Macrophytes as wastewater treatment agents: Nutrient uptake and potential of produced biomass utilization toward circular economy initiatives

2021 ◽  
pp. 148219
Author(s):  
Setyo Budi Kurniawan ◽  
Azmi Ahmad ◽  
Nor Sakinah Mohd Said ◽  
Muhammad Fauzul Imron ◽  
Siti Rozaimah Sheikh Abdullah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Biomass Utilization

scholarly journals Sewer Mining as a Distributed Intervention for Water-Energy-Materials in the Circular Economy Suitable for Dense Urban Environments: A Real World Demonstration in the City of Athens

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 2764
Author(s):  
Argyro Plevri ◽  
Klio Monokrousou ◽  
Christos Makropoulos ◽  
Christos Lioumis ◽  
Nikolaos Tazes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Aquifer Recharge ◽  
Treatment Unit ◽  
Plant Nursery

Water reuse and recycling is gaining momentum as a way to improve the circularity of cities, while recognizing the central role of water within a circular economy (CE) context. However, such interventions often depend on the location of wastewater treatment plants and the treatment technologies installed in their premises, while relying on an expensive piped network to ensure that treated wastewater gets transported from the treatment plant to the point of demand. Thus, the penetration level of treated wastewater as a source of non-potable supply in dense urban environments is limited. This paper focuses on the demonstration of a sewer mining (SM) unit as a source of treated wastewater, as part of a larger and more holistic configuration that examines all three ‘streams’ associated with water in CE: water, energy and materials. The application area is the Athens Plant Nursery, in the (water stressed) city of Athens, Greece. SM technology is in fact a mobile wastewater treatment unit in containers able to extract wastewater from local sewers, treat it directly and reuse at the point of demand even in urban environments with limited space. The unit consists of a membrane bioreactor unit (MBR) and a UV disinfection unit and produces high quality reclaimed water for irrigation and also for aquifer recharge during the winter. Furthermore, a short overview of the integrated nutrient and energy recovery subsystem is presented in order to conceptualise the holistic approach and circularity of the whole configuration. The SM technology demonstrates flexibility, scalability and replicability, which are important characteristics for innovation uptake within the emerging CE context and market.

scholarly journals Governing Transactions and Interdependences between Linked Value Chains in a Circular Economy: The Case of Wastewater Reuse in Braunschweig (Germany)

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Maaß ◽  
Philipp Grundmann
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Wastewater Reuse ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Agricultural Wastewater

Reusing wastewater in agriculture has attracted increasing attention as a strategy to support the transition towards the circular economy in the water and agriculture sector. As a consequence, there is great interest in solutions for governing the transactions and interdependences between the associated value chains. This paper explores the institutions and governance structures for coordinating transactions and interdependences between actors in linked value chains of wastewater treatment and crop production. It aims to analyze how transactions and interdependences shape the governance structures for reusing wastewater at the local level. A transaction costs analysis based on data from semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire is applied to the agricultural wastewater reuse scheme of the Wastewater Association Braunschweig (Germany). The results show that different governance structures are needed to match with the different properties and requirements of the transactions and activities between linked value chains of wastewater treatment and crop production. Interdependences resulting from transactions between wastewater providers and farmers increase the need for hybrid and hierarchical elements in the governance structures for wastewater reuse. The authors conclude that aligning governance structures with transactions and interdependences is key to efficiently governing transactions and interdependences between linked value chains in a circular economy.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Upgrading Primary Wastewater Treatment Plants to Secondary Treatment Including a Circular Economy Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 117862212093585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim M Morsy ◽  
Mohamed K Mostafa ◽  
Khaled Z Abdalla ◽  
Mona M Galal
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Primary Treatment ◽  
Secondary Treatment ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
Process Energy ◽  
The Impact

Although significant progress has been achieved in the field of environmental impact assessment in many engineering disciplines, the impact of wastewater treatment plants has not yet been well integrated. In light of this remarkable scientific progress, the outputs of the plants as treated water and clean sludge have become potential sources of irrigation and energy, not a waste. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impacts of upgrading the wastewater treatment plants from primary to secondary treatment. The Lifecycle Assessment Framework (ISO 14040 and 14044) was applied using GaBi Software. Abu Rawash wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) has been taken as a case study. Two scenarios were studied, Scenario 1 is the current situation of the WWTP using the primary treatment units and Scenario 2 is upgrading the WWTP by adding secondary treatment units. The study highlighted the influence and cumulative impact of upgrading all the primary WWTPs in Egypt to secondary treatment. With the high amount of energy consumed in the aeration process, energy recovery methods were proposed to boost the circular economy concept in Abu Rawash WWTP in order to achieve optimal results from environmental and economic perspectives.

scholarly journals Towards circular economy – a wastewater treatment perspective, the Presa Guadalupe case

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 554-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesar Casiano Flores ◽  
Hans Bressers ◽  
Carina Gutierrez ◽  
Cheryl de Boer
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plant ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Governance Arrangement ◽  
Economy Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Polluter Pays Principle ◽  
The Government ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose In Mexico, only 19.3 per cent of industrial water is treated (Green-Peace, 2014, pp. 3-4), whereas municipal treatment levels are approximately 50 per cent (CONAGUA, 2014a). This paper aims to focus on how the wastewater treatment plant policy, from a circular economy perspective, is affected by the governance context at the Presa Guadalupe sub-basin. Circular economy can contribute to water innovations that help in improving water quality. However, such benefits are not easily achieved. This case provides an example of the complexity and challenges that the implementation of a circular economy model can face. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected via semi-structured in-depth interviews with the stakeholders that are members of the Presa Guadalupe Commission. The contextual interaction theory (CIT) is the theoretical basis for this analysis (Boer de and Bressers, 2011; Bressers, 2009). Findings The findings show that the wastewater treatment plant policy plays an important role in a circular economy model. Some incentives towards a circular economy model are already in place; however, the hurdles of a top-down implementation perspective, low availability of resources, prioritisation of short-term results, lack of enforcement of the “polluter pays” principle and a linear model of water systems need to be overcome. If Mexico wants to move towards a circular economy model and if the government wants to enforce sustainable development principles, wastewater treatment is a challenge that must be addressed. Originality/value There are few studies in the circular economy literature that have analysed its implementation under a governance arrangement perspective.

The concept of Circular Economy applied to CCS, Waste and Wastewater Treatment Technologies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimír Kočí ◽  
◽  
Joana Lapao Rocha ◽  
Kristína Zakuciová
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Treatment Technologies
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