Signal #3: Will reclaimed water become the new water source for urban areas?
Although urbanization has decreased the per capita water consumption level, population growth still drives up the urban water usage to a historically high level. As water scarcity becomes a global concern, it is important for cities to reduce their water consumption. Actually, the high density of urban area makes it an advantage of achieving this goal.
Thinking at a macro level, water never goes away. When we consume water (say drinking, washing, etc), water essentially returns to our environment but in a worse quality. If we can retreat those water and make them usable again, then the real water consumption (defined as the depletion of the resource) can be considerably reduced.
The NEWater project of Singapore is a great example of reclaiming used water. Using membrane technology, the NEWater process can purify water to a quality even better than drinkable water. Now NEWater is supplying 40% of Singapore’s total water demand and more than 55% in the future.
I think this technology is applicable to most of the urban areas. Since the water consumption in urban area is highly concentrated, the reclaim process can be very efficient. Also, the costs of membrane technology have been decreasing as the technology becomes more mature. The next step, will the public accept reclaimed water as drinking water?
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