A Tariff Model for Reclaimed Water in Industrial Sectors: An Opportunity from the Circular Economy

Abstract

The growth of the world’s population is associated with an increase in demand for water. The consequences of this increase are twofold: On the one hand, it endangers the water balance of the ecosystem, and on the other hand, it considerably increases the volume of wastewater generated. In this sense, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) play a fundamental role since their objective is to guarantee the quality of the effluents discharged into the environment. Moreover, current treatment systems allow for the subsequent use of the effluent. Thus, the wastewater treatment sector can be seen as an unconventional source of water, acquiring a special importance in the framework of the circular economy. In this context, water reclamation and reuse are identified as key components of water resource management. However, the economic aspects, in terms of tariff design and cost recovery, represent a major barrier to incentivizing its use. In this paper, the authors analyze these aspects and propose a tariff that combines the cost recovery, an incentive to use reclaimed water and other relevant aspects that guarantee the success of water reuse projects. With this objective, three industrial sectors are evaluated. For the first sector, the user industries would achieve a saving of approximately 10% by changing the consumption of conventional water to reclaimed water; in the second sector, they would achieve a saving of 18% and in the third sector a saving of approximately 16%. In addition to guaranteeing sustainability in the consumption of reclaimed water in industry, the viability of the supplying company is ensured. This research offers valuable results that will be useful for establishing future strategies aimed at encouraging the use of reclaimed water in industrial environments.

AI Applied to the Circular Economy: An Approach in the Wastewater Sector

“…In addition to providing sustainability, these resources can be generated on a continuous basis and can replace some of the conventional resources. For example, in the case of phosphorus, in May 2014, the European Commission classified it as a critical raw material, so alternative sources have since gained importance [32,33]. Recent estimates of phosphorus consumption show that by using available technologies, we can recover up to 30% of the minerals currently used in agriculture by 2030 [34].…”

An Application of Orifice Hydrodynamic Cavitation Reactor for Tertiary Treatment of Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents

“…However, the accurate technology depends on the subsequent application of reclaimed water. It might be used for an irrigation in agriculture and urban agglomeration (gardens, golf courses) [12,13], technological processes (washing and cooling purposes) [14,15] or to flush toilets [16]. Importantly, each application of reclaimed water brings the potential risk of contamination; therefore, maintaining its control is required [17].…”