Wastewater as a resource: Strategies to recover resources from Amsterdam’s wastewater

Abstract

a b s t r a c tResources are becoming scarce. Therefore, reuse of resources is becoming more and more attractive. Wastewater can be used as a resource, since it contains many resources like organic matter, phosphorus, nitrogen, heavy metals, thermal energy, etc. This study focused on the reuse of organic matter and phosphorus from Amsterdam's wastewater. There is a wide variety of possible alternatives, and the technical options are growing. The problem is not the availability of technology for resource recovery, but the lack of a planning and design methodology to identify and deploy the most sustainable solutions in a given context. To explore alternative, coherent and viable strategies regarding resource recovery from Amsterdam's wastewater chain, the development process of dynamic adaptive policy pathways was used. In the first phase a material flow analysis was made for Amsterdam's wastewater chain and analyzed for water, organic matter and phosphorus. In the second phase measures were identified and characterized. The characterization was based on criteria focusing on changes in material flows, recovered products and implementation horizon. For the Amsterdam case recovered products concerned alginic acid, bioplastic, cellulose, phosphorus and biogas. In the third phase the measures were combined into strategies, which are combinations of measures that focus on a specific goal of resource recovery. For the Amsterdam case this resulted in four strategies: a strategy focusing on production of alginic acid, a strategy focusing on production of bioplastics, a strategy focusing on recovery of cellulose, and a strategy focusing on recovery of phosphorus. Adaptive policymaking showed to be a good approach to deal with the wide variety of possibilities and uncertainties. It resulted in a coherent policy as the resource recovery goals became clear, a flexible policy as the lock-in, no-regret and win-win measures could be identified, and an up-to-date policy as a periodic update is possible that will reveal new chances and risks.

Nitrogen Recovery from Wastewater: Possibilities, Competition with Other Resources, and Adaptation Pathways

“…The program involves resources such as cellulose, bioplastics, phosphate, alginate-like exopolymers from aerobic granular sludge, and biomass [23]. Due to its many possibilities, the challenge is how to develop a coherent policy and strategy, and how to make the right choices [24].…”

Ecological and Economic Effect of Wastewater Reclaiming at Enterprises of the Ukrainian

“…Так, в Україні на лічується більше 6000 насосних та більше ніж 3000 очисних споруд, з них близько 87% по требують капітального ремонту. Як наслідок, у водні об'єкти щорічно надходить близько 3,9 неочищених стічних вод, 3,3 нормативно чи стих і лише 1,3 очищених до чинних нормативів [8].…”

Water Reclamation and Reuse

“…An assessment of the energy saving potential of several integrated water management systems in Brazil found that reducing the wastewater treatment at the centralized systems was preferable (more energy saving) to using alternative water sources in terms of water sustainability (Vieira and Ghisi, 2016). van der Hoek et al (2016) successfully utilized an adaptive policymaking method to develop viable strategies regrading resource recovery in Amsterdam's wastewater chain. Three phases were involved in the method: a material flow analysis, the identification and characterization of measures (resources to be recovered), and the development of strategies to recover resources.…”