This book presents the results of an analytical study on the economic valuation for wastewater, comparing the cost of no action versus the cost of effective wastewater management. One of the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations was to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation by 2015. Further, at the Rio+20 Summit in June 2012, governments recognised the need to adopt measures to significantly reduce water pollution, increase water quality and significantly improve wastewater treatment which is now reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals. To achieve these objectives, substantial investment in sanitation including septage and sewage management is required, in particular in developing countries. A financial analysis of wastewater management looks at its private costs and benefits and can underpin decision making from a business or treatment plant operator standpoint. Economic analysis looks at the broader costs and benefits for society, providing information for public policy decisions to support improvements in wastewater management. Adequate wastewater collection, treatment, and safe use or disposal can lead to significant environmental and health benefits. However, because some of these benefits do not have a market price, they have not traditionally been considered in the financial analysis of wastewater treatment projects, therefore underestimating total benefits.
Each year more than 200 million people are affected by floods, tropical storms, droughts, earthquakes, and also operational failures, wars, terrorism, vandalism, and accidents involving hazardous materials. These are part of the wide variety of events that cause death, injury, and significant economic losses for the countries affected. In an environment where natural hazards are present, local actions are decisive in all stages of risk management: in the work of prevention and mitigation, in rehabilitation and reconstruction, and above all in emergency response and the provision of basic services to the affected population. Commitment to systematic vulnerability reduction is crucial to ensure the resilience of communities and populations to the impact of natural and manmade hazards. Current challenges for the water and sanitation sector require an increase in sustainable access to water and sanitation services in residential areas, where natural hazards pose the greatest risk. In settlements located on unstable and risk-prone land there is growing environmental degradation coupled with extreme conditions of poverty that increase vulnerability. The development of local capacity and risk management play vital roles in obtaining sustainability of water and sanitation systems as well as for the communities themselves. Unfortunately water may also represent a potential target for terrorist activity or war conflict and a deliberate contamination of water is a potential public health threat. An approach which considers the needs of communities and institutions is particularly important in urban areas affected by armed conflict. Risk management for large rehabilitation projects has to deal with major changes caused by conflict: damaged or destroyed infrastructure, increased population, corrupt or inefficient water utilities, and impoverished communities. Water supply and sanitation are amongst the first considerations in disaster response. The greatest water-borne risk to health in most emergencies is the transmission of faecal pathogens, due to inadequate sanitation, hygiene and protection of water sources. However, some disasters, including those involving damage to chemical and nuclear industrial installations, or involving volcanic activity, may create acute problems from chemical or radiological water pollution. Sanitation includes safe excreta disposal, drainage of wastewater and rainwater, solid waste disposal and vector control. This book is based on the discussions and papers prepared for the NATO Advanced Research Workshop that took place in Ohrid, Macedonia under the auspices of the NATO Security Through Science Programme and addressed problems Risk management of water supply and sanitation systems impaired by operational failures, natural disasters and war conflicts. The main purpose of the workshop was to critically assess the existing knowledge on Risk management of water supply and sanitation systems, with respect to diverse conditions in participating countries, and promote close co-operation among scientists with different professional experience from different countries. The ARW technical program comprised papers on 4 topics, : (a) Vulnerability of Wastewater and Sanitation Systems, (b) Vulnerability of Drinking Water Systems, (c) Emergency response plans, and (d) Case studies from regions affected by Drinking Water System, Wastewater and Sanitation System failures.
The books provides a timely analysis in support of a paradigm shift in the field of wastewater management, from ‘treatment for disposal’ to ‘treatment for reuse’ by offering a variety of value propositions for water, nutrient and energy recovery which can support cost savings, cost recovery, and profits, in a sector that traditionally relies on public funding. The book provides new insights into the economics of wastewater use, applicable to developed and developing countries striving to transform wastewater from an unpleasant liability to a valuable asset and recasting urbanization from a daunting challenge into a resource recovery opportunity. “It requires business thinking to transform septage and sewage into valuable products. A must read for water scholars, policy makers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs". Guy Hutton, Senior Economist, Water and Sanitation Program, Water Global Practice, World Bank “This book provides compelling evidence and real solutions for the new ‘resource from waste’ approach that is transforming sanitation, boosting livelihoods, and strengthening urban resilience”. Christopher Scott, Professor and Distinguished Scholar, University of Arizona “This book shows how innovative business thinking and partnerships around resource recovery and reuse fit well within an inclusive green economy and climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies”. Akiça Bahri, Coordinator of the African Water Facility, Tunisia, and award-winning researcher
Water provides benefits as a commodity for agriculture, industry, and households, and as a public good such as fisheries habitat, water quality and recreational use. To aid in cost-benefit analysis under conditions where market determined price signals are usually unavailable, economists have developed a range of alternative valuation methods for measuring economic benefits. This volume provides the most comprehensive exposition to-date of the application of economic valuation methods to proposed water resources investments and policies. It provides a conceptual framework for valuation of both commodity and public good uses of water, addressing non-market valuation techniques appropriate to measuring public benefits - including water quality improvement, recreation, and fish habitat enhancement. The book describes the various measurement methods, illustrates how they are applied in practice, and discusses their strengths, limitations, and appropriate roles. In this second edition, all chapters have been thoroughly updated, and in particular the coverage of water markets and valuation of ecosystem services from water has been expanded. Robert Young, author of the 2005 edition, has been joined for this new edition by John Loomis, who brings additional expertise on ecosystem services and the environmental economics of water for recreational and other public good uses of water.
Sewage Treatment Plants: Economic Evaluation of Innovative Technologies for Energy Efficiency aims to show how cost saving can be achieved in sewage treatment plants through implementation of novel, energy efficient technologies or modification of the conventional, energy demanding treatment facilities towards the concept of energy streamlining. The book brings together knowledge from Engineering, Economics, Utility Management and Practice and helps to provide a better understanding of the real economic value with methodologies and practices about innovative energy technologies and policies in sewage treatment plants.
This book introduces the 3R concept applied to wastewater treatment and resource recovery under a double perspective. Firstly, it deals with innovative technologies leading to: Reducing energy requirements, space and impacts; Reusing water and sludge of sufficient quality; and Recovering resources such as energy, nutrients, metals and chemicals, including biopolymers. Besides targeting effective C,N&P removal, other issues such as organic micropollutants, gases and odours emissions are considered. Most of the technologies analysed have been tested at pilot- or at full-scale. Tools and methods for their Economic, Environmental, Legal and Social impact assessment are described. The 3R concept is also applied to Innovative Processes design, considering different levels of innovation: Retrofitting, where novel units are included in more conventional processes; Re-Thinking, which implies a substantial flowsheet modification; and Re-Imagining, with completely new conceptions. Tools are presented for Modelling, Optimising and Selecting the most suitable plant layout for each particular scenario from a holistic technical, economic and environmental point of view.
Life Cycle Assessment of Wastewater Treatment addresses in detail the required in-depth life cycle assessment of wastewater treatment. This is to meet the special demands placed upon wastewater treatment processes, due to both the limited quantity and often low quality of water supplies. Wastewater management clearly plays a central role in achieving future water security in a world where water stress is expected to increase. Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used as a tool to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with wastewater treatment and potential improvement options. This unique volume will focus on the analysis of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Key Features: Focuses on the analysis of wastewater treatment plants using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach Discusses unconventional water sources such as recycled wastewater, brackish groundwater and desalinated seawater Explains life cycle assessment in detail, which has become one of the reference methods used to assess the environmental performance of processes over their complete life cycle, from raw material extraction, infrastructure construction and operation to final dismantling Explores a technique (LCA) that is becoming increasingly popular amongst researchers in the water treatment field nowadays because of its holistic approach Based on the real life experiences, the subject of wastewater is presented in simple terms and made accessible to anyone willing to learn and experiment
Water reuse management is one of the challenges all water scarce countries have to deal with in the coming decades. The present book highlights non-conventional solutions within the field of wastewater treatment and reuse predominantly for professionals and decision makers. It focuses on technologies which are reliable, sustainable, low cost and suitable for rural and sub urban areas. In addition, particularly innovative on-site concepts are presented.
The Use of Economics in Implementing European Environmental Policy is a timely exploation of the use of the Choice Experiment and Contingent valuation methods in different parts of Europe in order to inform environmental policy. Koundouri focuses predominantly on water, wetland, forest and agricultural management and her book includes results, both methodological and empirical, from a recent research project.
