Wastewater - Turning Problem to Solution

PART 4

Conclusions One in four people live without access to safely managed water services or clean drinking water; over 1.7 billion people lack basic sanitation, affecting mostly vulnerable groups including women and girls; half a billion people practise open defecation; one third of the global population live in water scarce regions (Ruiz 2020) and it is expected that water scarcity could displace up to 700 million people by 2030 (Global Water Institute 2013). Millions of women and girls spend hours every day fetching water, which reduces their opportunities for productive activities or education (United Nations 2023a). Amid this already dire situation, the demand for water continues to grow, as well as the need to rapidly increase food production and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for energy. At the opening of the 2023 Water Conference, the United Nations Secretary-General cited the urgent needs to close the water management gap and increase recycling, reuse and conserve water as critical to bringing about the needed change (United Nations 2023c) and realizing the potential of this resource.

can provide sustainable and safe solutions to address societies multiple crises, including water security, the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – a valuable resource that must be managed for beneficial use, but is as of now drastically underutilized. We are not starting from scratch. Wastewater management and reuse is a complex issue, but there is experience that must be built on and strengthened. This report highlights where there are existing solutions to build momentum, maximize resources and avoid fragmentation. All sectors of society contribute to the problems of wastewater pollution. The transition to a circular approach including through resource recovery and reuse will require collective and coherent action by all, meaning us individuals, communities, businesses, industry sectors and governments. The actions and solutions identified cannot be successful in isolation but will need to be implemented coherently.

Wastewater is an essential component of the circular economy (Otoo and Drechsel 2018) and a resource that

There is no one solution that fits all. The optimal solution or combination of solutions will depend on circumstance

Events Signi cant events and initiatives since 2010

Target year for SDG 6

Adoption of SDG indicator 6.3.1

Adoption of United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 3/10

United Nations Water Conference

Adoption of SDGs

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030

The United Nations General Assembly launched the International Decade for Action: Water for Sustainable Development

Initiatives

UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme's International Initiative on Water Quality

The Valuing Water Initiative (VWI) The Kingdom of the Netherlands commits to start a new phase, the VWI 2.0

World water quality alliance: a global expert consortium (UNEA Resolution 3/10) – addressing water pollution to protect and restore water-related ecosystems

Wastewater Zero Commitment: business action to eliminate industrial wastewater pollution by 2030

High-Level Panel on Water and Peace

The Global Wastewater Initiative – Phase 2

The Global Wastewater Initiative – Phase 1

Figure 4.1: Timeline showing examples of significant initiatives relevant to wastewater resource recovery and reuse since 2010.

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