Managing the Other Side of the Water Cycle: Making Wastewater an Asset

Abstract

"It can save public funds, conserve water and nutrients, and protect human and environmental health. Managing the other side of the water cycle – municipal and industrial wastewater and storm drainage – offers many opportunities. And in a world in which cities are growing and climate change threatens to increase water scarcity in many areas, it should be an integral part of water resources management and water supply and sanitation strategies. Traditionally, water supply, sanitation and water resources management investments are planned, designed and managed separately. To make wastewater an asset requires taking an integrated approach that encompasses the whole water cycle – the water resources available and water supply, treatment, and reuse options. This brief outlines some of the institutional, economic and policy aspects of such an approach – topics that are covered in more detail in GWP-TEC Background Paper 13, Managing the Other Side of the Water Cycle: Making Wastewater an Asset."