Wastewater - Turning Problem to Solution

Barriers and concerns for wastewater recovery and reuse

Political barriers

Governance, institutional and regulatory barriers

Inadequate political support or lack of priority setting in the political arena – wastewater resource recovery and reuse is not su ciently prioritized in the political discourse.

Governance, institutional and regulatory barriers – where there are policies for resource recovery and reuse from wastewater streams, there are often inconsistent or competing policy objectives and low levels of implementation, with weak compliance and enforcement.

Data and information barriers

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Insu cient data and information – current de cits in data availability and accessibility relating to wastewater resource recovery and reuse, and lack of gender-disaggregated data make it di cult to assess impacts, target actions and track progress in implementation.

Finance barriers

Inadequate nancing – there is a practical need to close the water loop, but sustainable investment will only occur if it is economically viable to treat and reuse wastewater. Innovative approaches to nancing, such as blended nance approaches, cost recovery and other incentives, need to be implemented to fund improved collection and treatment, immediately and at scale. Environmental and human health barriers Environmental and human health concerns, and potential risks from pollutants, pathogens, AMR and contaminants of concern – including emerging and persistent pollutants and microplastics, that may still be present in reclaimed resources and recycled water.

Social and cultural barriers

Low social and cultural acceptance, including for religious reasons – familiarity, awareness and trust are required to tackle the negative perception of wastewater, and bring about the required behaviour changes, recognizing there are di erent implications for di erent stakeholder groups.

Human and institutional barriers

Limited human and institutional capacity – in many cases, lack of capacity is hindering wastewater management, resource recovery and reuse.

Figure 2.15: The barriers and concerns relating to wastewater resource recovery and its safe reuse.

This section considers the following barriers and concerns that need to be addressed: • Inadequate political support or lack of priority setting in the political arena – wastewater resource recovery and reuse is not sufficiently prioritized in the political discourse. • Governance, institutional and regulatory barriers – where there are policies for resource recovery and reuse from wastewater streams, there are often inconsistent or competing policy objectives and low levels of implementation, with weak compliance and enforcement. • Insufficient data and information – current deficits in data availability and accessibility relating to wastewater resource recovery and reuse, and lack of gender disaggregated data make it difficult to assess impacts, target actions and track progress in implementation. • Inadequate financing – there is a practical need to close the water loop, but sustainable investment will

only occur if it is economically viable to treat and reuse wastewater. Innovative approaches to financing, such as blended finance approaches, cost recovery and other incentives, need to be implemented to fund improved collection and treatment, immediately and at scale. • Low social and cultural acceptance, including for religious reasons – familiarity, awareness and trust are required to tackle the negative perception of wastewater, and bring about the required behaviour changes, recognizing there are different implications for different stakeholder groups. • Limited human and institutional capacity – in many cases, lack of capacity is hindering wastewater management, resource recovery and reuse. • Environmental and human health concerns, and potential risks from pollutants, pathogens, AMR and contaminants of concern – including emerging and persistent pollutants and microplastics that may still be present in reclaimed resources and recycled water.

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