This working paper contains the proceedings of the workshop that was organized on 14 March 2001 in Hanoi, gathering experts from the various disciplines such as health, environment,water resources management, irrigation, agriculture, soil sciences, water quality, etc. to discuss the findings of 16 papers on different aspects of wastewater reuse. The proceedings of this workshop are presented here in summary form, which we hope will provide a bird's-eye view of the current knowledge in Vietnam on this subject to a wide spectrum of interested persons.
Millions of people are moving from rural areas to coastal cities. Meeting the basic human needs for protein foods in the future will be a difficult challenge. Fishery products are the world's most important source of animal protein, which has led to a doubling of the demand for fish since the 1950s. As we can not expect to catch more food from the sea, we must turn to farming the waters, not just hunting them. The new challenge for planners now is to accelerate aquaculture development and to plan for new production, making urban areas of production, particularly recycled urban wastewater. This book includes papers from authors in the U.S., Europe, and Asia that review these developing issues from the perspective of both developed and developing countries.
The use of urban wastewater in agriculture is receiving renewed attention, with the increasing scarcity of fresh water resources in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Wastewater is a low-cost alternative to conventional irrigation water, although it may carry health and environmental risks. This book critically reviews experience worldwide of these issues. Emphasis is placed on untreated wastewater use by means of field-based case studies from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. It brings together a range of perspectives including economic, health, agronomic, environmental, institutional, and policy dimensions.
Water Reuse: An International Survey of current practice, issues and needs examines water reuse practices around the world from different perspectives. The objective is to show how differently wastewater reuse is conceived and practised around the world as well as to present the varied needs and possibilities for reusing wastewater. In the first section water reuse practices around the world are described for regions having common water availability, reuse needs and social aspects. The second section refers to the “stakeholders” point of view. Each reuse purpose demands different water quality, not only to protect health and the environment but also to fulfil the requirements of the specific reuse. Reuses considered are agricultural, urban agriculture as a special case of the former, municipal and industrial. Alongside these uses, the indirect reuse for human consumption through aquifer recharge is also discussed. The third section deals with emerging and controversial topics. Ethical and economical dilemmas in the field are presented as a subject not frequently addressed in this field. The role of governments in respect of public policy in reuse is discussed as well as the different international criteria and standards for reusing wastewater. The importance of public acceptance and the way to properly handle it is also considered. The fourth section of the book presents contrasting case studies; typical situations in the developed world (Japan and Germany) are compared to those in developing countries (Pakistan and Brazil) for agricultural and industrial reuse. Indirect planned reuse for human consumption (Germany) is compared with an unplanned one (Mexico). The Windhoek, Namibia case study is presented to emphasize why if the direct reuse of wastewater for human consumption has been performed with success for more than 35 years it is still the only example of this type around the world. To illustrate the difficulties of having a common framework for regulating water reuse in several countries, the Mediterranean situation is described. Other case studies presented refer to the reuse situation in Israel, Spain, Cameroon, Nepal and Vietnam, these latter countries being located in water rich areas. This book will be an invaluable information source for all those concerned with water reuse including water utility managers, wastewater policy makers and water resources planners as well as researchers and students in environmental engineering, water resources planning and sanitary engineering. Scientific and Technical Report No. 20
"Sanitation Safety Planning (SSP) is a step-by-step risk based approach to assist in the implementation of the 2006 WHO Guidelines for Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater in Agriculture and Aquaculture. The approach can be applied to all sanitary systems to ensure the system is managed to meet health objectives. SSP assists users to: systematically identify and manage health risk along the sanitation chain; guide investment based on actual risks, to promote health benefits and minimize adverse health impacts; provide assurance to authorities and the public on the safety of sanitation-related products and services. The SSP manual is targeted at a variety of users at different levels including; health authorities and regulators, local authorities, wastewater utility managers, sanitation enterprises and farmers, community based organizations, farmers associations and NGOs. SSP brings together actors from different sectors to identify health risks in the sanitation system and agree on improvements and regular monitoring and underscores the leadership role of the health sector."--Publisher's description.
This book offers a broad and global level description of the current status of wastewater use in agriculture and then brings the readers to various places in the MENA Region and Europe to explain how some countries and regions have addressed the challenges during implementation. On a global scale, over 20 million hectares of agricultural land are irrigated using wastewater. This is one good, and perhaps the most prominent, example of the safe use potential of wastewater. Water scarcity and the cost of energy and fertilisers are among the main factors driving millions of farmers and other entrepreneurs to make use of wastewater. In order to address the technical, institutional, and policy challenges of safe water reuse, developing countries and countries in transition need clear institutional arrangements and more skilled human resources, with a sound understanding of the opportunities and potential risks of wastewater use. Stakeholders in wastewater irrigation who need to implement from scratch or improve current conditions, find it difficult to gather the necessary information on practical implementation aspects. The main objective of this book is to bridge that gap.
