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UNIVERSITY OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

SFTI CAMPUS
NETD CIVIL ENGINEERING
ENVIROMENTAL ENGINEERING 2 –ENVR2003
PROJECT 1
WATER REUSE

STUDENT NAME: Abraham Mohamed 84462

DUE DATE: 12TH October 2020 at 11:59 PM

LECTURER NAME: Beverly Chittoo

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Table of contents

Introduction ………………………………………………………………..Page 3

What is water reuse? -------------------------------------------------------------- Page 4

Why consider water reuse? …………………………………………….. Page 5

Potential or active areas for water Reuse ………………………………….Page 6

Potential benefits of water reuse?.................................................................. Page 7

Key Social and Technical factors associated with successful water reuse projects and favorable
public attitude towards water reuse……………………………………......Page 8 & 9

Challenges to increase adoption of water reuse…………………………....Page 10 & 11

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………Page 12

References ……………………………………………………………........Page 13
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Introduction

Over the past century the demand for water is increasing as time passes it has lead us to create

new technologies to recycle water and meeting the water rights, the usage of water is increase

due to the high birth rate in the world .The world is using technologies to create wastewater

treatment plant. The wastewater treatment plant makes the water non portable which means it

can be used for environmental restoration, Industrial use, irrigation, and ground water

replenishment. This report will enlighten us about the cost, the important of water reuse, Benefits

of water reuse and the key factors that is associate successful water reuse projects also the

challenges to increase adoption of water use.

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What is water Reuse?

Water reuse is basically the recycling of water from different sources to use it for other purposes.

The picture below shows ways we reuse water and how it is distributed among the country.

Some countries such as the United States, China, and Mexico have put programs in place to

encourage water reuse. This is implemented in these countries due to the fact of protecting the

quality of water. The only country that has recycled water and uses it for portable water is

Namibia the countries that is most shortage of water supply is Libya, Western Sahara, Yemen

and Jordan
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Why consider water reuse?

Water reuse is considered due to the fact of the water shortage; worldwide studies have shown

that without being able to reuse water we would be at a highs stress level around the world. The

most important fact about water is that only 33.3% of water is consumed by humans the other

percentage is made up of the Polar ice caps and Glaciers. If untreated water is discharged into the

environment it can be harmful due to the elements the wastewater has it in. The main factor why

we should consider water reuse is to protect our water resources and avoiding water pollution

also to allow water not to enter our natural habits. Having a wastewater treatment plant is a plus

for the environment as it will reduce water pollution. The following is additional points in why

we should consider water reuse:

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1. Enhance self Sufficiency –This by not relining on water imports and getting it from local

supply

2. Increase water for the environment – More water is available for the environment needs

such as environmental restoration

3. Increase regional economic vitality- This means that the community will be well known

and economic growth will happen.

Potential or active areas for water reuse?

The potential areas in which I believe that use wastewater is in the country are as follows:

Irrigation for agriculture- This is used in Canada because there water demand is high and they

is a lot of agriculture going on also Bolivia has one wastewater treatment plant and sends the

waste water downstream towards the city where it is accessible for famers to use to water the

crops.

Industrial use – The wastewater is used in certain industries to reduce dust, to mix concrete and

to encourage the removal of greenhouse gases this takes place in China, India, Bolivia and most

part of the world.

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Municipal Supply - The wastewater treatment plant in china also produce wastewater for

municipal use for the community and Namibia.

Potential benefits of water reuse?

The potential benefits of water reuse are as state below:

1) The recycle water is for irrigation for agriculture

2) Irrigation for landscaping

3) Municipal water supply

4) Industrial use

5) Environmental restoration

Irrigation is the supplying of water to land at regular intervals

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Municipal water supply – this is water that is being used by the city or town for minor

operations.

Industrial use – The water is used for Dust control, concrete mixing, cleaning of roads and for

power plant etc.

Environmental restoration –This recycle water removes all the harm full ions from the water and

sends it into the environment so it would be safe for the environment. It restores the environment

for example the wetland habitat is always need of water so by using recycle water it will always

have water present and no shortage of water and it also improves the aquatic biota.

Key Social and Technical factors associated with successful water reuse projects and

favorable public attitude towards water reuse.

1. Key social and technical factors associated with successful water reuse- Factors that

make successful water reuse project is the cost factor, environmental friendly,

Community acceptance, Assessing risk, quality assurance and water rights

 Cost factor – Does the country has the resources to support this operation and do they have

the money to start this and matinee it as time goes by. A treatment plant cost about 1.5

million dollars to build it takes about four years to build that is according to the size of the

plant.
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 Environmental friendly- The recycled water must be eco-friendly and have a positive

impact on the environment and the treatment plant must limit the emission of harmful gases

into the atmosphere and limited amount of trees is being cleared to build the plant and the

plant must be built away from the public due to noise and gases.

 Community acceptance- The community must be able to accept the terms and conditions of

the treatment plant and support the operations despite the disadvantages of the treatment

plan. The Managing team must convince the public of the benefits of the treatment plant.

 Quality assurance- The quality of the water must meet the water standards such that all

contaminants must be removed and safe chemicals must be used in the plant to ensure such

and monitoring of plant incase system malfunction.

 Water rights- The water rights have to be acknowledged and the right to use aquifers and

storage must be decided by the court.

 Assessing the Risk - The risk of unacceptable water measures must be put in place to ensure

it does not get into the public like separate water lines for this purpose. Ensure that the

recycle water pipeline is being monitoring and clean on a daily basis to avoid pathogens and

bacteria into water.

2. Favorable public attitude towards water reuse. - The community must accept the

recycled water for they use and be supportive this is done by enforcing federal

regulations which gives the people more confident in the recycled water.

Challenges to increase adoption of water reuse.

Environmental cost such as:

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 Energy use – Energy is needed to run the wastewater treatment plant and transferring of

water from one point to another (wastewater treatment plant to the reclamation facility),

advance treatment, removal cost, and surface injection. The energy that is needed is

measured by the area of the wastewater plant how far the water has to reach from the plant to

civilization which includes the further away from the village the bigger pumps will be

required which will lead to an increase in the cost of electricity for example in California a

treatment plant occupies 19% of the electricity of the country. The energy cost is also

determined by the size of the plant, water quality objectives and the treatment technologies

that are needed. Another factor is that if the country has the resources to produce that amount

of electricity to run the plant. All of this causing an increase in cost.

 Green House Gas emission - The growth of the ozone layer is caused by greenhouse gas

such as Carbon dioxide, Ozone, Methane, and Nitrous oxide, the wastewater treatment plant

contains these gases. For example nitrous oxide is emitted from the activated sludge tanks

into the environment. These tanks contain digesters which also contribute to the emission of

methane into the environment. This can be reduced by reducing the operating hours of the

plant or to capture and treat the gases which will lead to an increase in capital cost.

Benefits of water Reuse compared with other supplies alternative such as sea water

desalination

Energy use – The energy that is being used at a water treatment plant is 4.4KWH whereas the

desalination plant uses close to 12KWh so the energy cost is lower in the wastewater treatment

plan and results in less money to maintain

Concentrate Disposal cost – The wastewater treatment plant uses reverse osmosis (Membrane

Treatment) which results in the salinity levels from wastewater being much lower than that of the
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seawater which means that less time and effort is put out and less damage to environment.

Desalination industries gets rid of the waste by a process name deep well injection whereas

wastewater dispose of through the sewer system and evaporations ponds which uplifts the point

that waste water costs less to dispose of than desalination water.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions – The wastewater treatment plant emits less greenhouse gas than a

desalination plant, this is because the desalination plant uses more energy than the wastewater

treatment plant

Environmental Friendly - The wastewater treatment plan has a lot of measures in place to

reduce damages to the environment for example the wastewater treatment plan are looking to

build a solar system to generate energy and mitigate greenhouse gas emission and using

biological processes to reduce the gas, also the wastewater treatment plan traps they gas and

converts it to a non-harmful gas.

 Implementation Issues –

1. Public acceptance – This is to ensure that the public is satisfied in the project and has no

opposition in it and in order to do so the wastewater treatment plant must provide quality

assurance of the water and it must not be a health risk and reduce pollution. Examples to

gain public acceptance make sure the structure is stable, also to give out free samples of

water.

2. Regulatory – This system of recycling water must meet the water rights, the infrastructure

must not be harmful to the public health which means it must be properly maintained and

monthly and daily checks are to be assigned on all equipment to avoid malfunction of
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equipment which leads to an increase in cost but it overcomes and maintain regulatory

rules.

3. Financial – The wastewater treatment plant uses a lot of energy which means that the

electricity bill is high and costs a lot and maintenance is one of the highest expensive in a

treatment plant in order to decrease the energy use we can limit the operations hours or

install solar panels to generate our own electricity.

4. Institutional water rights - This decision is made by the state and this encourages the

water to be at a standard and to ensure that it has no harm to human health. The legal

issues are put in place to provide more understanding of project proponents.

Conclusion

The accomplishment of water reuse governs in the water resources and management this

involves financial analyses, operation, and proper guidance of reclamation. Technologies for

wastewater treatment are improving as time goes by and it reaches a point where it is used as

normal water. Additionally the combine flow process of water reuses application is now

elevating and understanding the human health and environmental risk. The main factors to get

portable and non portable water depend on regulatory, economic, public policy, and availably of

water also to reduce pollution. The wastewater treatment plant provides water during drought

season and it is a permanent way to reduce water shortage in the community.

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References

Maji Solutions, (2019). https://maji-solutions.com/why-water-reuse/

EPA, (2020). https://www.epa.gov/waterreuse/basic-information-about-water-reuse

Fluence, (2020). https://www.fluencecorp.com/where-is-the-most-water-reuse-taking-

place/#:~:text=In%20total%20volume%2C%20China%2C%20Mexico,value%20reported%20is

%20certainly%20underestimated.

The National Academies Press, (2020). https://www.nap.edu/read/13303/chapter/11#151

Food and Nutrition Library, (2020). http://www.nzdl.org/gsdlmod?e=d-00000-00---off-0fnl2.2--

00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-

10-0utfZz-8-00&cl=CL1.5&d=HASH7ecfef951c65b8a6f0da56.9.9&gt=1
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Seametrics, (2020). https://www.seametrics.com/blog/5-countries-most-threatened-by-water-

shortages/