Nanotechnology in Wastewater and the Capacity of Nanotechnology for Sustainability

Abstract

About 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water; unfortunately, there is difficulty in accessing 3% of the water as freshwater that is fit for human consumption. The paucity of safe and universal freshwater is a serious challenge across developed, transition and developing countries due to the globalisation processes and the ever-increasing consumer society. The dynamisms of the rising global demand for freshwater are the growth of the world population, industrial activities, upgrade in standards of living, altering consumption pattern and the increase of agricultural irrigation. Furthermore, climate change, such as pollution at elevated level, change in weather patterns, emission of greenhouse gases, deforestation and uneconomical use of water, are the causes of water paucity. The invariable nature of global water paucity is the geographic and temporal disproportion between the demand for freshwater and the availability of freshwater. The transformation in the development of novel nanomaterials, such as activated carbon, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles and nanofibres, is among the most stimulating and promising innovative nanotechnologies for wastewater treatment. In this report, we reviewed the use of nanotechnology in wastewater treatment and the capacity of nanotechnology for sustainability. Thus, the major points are as follows: (1) nanotechnology in water treatment and remediation promises to overcome the major obstacles to having clean freshwater, (2) sustainability of using nanotechnology to solve the problem of water paucity of the present generation without compromising the needs of the future generations, (3) the use of nanoadsorption technology with different types of nanoadsorbents in order to provide new treatment capabilities, (4) the use of nanomembranes for water treatment to allow the economic utilisation of unconventional water sources in order to increase safe and clean water supply, (5) patents that carefully utilise nanotechnology innovations and (6) the challenges of using nanotechnology in wastewater treatment.