Wastewater seen as an option to beat the water crisis
WITH world populations expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, authorities are looking to wastewater as a potential solution to the impending global water crisis.
This was the view of water sustainability experts at the World Water Day Summit and Expo which began at the Durban ICC yesterday.
President Jacob Zuma, who opened the conference and is the chairperson of the heads of state committee on the UN high-level panel on water, said that according to the UN Commission on Population and Development the global population, which stood at about 7.3 billion people, might grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, with as many as 3.1 billion additional living in urban areas.
Yesterday, Zuma also officially launched the UN World Water Development report 2017, which outlined both the challenges to water supply – and possible solutions.
Unesco deputy directorgeneral Getachew Engida said in his address that wastewater was “critically underestimated” in its role in socio-economic development. “The report shows that 4 billion people or two-thirds of the world’s population live in areas that experience water scarcity at least for a month of a year. But there is a potential solution; we are damaging ourselves by wasting wastewater.”
Co-ordinator and director of the UN World Water Assessment Programme Professor Stefan Uhlenbrook said the report revealed the demand for water had been increasing by about 1% a year.
“That is unsustainable, because the population is growing. More than 70% is used for agriculture, 20% for industry and energy production, and only 10 % for households.”
The UN report said about 500 million people lived in areas where water consumption exceeded the locally renewable water resources.
High-income countries treated about 70% of the municipal and industrial wastewater they generated, while lower-middle-income countries only re-used 28% of their wastewater.
Wastewater, said researchers, could be a potential source of resources such as energy and nutrients.
The report found that one of the main challenges related to wastewater in Africa was the overall lack of infrastructure.
“African cities are growing quickly, and their current water management systems cannot keep up with the growing demand.”
The world population, including South Africans, would in the future rely on reused water – even for drinking purposes – as the drought continued to worsen, warned Department of Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane.
Mokonyane told The Mercury that with the scarcity of water the country would have to follow the route of Italy, which supplies purified reused water for drinking purposes.
“The wastewater treatment solutions in Italy start from grey water to drinkable water. I have drunk their water. There is no way we cannot go that direction,” said Mokonyane.
Although she did not elaborate, Mokonyane said areas of South Africa had started recycling water “up to a level of using in the industry for irrigation”. “Come 2030 we will all report to the UN how far we have gone (in terms of recycling water),” she said.
Despite heavy rains that led to water levels increasing in dams, Mokonyane warned the country was not out of the woods.
“We have a bit, and we must manage what we have in a much more responsible way,” she said.