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Water in the Circular Economy
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Water in the Circular Economy

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 15325

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jan Peter van der Hoek

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands
Interests: drinking water supply; drinking water technology; water purification

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to discuss the role of water management in the circular economy. The circular economy is “a regenerative system in which resource input and waste, emission, and energy leakage are minimized by slowing, closing, and narrowing energy and material loops”. Water management can contribute to the circular economy by closing water loops, recovering resources from water, and recovering energy from water. Water management covers the whole water cycle, namely: surface water management and groundwater management, drinking water production and transport, and sewerage and wastewater treatment and disposal. All of these elements offer opportunities to realize a circular economy. Resource efficiency targets the recovery of resources and energy from water streams. Water and energy target the development and implementation of water-related technologies that contribute to the energy transition. Freshwater resource management targets the (re)use of water for robust freshwater provision. Governance aspects, such as the scale level, the transition over time, and the distribution of responsibilities are crucial for realizing a circular economy. Water in the circular economy, however, also introduces risks. Quality in the (closed) water cycle is important. On the one hand, it determines how wide of a circularity can be introduced in the water cycle, while it also determines the limits in order to avoid the negative effects on public health.

We invite you to contribute to this Issue by submitting research articles or comprehensive reviews. The papers selected for this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous peer-review procedure, with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Prof. Dr. Jan Peter van der Hoek
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Sustainable water management
  • Resource recovery
  • Water reuse
  • Energy recovery
  • Nutrient recovery
  • Recycling
  • Urban metabolism
  • Urban mining
  • Sewer mining
  • Water–energy–food nexus
  • Water governance
  • Risk management

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 2214 KiB  
Article
Study on the Domestic Water Utilization in Kota Metro, Lampung Province, Indonesia: Exploring Opportunities to Apply the Circular Economic Concepts in the Domestic Water Sector
by Sugiyono and Bart J. Dewancker
Sustainability 2020, 12(21), 8956; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12218956 - 28 Oct 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3431
Abstract
Providing reliable public water service is a big challenge in Indonesia, especially for small cities, due to various constraints such as budget, regulation, and technical problems. Besides, people’s preferences play a significant role in domestic water utilization. This research particularly aims to identify [...] Read more.
Providing reliable public water service is a big challenge in Indonesia, especially for small cities, due to various constraints such as budget, regulation, and technical problems. Besides, people’s preferences play a significant role in domestic water utilization. This research particularly aims to identify factors influencing public preferences for domestic water use in Kota Metro, Lampung Province, Indonesia to find the reason why public water service is less preferable in this city. We did a household survey and performed a multinomial logistic regression and multiple correspondence analysis to investigate the preferable domestic water source and influential factors determining the choice. We found that accessibility and water quality are the two strongest motives in choosing domestic water use. Our analysis also shows that the respondent’s choice is influenced by his or her income, family size, and proximity to the pipe network. Subsequently, we synthesized our empirical findings and the existing situation of the domestic water fulfillment in Kota Metro to suggest an improvement proposal inspired by the circular economy concepts. We recommend a mixture of a pipe water service and community-based water management to improve the current domestic water fulfillment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water in the Circular Economy)
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31 pages, 2662 KiB  
Article
The SPPD-WRF Framework: A Novel and Holistic Methodology for Strategical Planning and Process Design of Water Resource Factories
by Philipp Kehrein, Mark van Loosdrecht, Patricia Osseweijer, John Posada and Jo Dewulf
Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 4168; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104168 - 20 May 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4720
Abstract
This paper guides decision making in more sustainable urban water management practices that feed into a circular economy by presenting a novel framework for conceptually designing and strategically planning wastewater treatment processes from a resource recovery perspective. Municipal wastewater cannot any longer be [...] Read more.
This paper guides decision making in more sustainable urban water management practices that feed into a circular economy by presenting a novel framework for conceptually designing and strategically planning wastewater treatment processes from a resource recovery perspective. Municipal wastewater cannot any longer be perceived as waste stream because a great variety of technologies are available to recover water, energy, fertilizer, and other valuable products from it. Despite the vast technological recovery possibilities, only a few processes have yet been implemented that deserve the name water resource factory instead of wastewater treatment plant. This transition relies on process designs that are not only technically feasible but also overcome various non-technical bottlenecks. A multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach is needed to design water resource factories (WRFs) in the future that are technically feasible, cost effective, show low environmental impacts, and successfully market recovered resources. To achieve that, the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) design space needs to be opened up for a variety of expertise that complements the traditional wastewater engineering domain. Implementable WRF processes can only be designed if the current design perspective, which is dominated by the fulfilment of legal effluent qualities and process costs, is extended to include resource recovery as an assessable design objective from an early stage on. Therefore, the framework combines insights and methodologies from different fields and disciplines beyond WWTP design like, e.g., circular economy, industrial process engineering, project management, value chain development, and environmental impact assessment. It supports the transfer of the end-of-waste concept into the wastewater sector as it structures possible resource recovery activities according to clear criteria. This makes recovered resources more likely to fulfil the conditions of the end-of-waste concept and allows the change in their definition from wastes to full-fledged products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water in the Circular Economy)
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20 pages, 8364 KiB  
Article
Following the Water: Characterising de facto Wastewater Reuse in Agriculture in the Netherlands
by Jack E. Beard, Marc F.P. Bierkens and Ruud P. Bartholomeus
Sustainability 2019, 11(21), 5936; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11215936 - 25 Oct 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5320
Abstract
De facto (or indirect) wastewater reuse is the practice of extracting from surface water bodies which are impacted by treated wastewater (TWW) for anthropogenic use. The extent to which surface water bodies in the Netherlands are impacted by TWW is poorly understood, and [...] Read more.
De facto (or indirect) wastewater reuse is the practice of extracting from surface water bodies which are impacted by treated wastewater (TWW) for anthropogenic use. The extent to which surface water bodies in the Netherlands are impacted by TWW is poorly understood, and the distribution of de facto reuse even more so. This study addresses these knowledge gaps, with a focus on reuse for agricultural irrigation. This is achieved via a novel application of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) Explorer water quality model, allowing for the distribution of different flow components—namely TWW and flow from transboundary rivers—to be discerned for the national surface water network. When paired with data on surface water extractions for irrigation, this identifies notable areas of de facto reuse. Results show that during dry conditions, TWW is a significant flow component in many surface water bodies, particularly in smaller streams located close to WWTPs. De facto reuse is indicated as widespread, with several key areas identified in which extractions are from impacted surface water bodies. This study represents a first attempt to directly link TWW emissions to agricultural irrigation, highlighting a mechanism by which wastewater-associated contaminants can propagate through the hydrological system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water in the Circular Economy)
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