This book introduces the 3R concept applied to wastewater treatment and resource recovery under a double perspective. Firstly, it deals with innovative technologies leading to: Reducing energy requirements, space and impacts; Reusing water and sludge of sufficient quality; and Recovering resources such as energy, nutrients, metals and chemicals, including biopolymers.  Besides targeting effective C,N&P removal, other issues such as organic micropollutants, gases and odours emissions are considered. Most of the technologies analysed have been tested at pilot- or at full-scale. Tools and methods for their Economic, Environmental, Legal and Social impact assessment are described.

The 3R concept is also applied to Innovative Processes design, considering different levels of innovation: Retrofitting, where novel units are included in more conventional processes; Re-Thinking, which implies a substantial flowsheet modification; and Re-Imagining, with completely new conceptions. Tools are presented for Modelling, Optimising and Selecting the most suitable plant layout for each particular scenario from a holistic technical, economic and environmental point of view.

Contents:

Nutrient removal; Anaerobic Treatment of Municipal Wastewater; Resource recovery from source separated domestic wastewater:  energy, water, nutrients and organics; Wastewater treatment in algal systems; Niches for Bioelectrochemical systems in sewage treatment plants; Aerobic granular sludge reactors;  Membranes in wastewater treatment; Enhanced Primary Treatment; Innovative primary and secondary sewage treatment technologies for organic micropollutants abatement; Post-treatment for micropollutants removal; Technologies limiting gas and odour emissions; Reducing the impact of sludge; Producing high-quality recycled water; Producing sludge for agricultural applications; Recovering energy from sludge; Metal recovery from sludge: Problem or Opportunity; Nutrients recovery from wastewater streams; Recovery of organic added value products from wastewater; The impact of innovation on wastewater treatment economics; Assessing environmental impacts and benefits of wastewater treatment plants; Determining benchmarks in wastewater treatment plants using Life Cycle Assessment; Public perceptions of recycled water; Greenhouse and Odour emissions; The impact and risks of micropollutants in the environment; Legal and Policy Frameworks for the Management of Wastewater; Environmental decision support systems;  Superstructure-based optimization tool for plant design and retrofitting; Model-based comparative assessment of innovative processes.

 Action COST Water 2020

This book is one of the main outcomes of Action COST Water 2020, which brought together 160 international experts with profiles on technological, environmental, energetic and economical aspects of water management and treatment.