Is Wastewater an Answer for Adapting to Climate Change?
Water pressures like droughts are intensifying due to global warming and population growth. Treating wastewater is a powerful solution, finally gaining more public support.
wastewater treatment
Microwaving sewage waste may make it safe to use as fertilizer on crops
My team has discovered another use for microwave ovens that will surprise you.
Ancient River Could Flow Again in Tucson, Thanks to Recycled Wastewater
The Santa Cruz River was once the lifeblood of Tucson, Arizona. Due to heavy development and groundwater overdraft, it hasn’t seen year-round flow in 70 years. The city plans to revive the storied desert river with recycled effluent.
Permaculture Sewage Treatment – First Aid and Future Proofing for our Rivers and Seas
If we want to create sustainable, healthy systems to support us, we cannot rely on such a fickle friend as fossil energy for electricity generation to keep our sewage treatment systems running smoothly. Quite apart from the increasing potential for power cuts in a changing world, when conventional sewage infrastructure “runs smoothly” it is still heavily reliant on the constant use of electricity to convert biomass and nutrients into somewhat less polluting effluent before disposing to our rivers and coastal waters. Clearly in a world desperately in need of solutions that work, this needs to change.
EPA Announces National Wastewater Nutrient Pollution Census
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calls nutrient pollution the “single greatest challenge to our nation’s water quality.” Rising concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in waterways, the agency reports, are a significant threat to human health, ecosystems, and local economies.
Climate Change Will Cripple Coastal Septic Systems
According to new research, many septic systems — which are simple, backyard devices for addressing the ceaseless problem of toilet waste — are unfit for future climate conditions.
Israel’s Mediterranean Desalination Plants Shift Regional Water Balance
A national mission in the last decade to develop the fleet, plus many more years of investment in wastewater recycling facilities, have turned Israel into as much a water producer as a water consumer.
Treatment Wetlands Equal Cleaner Water and More Birds
Some of the most productive birding hotspots in Florida are man-made treatment wetlands that were designed to remove nutrients and pollutants from treated wastewater and stormwater.
Human manure: Closing the nutrient loop
Using human urine and faeces as fertiliser may seem an unappetising concept but it’s been common practice for centuries.
Designing Wetlands to Remove Drugs and Chemical Pollutants
Drinking water supplies around the world often contain trace amounts of pharmaceuticals and synthetic compounds that may be harmful to human health. One solution being tried in the U.S. and Europe is to construct man-made wetlands that naturally degrade these contaminants.
An Urban Wastewater Solution: African Vetiver Grass
The world is witnessing a water quality crisis, mainly brought about by rapid population growth, industrialization, food production practices and poor water use strategies.