World Water Day has been established to be celebrated every year on 22 March, as first decided at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 22 December 1992.
Each year a different issue of the water cycle is highlighted. For 2017 the central theme is “liquid waste” with the UN agency responsible asking “Why waste water?”
Over the years, water scarcity has become an increasingly acute environmental issue. The trend in recent years to address and overcome water disposal issues has been to reuse an underestimated but valuable resource, waste. Local communities, in the context of their development and growth, should treat each category of waste not as a burden but as an opportunity and potential for utilisation. Waste water is one of these categories. The reuse of treated wastewater, which has also been legally established in various activities, is able to provide both economic and environmental benefits, reducing the need to withdraw valuable fresh water from lakes, rivers and soil for any productive activities.
Whatever is produced should be returned to its source of origin. The life cycle of a product/good does not end with the end of its use but with its return to the environment as a resource to be reused in new products or energy, in line with the circular economy.
Thus, the idea of reusing treated wastewater should not scare societies; on the contrary, it should be pursued in the future, as it is a sustainable solution. A prerequisite in this endeavour is continuous and correct information on alternative waste management for the benefit of all.
Lina D. Tsamili
Chemical Engineer, MSc
Head of Environment Department
