Water Conservation Reuse And Recycling

In December 2002, a group of specialists on water resources from the United States and Iran met in Tunis, Tunisia, for an interacademy workshop on water resources management, conservation, and recycling. This was the fourth interacademy workshop on a variety of topics held in 2002, the first year of such workshops. Tunis was selected as the location for the workshop because the Tunisian experience in addressing water conservation issues was of interest to the participants from both the United States and Iran. This report includes the agenda for the workshop, all of the papers that were presented, and the list of site visits.

Water - a basic element of life, livelihood, food security and sustainable development - holds the key to global sustainability. The global water demand has been increased 3-fold in the past five decades and only 0.4% of the total world’s fresh water resources is available and accessible for use. The United Nations projected that half of all countries will face water scarcity by 2025 and more than one-third of the world’s population could be affected by water stress by 2050. The water problem is rapidly intensifying in the Asian region, and around 700 million people do not have access to safe drinking water. Similarly, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, by 2050, more than one billion people in Asia alone are projected to experience negative impacts on water resources as a result of climate change. Climate change is also putting extra pressure on and adversely affecting the global water cycle, leading to irregular precipitation, more floods and droughts and creating an imbalance between water supply and demand. The availability of safe water is a major global concern due to the rapidly increasing population, urbanization, unsustainable consumption patterns, and rapid shifts in land use. It is believed that reduced access to freshwater will have cascading consequences that will pose threat to global food security, livelihood security, and cause large scale migration and economic and geopolitical tensions. As such, strategies for water conservation, wastewater reuse and recycling should be adopted in order to lessen the gap between supply and demand for water for different activities. This book provides readers with a better understanding of the water security challenges, and presents innovations to address these challenges, strengthen the science-policy interface, and develop institutional and human capacities for water security and sustainability.

In December 2002, a group of specialists on water resources from the United States and Iran met in Tunis, Tunisia, for an interacademy workshop on water resources management, conservation, and recycling. This was the fourth interacademy workshop on a variety of topics held in 2002, the first year of such workshops. Tunis was selected as the location for the workshop because the Tunisian experience in addressing water conservation issues was of interest to the participants from both the United States and Iran. This report includes the agenda for the workshop, all of the papers that were presented, and the list of site visits.

"Tells the story of recycled wastewater, examines the pros and cons, and explores its future potential"--

Water recycling is former wastewater (sewage) that has been treated to remove solids and certain impurities, and then used in sustainable landscaping irrigation or to recharge groundwater aquifers. This is done for sustainability and water conservation, rather than discharge the treated wastewater to surface waters such as rivers and oceans. Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing, managing, an optimum use of water resources defined under water polices and regulations. This book presents topical research data in the study of water recycling and management, including runoff water harvesting for agricultural production in semiarid zones; water disinfection using peracetic acid; wastewater reuse and recycling in sub-Saharan Africa; Australia's water recycling system; as well as the water and international trade law.

This CD-ROM shows how to systematically incorporate the principles of water conservation, recycling, and reuse into the design of new plants, retrofits of existing systems, and technology development. Technology summaries and case studies that support this systematic approach to water reuse, as well as recommendations for further research, are included. Included in the price of this CD-ROM is an additional chapter, available in December 2002, detailing water reuse opportunities by industry. The chapter will address the general uses of water in industry, their associated energy costs, and energy management as related to water use and water use reduction.