Table of contents
Key Messages
- Treatment to clean up our sewage is essential to protect human health and the environment.
- Urban waste water treatment (UWWT) has been key to improving the quality of Europe’s waters in recent decades, shown in the significant improvement of bathing water quality. However, treatment methods can be energy- and water- intensive.
- Many chemicals from our homes and workplaces, such as plasticisers and personal care products, end up in waste water. These then need removing, as waste water treatment remains the last chance to protect our waters from chemical pollution.
- Greenhouse gases are emitted at many stages of UWWT, from those embedded in infrastructure like sewers to sludge management.
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I understand that the scope of the report is resource recovery from 'black' and 'grey' water, but UWWTPs are also receiving industrial wastewater and urban run-off that bring a different pollutant load
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The expressions “waste water treatment” and “sewage treatment” are mixed throughout the report. Better to be consistent and only use one of the expressions.
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Second bullet: "treatment methods can be energy- and ressource- intensive": the process itself does not require a lot of water.
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Proposed addition:
- Achieving a circular economy in sewage treatment is a long term project and is dependent on many contributors. From realising the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability to prevent micropollutants reaching sewage, to enabling legislation at all levels and to establishing viable markets for recycled products.
- Harmful substances risking to reach the waste water should be banned from use. It is essential for both the European waters - and to be able to use the vast resources from waste waters in a circular economy. Control at source as envisaged in the Treaty 191.2 has to be mirrored and enforced through chemical legislations as REACH, biocides, hygienic and cosmetics pharmaceutical and pesticides legislations – and in policies to connect industries to WWTPs. As a last resort, when measures at source have failed, some of the harmful substances can be removed in the waste water treatment plants, as it remains the last chance to protect our waters from chemical pollution.
- Appropriate financing schemes, like Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for pharmaceutical and personal care products, should apply to fund upgrades and operations of treatment plants to remove micropollutants;
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Move the last bullet point up-front and add it to the 3rd bullet point as follows: "Therefore, a key component for longer term circularity of sewage treatment is to ensure that harmful chemicals no longer reach sewage. This requires implementation of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability under the European Green Deal."
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Modify the bullet on GHG as follows: "
- Greenhouse gases are emitted at many stages of UWWT, from those embedded in infrastructure like sewers to waste water and sludge treatment management.
- We can move from our linear approach to waste water treatment, which focuses on the water cycle and water treatment, to a genuinely circular approach, which considers all the inputs and emissions related to sewage treatment.
- Sewage treatment can generate energy and allow resource recovery, e.g. of phosphorus, leading to sustainability.
- Treatment of sewage is not “one size fits all”. Local conditions call for local solutions. Financial resources, the availability of land, the density of population and types of industry are among the factors which influence potential options.
- Technical solutions already exist to deliver circularity in sewage treatment. Vacuum toilets enable sewage to be safely treated within buildings or streets, recovering both energy and nutrients. Meantime, waste water from washing and cooking can be reused for lower quality applications. We need to enable implementation of such innovative approaches, through regulations, institutional and cultural shifts.
- A key component for longer term circularity of sewage treatment is to ensure that harmful chemicals no longer reach sewage. This requires implementation of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability under the European Green Deal.
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need to distinguish between sewage and sewage sludge. I believe you are talking here about the sewage sludge
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need to distinguish between sewage and sewage sludge. I believe you are talking here about the sewage sludge
In addition, you may want to precise this is about "urban" sewage sludge and not industrial.
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reference to climate change, reclamation of water in the key messages us not mentioned as part of the circularity approach.
Also, no mention of impact of industrial effluents is noted as this is a major part of urban wastewater
How about WEFE as a nexus. It can be mentioned.
In all, the key messages can be significantly widened. As is they offer a very narrow view of the problem
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Add in between bullet 1 and 2:
- To establish a circular economy, it is essential to create a pull from the market for recovered nutrients. This could be achieved by introducing an EU Fertiliser Regulation where it is compulsory to blend a certain ratio of recovered P and N in all mineral fertiliser in the EU – a system very much a like the compulsory 5-10% ratio of ethanol blended in fossil petrol sold in the EU. When sludge is used in agriculture the recover and recycle is automatically integrated.
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Add underlined text to the third bullet
- Sewage treatment can generate energy and allow resource recovery, e.g. of organic materials, phosphorus and nitrogen, reclaimed water for irrigation and other uses leading to increased sustainability.
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- Treatment of sewage is not “one size fits all”. Local conditions call for local solutions. Financial resources, the availability of land, the density of population, conditions in the recipient and types of industry and industrial symbiosis are among the factors which influence potential options.
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- Technical solutions already exist to deliver increased circularity in sewage treatment. New technologies in as separated waste water systems with e.g. vacuum toilets can also enable sewage to be safely treated within new constructed buildings or blocks or part of new city districts, recovering both energy and nutrients. Meantime, waste water from washing and cooking can be reused for lower quality applications. We need to enable implementation of such innovative approaches, through regulations, institutional and cultural shifts.
you may want to add an example of sludge management that has a GHG impact: "... to sludge management like landfills."