Showing posts with label Water Recycle and Reuse Market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water Recycle and Reuse Market. Show all posts

Monday, 2 May 2016

Limited Freshwater Resources to Ensure Rise of Global Water Recycle and Reuse Market

Water recycling refers to the method of utilizing treated wastewater for various purposes such as industrial processing, agriculture and landscape irrigation, and toilet flushing. The global supply of fresh water is limited and is threatened by pollution. The rising demand for water from agricultural and industrial sectors and cities is creating bottlenecks in the efficient allocation of the limited fresh water resources.

Water recycling and reuse has emerged as an effective and reliable source of water supply. Thus, non-potable reuse has become a widespread practice and is anticipated to continue to grow in the coming years. Non-potable water sources include reclaimed/recycled water, rainwater, and gray water. Despite non-potable water not being considered appropriate for human consumption, it can be put to use in a myriad of applications.

The global market for water recycle and reuse is witnessing lucrative opportunities around the world. Additionally, the market is also gaining from the several projects invested on in the last two decades. 

The most prominent projects of water reuse in the agricultural sector include:

Monterey, California: A scheme to use a substantial portion of the recycled water from Monterey and adjoining towns to irrigate 5000 ha of agricultural land in Lower Salinas Valley has been constructed by the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency.

Mexico City: Mexico has set a precedent in using recycled water. 90% of the wastewater from Mexico City is used for irrigation in the Valley of Mexico. Moreover, the wastewater obtained also caters to the irrigation requirements in the adjoining Mezquital Valley. This region witnesses scanty rainfall throughout the year. The wastewater is used to irrigate an area of about 90,000 ha.

Dan Region, Israel: The total water requirement in Israel exceeds the available water resources. To help mitigate this persistent problem, the country extensively depends on recycled water for agricultural purposes. The wastewater collected from Tel Aviv is treated and then subverted into an aquifer for further treatment. The water obtained from recovery wells is then pumped through the Dan region pipeline to cater to the agricultural needs in the Negev Desert and Dan region.

A few of the most popular water treatment projects for urban reuse are:

St Petersburg, Florida: The city of St Petersburg in Florida has an extensive urban water reuse scheme, which has been in use since 1977. The scheme now supplies recycled water to more than 10,000 properties, including 9,300 residential complexes.

Irvine Ranch, California: The construction of a dual recycled water scheme called the Irvine Ranch Water District commenced in 1977. The recycled water obtained from this scheme is extensively used for landscape irrigation including food crops, gardens, car washes, ornamental lakes, and industrial mills.

South Bay, California: In the Silicon Valley of California, the San Clara County and San Jose authorities are given directives to limit freshwater discharge to the south end of San Francisco Bay to 450,000 m3/d with an aim of reducing environmental damage. Instead of constructing ocean outfall, the authorities have built the South Bay Water Recycling Scheme to provide recycled water for agricultural, urban, and industrial reuse.

Apart from the aforementioned schemes, governments around the world are proactively investing on the construction of new projects to provide efficient solutions to drought-ridden regions. The construction of new schemes will also aid in curbing the rising carbon footprint. Owing to these intrinsic benefits of water recycle and reuse, their demand is poised to surge exponentially in the forthcoming years.

Friday, 20 November 2015

Rising Awareness about Implications of Wastewater on Environment Driving Global Wastewater Recycle and Reuse Market

Despite a long history of reuse of wastewater in many regions across the globe, the question of the safety of processed and purified water still remains an enigma for the general public. Whatever the level of sophistication of water purifying technique or the number of steps in the overall process may be, there always are controversies among proponents of wastewater reuse schemes and researchers about the quality standards the wastewater is to meet. Overall, the concern regarding public health is the major issue related to reuse of any type of wastewater, be it for industrial purposes or for irrigation use, especially the impact of reuse practices on public health in a long-term scenario. Thus, the matter is hotly debated across the globe.


Nevertheless, there are so many benefits related to the practice of reuse of wastewater that it’s hard to ignore. Especially in current times, as the global population further swells and water shortage becomes a serious issue due to drought conditions and groundwater depletion in many regions, attempts are being increasingly made to find out more efficient ways of treating wastewater less like sewage and more like a resource. There are plenty of reasons why the water recycle and reuse industry is expected to be one of the most important markets of the future. Some of these are mentioned below:

·         Opportunity to Augment Limited Primary Water Sources: Especially in places that have arid or semi-arid climatic conditions, reuse of wastewater can help provide a supplementary source to the limited existing water sources. Across the globe, the majority of large-scale reuse schemes are located in regions such as Israel, South Africa, and arid parts of the U.S., where alternative water sources are limited.

·         Possibility of Managing In-situ Water Sources: Water recycling and reuse, if done efficiently, is considered a method of water resources management. A point in case is the topping up of depleted aquifers by injecting highly treated water, thereby restoring aquifer yields or preventing chances of saltwater intrusion in coastal areas.

·         Elimination or Reduction of Wastewater Discharge into Receiving Environment: The damage wastewater does to the environment is probably the most pressing concern that has motivated the development of a number of wastewater treatment and reuse plants across the globe. The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater into the environment is, in many cases, detrimental to the ecosystem in the receiving environment, such as natural water bodies.

With proper treatment, reuse, and recycling, the discharge of wastewater to the environment can be either totally avoided or be made less harmful to the environment. Concerns regarding the many toxic pollutants in wastewater, especially the wastewater generated from high-risk industries such as nuclear power generation and many other chemical industries, will continue to drive the market for water reuse and recycling in the future years as well.

Reuse and recycling of water has many direct and indirect socioeconomic implications. With government bodies and communities becoming more aware of the quality of wastewater disposed into sensitive environments, political pressure on the water industry for treating waste water to a higher level of purity before its discharge is also increasing. As a result of all these factors and the many more benefits of wastewater recycling and reuse, the global market for reuse and recycling of wastewater will expand at a significant pace in the future.