Analysis of Barriers and Opportunities for Reclaimed Wastewater Use for Agriculture in Europe

Analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on operational efficiency in wastewater treatment: a comprehensive neutrosophic AHP-based SWOT analysis

The escalating global challenges of population growth, climate crisis, and resource depletion have intensified water scarcity, emphasizing the critical role of wastewater treatment (WWT) in environmental preservation. While discharging untreated wastewater poses extinction risks to various species, effective WWT operations are indispensable for ecosystem continuity and sustainable water sources. Recognizing the complexity of WWT management, this study delves into the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in strategic planning and decision-making within the WWT domain. Through a comprehensive SWOT analysis, this study evaluates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with AI integration in WWT processes. Utilizing the SWOT analysis framework, key criteria are identified, and their importance weights are assessed via the interval-valued neutrosophic analytical hierarchy process (IVN-AHP). According to analysis, the strengths in WWT are crucial, but potential opportunities and threats should not be ignored. The results of the study highlight several key findings regarding the integration of AI in WWT processes. While concerns about the reduction in human resources and potential unemployment, as well as the activation time and high energy consumption of AI systems, are identified as significant challenges, the study underscores the success of AI in data analytics as a strong aspect. Specifically, advanced data analysis techniques and the ability to proactively prevent problems emerge as important strengths of AI in WWT. WWT operators and practitioners are encouraged to prioritize the adoption of advanced data analysis techniques and proactive problem-solving strategies to maximize the effectiveness of AI integration in WWT processes.

Determining reclaimed water quality thresholds and farming practices to improve food crop yield: A meta-analysis combined with random forest model

Irrigated agricultural systems with reclaimed water (RW) play a crucial role in alleviating global water scarcity and increased food demand. However, appropriate reclaimed water quality thresholds and farming practices to improve food crop yield is virtually unclear. Therefore, for the first time, this study made a large compilation of previous studies using meta-analysis combined with a random forest (RF) model and analyzed the impact of RW versus freshwater (FW) on the yield of food crops (cereals, vegetables, and fruits). It was found that magnesium ion (Mg²⁺), calcium ion (Ca²⁺), electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen (TN), and potential of hydrogen (pH) were the most important factors for RW quality indicators. Based on the results, water managers should establish more conservative RW quality thresholds to promote food crop production, especially for salts and pollutants in RW. Compared to international water quality standards, it could be slightly relaxed the restrictions of TN in RW. The optimal farming practices obtained that irrigation amount of the mixed RW and FW (RW + FW) was from 1000 m³ ha^-1 to 5000 m³ ha^-1, and the cultivation period was no more than three years. Flood irrigation (FI) and drip irrigation (DI) for cereals were also recommended. Finally, a comparison of the determined results from this method with other scenarios published, finding a good agreement.

Digitalisation for Water Sustainability: Barriers to Implementing Circular Economy in Smart Water Management

“Clean water and sanitation” is listed as one of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and implementing circular economy principles in the water sector has been widely regarded as an important approach in achieving this goal. In the era of Industry 4.0, research and practice in the digitalisation of the water sector to create a smart water system have attracted increasing attention. Despite the growing interest, limited research has been devoted to how digital technologies might enhance circularity. In practice, smart water systems often fail to promote circularity in such aspects as water reuse and resources recovery. This paper aims to identify the main barriers to implementing circularity in the smart water management system in Zhejiang, China. The research adopts a mixed research method that includes a literature review to identify the potential barriers from the existing studies, a case study to determine the most critical barriers in practice, and a fuzzy Delphi method to reach a consensus on the crucial barriers. The research identified 22 main barriers to implementing circular economy in smart water management. The barriers are divided into three categories: infrastructure and economic, technology, and institution and governance. The results show that the barriers related to recycling technologies, digital technology know-how, and the lack of CE awareness raise the most concern. Our findings also indicate that experts are interested in the decentralized wastewater treatment system. This research provides significant insights that practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can use in developing and implementing digital-based CE strategies to reduce water scarcity and pollution.

Evaluating the Productivity of Paddy Water Resources through SWOT Analysis: The Case of Northern Iran

Water shortages in rice production represent a formidable challenge for the world’s food, economic, and social security. Water is the most important single component for sustainable rice growth, especially in the world’s traditional rice-growing areas. Therefore, this study attempts to evaluate the improvement of rice water productivity in Northern Iran on the basis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. This study is a qualitative-descriptive survey. A random sampling method was used to determine the sample size, and finally, 105 male and female rural facilitators in Sari city (the capital of Mazandaran Province located in Northern Iran) were surveyed. The results showed that the development of appropriate infrastructure, increasing new irrigation and drainage networks with the aim of increasing the use of efficient water technologies, was the most important strategy. The most necessary strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to improve the water productivity and management of paddy farms in the study area are, respectively, as follows: “fertile paddy fields and relatively good soils in most areas”, “weakness in the participation and interaction of users in water resources projects and paying attention only to the physical development of irrigation networks and ignoring the issues of network operation and farmers’ participation in the management”, “improving irrigation planning”, and “surplus harvest from Tajan River and drop in water level”. Obtained findings may be used to address water scarcity and water quality management issues in the agriculture sector. The results demonstrate that, under potential climate change and water shortages, SWOT may be seen as a guide for contingency initiatives.

Oily Wastewater Treatment: Overview of Conventional and Modern Methods, Challenges, and Future Opportunities

Industrial developments in the oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and food sector have contributed to the large production of oily wastewater worldwide. Oily wastewater pollution affects drinking water and groundwater resources, endangers aquatic life and human health, causes atmospheric pollution, and affects crop production. Several traditional and conventional methods were widely reported, and the advantages and limitations were discussed. However, with the technology innovation, new trends of coupling between techniques, use of new materials, optimization of the cleaning process, and multiphysical approach present new paths for improvement. Despite these trends of improvement and the encouraging laboratory results of modern and green methods, many challenges remain to be raised, particularly the commercialization and the global aspect of these solutions and the reliability to reduce the system’s maintenance and operational cost. In this review, the well-known oily wastewater cleaning methods and approaches are being highlighted, and the obstacles faced in the practical use of these technologies are discussed. A critical review on the technologies and future direction as the road to commercialization is also presented to persevere water resources for the benefit of mankind and all living things.

Institutions and Economics of Water Scarcity and Droughts

Integrated water resources management seeks an efficient blend of all water resources (e [...]