TECHNOLOGY
OVER 663 MILLION people across the world don ’ t have access to clean drinking water .
We ’ ll have 40 percent less potable water than what we ’ ll need in 2030 .
With growing populations relying on shrinking freshwater sources , it ’ s imperative that we , as a species , get serious about sustainability and prudent use of our dwindling water reserves .
While we ’ ll need to do whatever we can to stretch existing sources , recycling the copious amounts of wastewater we ’ re producing right now could go a long way toward addressing our growing demand for clean water .
The emergence of viable and scalable technologies that can do just that has made it a serious possibility , within our lifetime .
Several countries across the world are doing more than just dabbling in wastewater recycling right now . Singapore , Israel , Spain , a few Scandinavian countries , as well as the United States recycle a significant portion of the wastewater they generate . Recycled wastewater is generally disposed of in larger bodies of water ( seas , rivers , ponds , etc .) or used for gardening , cleaning , as well as for industrial applications .
Israel is a world leader in wastewater treatment ; around 85 percent of their wastewater is treated and recycled for ruse in sectors like agriculture .
Singapore , Australia and the US ( especially California ) generate significant amounts of portable water though wastewater recycling .
Still , very little ( probably less than two percent ) of recycled wastewater is used as potable water .
Is recycled water safe to drink ? While a scarcity of potable water sources across the globe is certainly spurring efforts , recycling initiatives in play right now aren ’ t able to treat wastewater to an extent that ’ s fit for direct human consumption .
Low-cost water treatment technologies have several inefficiencies that need to be addressed , while advanced ( more successful ) technologies aren ’ t viable right now due to the high upfront investment and operational costs associated with them .
Current research is trying to address these issues by modifying
14 March 2017