The role of wastewater in circular economy
01-12-2017
There are a lot of definitions of what is wastewater, but all of them share a point in establishing that wastewater is the result os the combination of effluents from different origins, domestic, commercial, institutional and industrial, even those that come from the agricultural sector.
The problem that is that these days more than 80% of this water is poured into the environment without being treated beforehand. Namely without going through a process that eliminates all the contaminants that are in the water, making it harmful to the environment and the people. This is an alarming number if we take into consideration that the agriculture, livestock and industrial sectors are the ones with the highest consumption of drinkable water.At this point is where Circular Economy, appears as the new paradigm to apply, particularly in the field of business and entrepreneurship.Circular Economy seeks to promote productivity at the time that protects the available resources and the environment, minimizing the impact of economic activities in it. The aim is to produce more with less. Saving energy, minimizing contaminants, recycling waste and high efficiency are some of its premises.
The problem that is that these days more than 80% of this water is poured into the environment without being treated beforehand. Namely without going through a process that eliminates all the contaminants that are in the water, making it harmful to the environment and the people. This is an alarming number if we take into consideration that the agriculture, livestock and industrial sectors are the ones with the highest consumption of drinkable water.At this point is where Circular Economy, appears as the new paradigm to apply, particularly in the field of business and entrepreneurship.Circular Economy seeks to promote productivity at the time that protects the available resources and the environment, minimizing the impact of economic activities in it. The aim is to produce more with less. Saving energy, minimizing contaminants, recycling waste and high efficiency are some of its premises.
With this model in mind, wastewater could stop being seen as a problem and a waste expensive to manage, to become a resource.
After a treatment that could be chemical, biological or physical, wastewater can be reused as an income in different processes, as an energy or heat source, or as a liquid.
The transformation of wastewater into a resource reduces the impact on the environment while improving the quality of the available water, of the ecosystems and in the end improving people´s lives.
The use of wastewater as a resource produces economic, social and environmental benefits. If each institution or company that generates considerable quantities of wastewater, can recycle and reuse that water in their processes, or add to others company’s processes, the circular economy will start to work, multiplying benefits, in every beginning of a new cycle .
Source: “Aguas Residuales El Recurso Desaprovechado”. Informe Mundial de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Desarrollo de los Recursos Hídricos (2017).