Increasing Water System Robustness in the Netherlands: Potential of Cross-Sectoral Water Reuse

G J Pronk,J Frijns,T C G W Van Dooren,N E Koeman-Stein,R P Bartholomeus,S F Stofberg,M M L Dingemans,P W M H Smeets

doi:10.1007/s11269-021-02912-5

G J Pronk, J Frijns + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-021-02912-5

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Abstract

Water reuse has the potential to substantially reduce the demand on groundwater and surface water. This study presents a method to evaluate the potential of water reuse schemes in a regional context and demonstrates how water reuse propagates through the water system and potentially reduces pressure on groundwater resources. The use of Sankey diagram visualisation provides a valuable tool to explore and evaluate regional application of water reuse, its potential to reduce groundwater and surface water demand, and the possible synergies and trade-offs between sectors. The approach is demonstrated for the Dutch anthropogenic water system in the current situation and for a future scenario with increased water demand and reduced water availability due to climate change. Four types of water reuse are evaluated by theoretically upscaling local or regional water reuse schemes based on local reuse examples currently in operation in the Netherlands or Flanders: municipal and industrial wastewater effluent reuse for irrigation, effluent reuse for industrial applications, and reuse for groundwater replenishment. In all cases, water reuse has the potential to significantly reduce groundwater extraction volume, and thus to alleviate the pressure on the groundwater system. The water-quantity based analysis is placed in the context of water quality demands, health and safety aspects, technological requirements, regulations, public perception, and its net impact on the environment. This integrative context is essential for a successful implementation of water reuse in practice.

Highlights

Population growth and a growing economy result in increasing resource demands, including water, whereas climate change is leading to increasing uncertainty for the availability of conventional water resources like groundwater, surface water and precipitation (Vörösmarty et al 2000; McDonald et al 2011)
We explore the potential of water reuse to contribute to increased water system robustness, i.e. the extent to which a water system can keep performing under increasing stress (Makropoulos et al 2018)
Drinking water is consumed and used in households and businesses, eventually leading to wastewater that, together with rainwater collected on roofs and paved surfaces, is collected in the sewage system as communal wastewater and discharged to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)

Summary

Introduction

Population growth and a growing economy result in increasing resource demands, including water, whereas climate change is leading to increasing uncertainty for the availability of conventional water resources like groundwater, surface water and precipitation (Vörösmarty et al 2000; McDonald et al 2011). Resilient management of drinking water resources is becoming increasingly important due to changes in the economic situation and the population (Kloosterman et al 2021). Together with the current drive towards a circular economy, this urges the continued exploration of the potential and applicability of (treated) effluent as an alternative water source, i.e. wastewater reuse. There is still a knowledge gap between site-based experimental (pilot) studies and the translation of their potential contribution to the water supply of a city or region at a system-level (Liu et al 2020)

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