Wastewater - Turning Problem to Solution

Why addressing wastewater is still urgent

Addressing wastewater is vital to securing human rights

The human right to water and sanitation The human right to water and sanitation was formally recognized by the United Nations in 2010 through United Nations resolution 64/292 (United Nations, General Assembly 2010). The resolution affirmed that the right to water and sanitation is part of existing international law and should be treated as legally binding by all Member States. In other words, this milestone recognizes water and sanitation as legally binding rights. In 2015, another resolution from the United Nations General Assembly further clarified that water and sanitation are interlinked but separate, providing Member States with the opportunity and policy instruments to focus Wastewater can mean different things to different people, with many definitions in use, including and excluding different fractions. This report carries across the broad perspective used for the Sick Water? report, and has defined wastewater as “a combination of one or more of: domestic effluent consisting of black water (excreta, urine and faecal sludge) and grey water (kitchen and bathing wastewater); water from commercial establishments and institutions, including hospitals; industrial effluent, stormwater and other urban run-off; agricultural, horticultural and aquaculture effluent or run-off” (adapted from Raschid-Sally and Jayakody 2008). An alternative definition is used by the United Nations Statistics Division, although this definition does not include industrial sites: wastewater refers to water which is of no further value to the purpose for which it was used because of its quality, quantity or time of occurrence. However, wastewater from one user can be a potential supply to a user elsewhere (United Nations Statistics Division 2011). Wastewater can contain a wide range of biological, chemical and physical contaminants including biodegradable organics, inorganic solids, heavy Box 1: What is wastewater?

on sanitation independently from water (Giné-Garriga et al. 2017). The resolution further calls for the full, effective and equal participation of women in decision making, and for the development of specific measures to reduce the gender-specific burdens and threats faced by women and girls, including additional health threats due to gendered division of labour. This provides a new additional legal basis for the need to mainstream gender in wastewater management. The realization of these rights implies that everyone is entitled to access sufficient, safe and contamination-free water to sustain their basic needs, and to have affordable access to safe, hygienic and secure sanitation (United metals, microplastics, macrosolids, emulsions, pharmaceuticals, pathogens, nanoparticles, endocrine disruptors, refractory organics and nutrients. Discharge of partially treated and/or untreated wastewater into the environment is a common practice, particularly in low-income countries. This practice results in significant negative environmental, human health, and economic impacts, as well as a range of socioeconomic costs (United Nations Environment Programme 2020). Examples of negative environmental impacts include: • algal blooms resulting from excess nutrients in the wastewater causing eutrophication, which can lead to reduced light levels and decreased oxygen levels killing aquatic and marine life • contamination of habitats and water, disrupting ecosystems and undermining the benefits they provide to people • some chemicals (endocrine disruptors) causing abnormalities in aquatic species, reducing reproductive success and changing immunity • changes in temperature, affecting species composition • pathogens in wastewater, which can cause disease not only in humans but also in animal populations • use of untreated wastewater for agricultural irrigation, which contains contaminants that can degrade soil and impact food safety

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