Decision making for implementing non-traditional water sources: a review of challenges and potential solutions

Abstract

The effects of climate change, population growth, and future hydrologic uncertainties necessitate increased water conservation, new water resources, and a shift towards sustainable urban water supply portfolios. Diversifying water portfolios with non-traditional water sources can play a key role. Rooftop harvested rainwater (RHRW), atmospheric and condensate harvesting, stormwater, recycled wastewater and greywater, and desalinated seawater and brackish water are all currently utilized and rapidly emerging non-traditional water sources. This review explores the status and trends around these non-traditional water sources, and reviews approaches and models for prioritizing, predicting, and quantifying metrics of concern. The analysis presented here suggests that understanding the challenges of location specific scenarios, socioeconomic knowledge gaps, water supply technologies, and/or water management structure is the crucial first step in establishing a model or framework approach to provide a strategy for improvement going forward. The findings of this study also suggest that clear policy guidance and onsite maintenance is necessary for variable water quality concerns of non-traditional sources like harvested rainwater and greywater. In addition, use of stormwater or reuse of wastewater raises public health concerns due to unknown risks and pathogen levels, thus rapid monitoring technologies and transparent reporting systems can facilitate their adoption. Finally, cost structure of desalination varies significantly around the world, largely due to regulatory requirements and local policies. Further reduction of its capital cost and energy consumption is identified as a hurdle for implementation. Overall, models and process analyses highlight the strength of comparative assessments across scenarios and water supply options.

A novel model to predict phase equilibrium state of hydrates from the relationship of gas solubility

“…As a potential clean energy source, hydrate recovery has been gaining global attentions. Moreover, hydrates have the potential of applications in brine desalination (Sahu et al, 2018), storage (Cheng et al, 2020) and transportation of hydrogen (Lee et al, 2005;Strobel et al, 2009), CO 2 separation in flue gas, and CO 2 sequestration (Van Denderen et al, 2012;Quon and Jiang, 2023). In addition, hydrate plugs in pipeline for natural gas transportation are also a primary concern (Creek, 2012).…”

Untitled

“…Air conditioning condensate water presents a viable water-saving option, applicable at both the individual household and larger building scale [69]- [71]. Traditional cooling systems rely on evaporator coils, with condensate drains typically discarding the water [72], [73]. However, capturing and reusing this resource is a promising alternative.…”

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Antibiotic-Resistant E. coli, Legionella pneumophila, and Mycobacteria in Nonpotable Wastewater Reuse Applications

“…7,15 A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) would not only provide insights of the magnitude of the risk but also offer guidance for policy decision-making to establish water quality criteria for water reuse in light of the AR risks. 16,17 Through the steps of hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose−response assessment, and risk characterization, the likelihood of risk (i.e., infection, illness, or death) can be quantified and better understood. Previously established dose− response models or exposure scenarios are helpful in this framework, especially when paired with a collection of pathogen concentration data for specific locations or water fixtures.…”