Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants: Gap, Challenges, and Opportunities in Environmental Management

Herrera-Navarrete, Ricardo; Colín-Cruz, Arturo; Arellano-Wences, Hilda Janet; Rosas, Marí­a Laura Sampedro; Rosas-Acevedo, José Luís; Herrera, América Libertad Rodríguez

doi:10.1007/s00267-021-01562-y

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Device or structural failure could include the failure of a pump, fan, or a loss of integrity of the pipe or the tank [ 25 ]. In another example, the collapse of the wastewater reservoir was classified as a structural failure, but the underlying cause, e.g., the aging of the materials or corrosion, was not reported, which is an essential issue for future safety management [ 26 ]. A crucial part of a risk assessment of any technology and operation is to perform a detailed analysis of the historical events associated with the specific operation and technology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the accident’s impact on the river’s estuary and Gulf of Gdańsk was not researched in the past. The knowledge about the impact of such discharge can be used to assess possible risks associated with the accident to the environment and predict the possible consequences of similar accidents in the future [ 26 ]. The presented results showcase that the aquatic ecosystem in the Vistula river estuary and the nearshore of the Gulf of Gdansk is exposed to an excessive amount of discharged organic matter and nutrients after the emergency discharge of wastewater situated over 400 km upstream.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effects of Wastewater Treatment Plant Failure on the Gulf of Gdansk (Southern Baltic Sea)

Jaskulak

Sotomski

Michalska

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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In August 2019 and during August/September 2020, the main collection system of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Warsaw, Poland, malfunctioned. During that system failure, over 4.8 million m3 of untreated wastewater was dropped directly into the Vistula River in just a few days. It is currently considered as one of the largest known failures of WWTP worldwide. In order to assess the environmental impact, water samples were collected from 2 spots at the Vistula river estuary (406 and 415 km from the discharge location, respectively), and 4 spots at the Gulf of Gdansk, situated on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. The sampling was conducted before the wastewater wave reached the Vistula river’s mouth, followed by daily sampling during 21 days after the malfunction occurred. The study showed the decline in water quality at the Vistula river estuary and the Baltic shore waters as the wave of wastewater reached those points, despite being situated over 400 km downstream from the place of the accident. Those changes included the reduction in the dissolved oxygen content (by 0.69-fold at its peak), the increase in Total Organic Carbon (TOC) (by 1.28-fold at its peak), nitrate-nitrogen (N-NO3) (by 1.68-fold at its peak), phosphorous (P) (by 2.41-fold at its peak), conductivity (by 16.8-fold at its peak), and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (by 1.84-fold). In the samples from the Vistula river, the decline in water quality was seen as incidental and lasted 2–3 days. Subsequently, the levels of physical and chemical parameters returned to the levels from before the accident. However, the changes in the Gulf of Gdańsk lasted significantly longer, especially on the West side of the Vistula river, where, even after 21 days from the initial accident, some parameters remained altered.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Wastewater Treatment Plant Failure on the Gulf of Gdansk (Southern Baltic Sea)

Jaskulak

Sotomski

Michalska

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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“…To treat wastewater, the city has 18 WWTPs consisting of conventional treatment (activated sludge), managed by the local water agency. Wastewater is collected and transported through the sewerage network, directing the raw water to the treatment units, which are distributed in different parts of the city, discharging the treated wastewater into the La Sabana River or the Pacific Ocean coast [6]. As a study case, the "Aguas Blancas" WWTP was considered as one of the most representative of the city due to its level of efficiency, treatment capacity, and quality of treated water (Table 5).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the approximately 1388 million km 3 of water on the planet, only 3% (41.64 million km 3 ) is freshwater and less than 1% (13.88 million km 3 ) is accessible for human consumption [4], with availability limited by quality. According to Wang et al [5], millions of people die each year from water pollution-related diseases, and they estimate that by 2050 more than half of the world's population will live in water-scarce regions [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to water scarcity, pollution has become a matter of global interest and concern [6], and even more so when considering the appearance of new pollutants called emerging contaminants (ECs), identified mainly in urban wastewater, a consequence of the consumption habits of modern society [7]. In this context, the role of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to face the growing need for larger volumes of contaminant-free water, whose main objective is to ensure the safety of human health and environmental protection, trying to achieve sustainable urban development of local waters, stands out [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reuse of Treated Water from Municipal Treatment Plants in Mexico

Martínez-Orgániz¹,

Herrera-Navarrete²,

Pineda-Mora³

et al. 2024

Water Quality - New Perspectives

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Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) receive a wide variety of contaminants that cannot be eliminated or completely removed with current conventional methods. In this sense, the development and use of advanced technologies is a challenge in countries where wastewater sanitation is hardly a guarantee. However, the reuse of treated urban wastewater can function as an alternative to mitigate water pressure and, at the same time, guarantees water quality for potential reuse in agriculture, in the irrigation of landscape or urban green areas, but especially for aquifer recharge. Therefore, this chapter is focused on reviewing the current state of WWTPs in Mexico and the potential reuse of treated water.

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Critical environmental management accounting practices influencing service delivery of growing cities in a developing economy: a review and conceptual framework

Mukwarami,

van der Poll

2024

Environ Syst Decis

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The scope for environmental management accounting (EMA) has perpetually received attention in recent years, and it has become a pillar of sustainability in addressing environmental and service delivery challenges. Most scholars focused on EMA in a corporate context, limited attention has been given to local governments in available scholarly articles except for various initiatives by the United Nations to guide local governments in adopting and implementing sustainable environmental management practices. This has continued to affect the uptake of EMA in local governments, particularly in developing economies, as the question concerning the role of EMA practices (EMAPs) in environmental and service delivery remains unexplored. A systematic literature review (SLR) through the use of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to identify EMAPs and their role in promoting environmental and service delivery performance (SDP) in local governments was employed. Articles from Google Scholar and Scopus published between 2000 and 2023 were considered. The researchers identified and evaluated energy accounting, material flow accounting, water management accounting, carbon management accounting and biodiversity management accounting as effective EMAPs to address local governments’ environmental and service delivery challenges. Furthermore, a conceptual framework to integrate EMAPs with environmental improvement and service delivery plans was developed and has implications for policymakers, communities, government and environmental specialists. The lessons learned from the research are pertinent to developing sustainable cities in emerging economies and further expose the need for further research to consider accounting approaches from higher-income countries as benchmarks for future development of ecosystem accounting to assist local governments in managing environmental challenges.

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Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants: Gap, Challenges, and Opportunities in Environmental Management

Cited by 13 publications

References 51 publications

The Effects of Wastewater Treatment Plant Failure on the Gulf of Gdansk (Southern Baltic Sea)

The Effects of Wastewater Treatment Plant Failure on the Gulf of Gdansk (Southern Baltic Sea)

Reuse of Treated Water from Municipal Treatment Plants in Mexico

Critical environmental management accounting practices influencing service delivery of growing cities in a developing economy: a review and conceptual framework

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