-making are often limited. The aim of this paper is to obtain a deeper understanding of how the capacity to govern pluvial flood risk can be developed through citizen engagement. We scrutinised the capacity of local actors to govern pluvial flood risk in the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands. For the analysis of Utrecht’s problem-solving capacity, the Governance Capacity Framework provided a consistent assessment of the key governance components. The results indicate that Utrecht’s capacity to govern pluvial flooding is relatively well-developed. Collaboration between public authorities is advanced, sufficient financial resources are available, and smart monitoring enables high levels of evaluation and learning. However, citizen awareness and engagement in policy making is rather low. Accordingly, citizens’ willingness to pay for flood adaptation is limited. Stimulating flood risk awareness by combining financial incentives with more advanced arrangements for active citizen engagement is key for Utrecht and other cities.

The Challenges of Water Management and Governance in Cities

Combined impacts of sea-level rise, river flooding, increased frequency and magnitude of extreme rainfall, heatwaves, water scarcity, water pollution, ageing or lacking infrastructures for water, wastewater and solid waste in rapidly urbanising regions in the world call for improved water management and governance capacity in cities to accelerate the transition to water-wise cities. The sixteen contributions to this Special Issue create further awareness and present solutions on integrated approaches, advanced water management practices and water governance strategies. It is concluded that cities require a long-term strategy and a multilevel water governance approach. Research has shown how important it is to involve the civil society and private parties early on in this process to create success. Collaboration among cities and regions by sharing best practices for rapid implementation are crucial to cope with nearly all Sustainable Development Goals.

Overcoming the Challenges of Water, Waste and Climate Change in Asian Cities

Unprecedented challenges in urban management of water, waste and climate change-amplified by urbanisation and economic growth-are growing in Asia. In this circumstance, cities need to be aware of threats and opportunities to improve their capacity in addressing these challenges. This paper identifies priorities, barriers and enablers of these capacities. Through the City Blueprint^® Approach-an integrated baseline assessment of the urban water cycle-11 Asian cities are assessed. Three cities are selected for an in-depth governance capacity analysis of their challenges with a focus on floods. Solid waste collection and treatment and access to improved drinking water and sanitation can be considered priorities, especially in cities with considerable slum populations. These people are also disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate-related hazards. The high variation of water management performance among Asian cities shows high potential for city-to-city learning by sharing best practices in water technology and governance. Combining interventions, i.e., by exploring co-benefits with other sectors (e.g., transport and energy) will increase efficiency, improve resilience, and lower the cost. Although governance capacities varied among cities, management of available information, monitoring and evaluation showed to be reoccurring points for improvement. Cities are also expected to increase implementation capacities using better policy, stricter compliance and preparedness next to promoting community involvement. Consequently, the city transformation process can be more concrete, efficient and inclusive.

Potential Recovery Assessment of the Embodied Resources in Qatar’s Wastewater

Due to the ever-growing demand for natural resources, wastewater is being considered an alternative source of water and potentially other resources. Using Qatar as an example, this study assesses the resources embodied in wastewater and paves the way to combine wastewater treatment with advanced resource recovery (water, energy, nitrogen, phosphorous, added value products) which can turn wastewater management from a major cost into a source of profit. In this sense, wastewater is no longer seen as a problem in need of a solution, rather it is part of the solution to challenges that societies are facing today. Based on estimated quantities of generated urban wastewater and its average composition, mass flow analysis is implemented to explore the maximum availability of major wastewater constituents (solids, organic compounds, nutrients, chloride, alkalinity, sulfide). An assessment analysis reveals that, in Qatar, more than 290,000 metric tons total solids, 77,000 metric tons organic compounds, 6000 metric tons nitrogen, 81,000 metric tons chloride, 2800 metric tons sulfide, and 880 metric tons of phosphorus are embedded in about 176 million m3 of urban wastewater annually. One promising valorization strategy is the implementation of anaerobic digestion with biogas production, and the organic materials contained in Qatar’s wastewater corresponds to more than 27 million m3 of methane (equivalent to an energy content of more than 270 GWh) per year. The results further suggest that the recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfide should be given priority.