A flow balance approach to scenarios for water reclamation

Abstract

Water reclamation, or the direct use of treated sewage effluent to replace a proportion of the fresh water demand, is a nonconventional approach to water demand management which is gathering momentum internationally. A recent WRC study showed that the proportion of water reclaimed as a percentage of total wastewater produced in a country ranges from less than 1% for Japan as a whole, to 84% for Israel. However, the same study showed that in South Africa, total direct reclamation of water is estimated to be less than 3% of the total flow of treated sewage effluent discharged to surface and marine waters, estimated to be 1 086 x 106 m3/a in 1996. This paper argues that increasing demand for water caused by urbanisation and industrialisation should be matched by water reclamation, which provides an increasing intensity of land-based treatment and recycle depending on the proportion of total water demand which is satisfied by reclaimed water.

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