Strategies towards sustainable wastewater management

Abstract

Sustainable development requires sustainable wastewater management (SWM). For this reason, strategies towards SWM have been formulated and discussed in the research literature during the past decade. System analysis has sometimes been used for simulation of different strategies for wastewater management, in order to compare sustainability aspects such as environmental impacts and usage of resources. This paper suggests strategies for SWM based on results from a Swedish environmental system analysis called Organic waste as a plant nutrient resource – system study, and from other studies with similar approaches. As a summary of the study, four strategies for SWM are suggested:

• 1.

  Handle nutrient-rich flows separately from other waste flows.

• 2.

  Recycle nutrients and use energy efficiently.

• 3.

  Avoid contamination of wastewater flows.

• 4.

  Put unavoidable pollution on landfill.