Today, because of population growth, the impacts of climate change, and the unequal distribution of fresh water in the world, the need for the sustainable use of water resources is well understood. The beneficial reuse of treated wastewater is an important element of water sustainability, especially in metropolitan and urban areas. Historically, centralized wastewater treatment facilities, located in relatively remote locations near water bodies used for the dispersal of treated effluent, have served the needs of organized societies since the mid-1800s. Unfortunately, the reuse of treated wastewater is often inhibited by infrastructure costs for storing, construction costs for pipelines, and pumping cost for transporting treated wastewater (reclaimed water) to the points of reuse (i.e., typically away from the centralized treatment plant location). Use of distributed (satellite and decentralized) wastewater treatment facilities within the collection system is often the most effective way to overcome the location limitations of centralized wastewater infrastructure. Subjects considered in this paper include reuse opportunities within metropolitan and urban areas; the types and examples of satellite treatment systems that have been used; an expanded discussion of the new advanced primary and secondary treatment technologies; and the impact of new technologies on the implementation of satellite facilities in metropolitan and urban areas. Challenges for implementation of satellite treatment are also discussed.
Tchobanoglous et al. (Fri,) studied this question.