More investment is needed to make urban waste water treatment plants fit to meet the difficult challenges posed by the impacts of climate change, as well as the presence of antibiotics and other micro-pollutants in waste water, according to a new European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing.
Much has already been done in recent decades to improve waste water treatment, according to the EEA briefing ‘Urban waste water treatment for 21st century challenges’. The proportion of households connected to treatment facilities varies across Europe, from 97% in western and central Europe, to around 70% in southern, south-eastern and eastern Europe.
Image: European Environment Agency
However, the Agency says that urban waste water treatment now needs to address challenges like climate change, changes in population and newly emerging pollutants.
Extreme weather events linked to climate change are bringing heavier and more frequent rainfall in some areas, but water scarcity in others, affecting how well storm sewers and treatment plants operate. Excessive rainstorms can overwhelm and overload sewer systems and lead to overflows at treatment plants, while a lack of rainfall can lead to problems in collection and treatment of sewage.
According to the EEA, such challenges are now adding to those routinely addressed by local authorities and water utilities, including financing construction, maintenance, operation and upgrades, as well as sourcing and retaining suitably skilled staff to deliver the necessary improvements in waste water treatment.
The EEA briefing also notes that antibiotics and other excreted pharmaceuticals are increasingly being found in waste water. The chemicals are among those forming a cocktail mix of chemicals, which cannot be easily tackled by many treatment plants, as they require costly, more stringent and energy-intensive treatment techniques.
Sustainable solutions and investments are key
The briefing notes that energy costs and scarce resources are reasons to promote water efficiency. In addition, they provide an opportunity for treatment plants to contribute more to recycling and reusing water and recovering materials like phosphorus, which can be collected during the treatment cycle.
The briefing cites some examples of investments already being taken across Europe to improve waste water treatment resilience, with the use of retention ponds and rainfall reservoirs to manage water flows from flash floods, or in reusing water that has been treated and cleaned.
Click here to read Urban waste water treatment for 21st century challenges in full
Sulzer has launched a new global Center of Excellence (CoE) for Water Treatment Solutions - the CoE consolidates Sulzer’s wastewater treatment expertise in a unified and global manner.
“SAS (Surplus Activated Sludge) is a bit weird and 
Owen Mace has taken over as Director of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) Plastic Pipes Group on the retirement of Caroline Ayres. He was previously Standards and Technical Manager for the group.
PureTec Separations, the Ledbury-based water treatment engineering firm, has appointed Dan Norman as its new Sales Manager – Water Process Systems, supporting the company’s continued growth in the UK and international markets.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.