Sustainable resource management is essential in the 21st century, particularly where water is concerned, as reliable water supply underpins every aspect of society and without this, our way of life would be at serious risk.
Of course, this is something that we’re already starting to see in many parts of the world, with water stress and scarcity an increasing reality for many countries – even here in the UK, with our famously damp climate.
It’s now being suggested that drinking water shortages could be seen here within the next 15 years, so imagine what nations with drier and more arid climates are likely to experience in the not so distant future.
There is no one size fits all approach that can be adopted to shore up supplies and different countries will need to adopt different strategies in order to safeguard resources for future generations, but one practical and efficient solution to the problem is the concept of the circular water economy.
What is the circular water economy?
The circular economy is a model of production and consumption that involves reusing, recycling, repairing, refurbishing and sharing resources in order to extend the life cycle of products, keeping waste to a minimum and moving away from a more traditional economic model that’s based on a pattern of take, make, consume and waste.
Moving to a circular economy will help protect the environment by reducing the use of natural resources, preventing landscape and habitat disruption and limiting loss of biodiversity.
As well as reducing reliance on raw materials (many of which are finite), this economic model could also stimulate innovation, drive up competition, create jobs and support economic growth.
Key recommendations
A new whitepaper from the UK Water Partnership and consultancy service WSP has provided a series of recommendations for unlocking system-level change for making the move to a circular water economy, emphasising the importance of close collaboration between policymakers, regulators and commercial organisations to achieve this.
The three key principles of a circular economy (minimising/eliminating waste and pollution, keeping resources in use, regenerating nature and enhancing the earth’s natural capital) can be applied throughout the urban water cycle, from abstraction to use, treatment and discharge back into the environment.
Catchment management, for example, can improve surface water quality and drive down drinking water treatment costs, while supporting water quantity and reducing surface water flooding.
Demand for supplies can also be reduced, while improving water use efficiency and water reuse can deliver significant cost savings. Additionally, adopting nature-based solutions can moderate surface water flows to improve biodiversity, build resilience into the system and deliver high-quality amenity value.
Adopting a circular water economy also means that supplies can become a vector for other resources. For example, nutrients, energy and solid particulates all feature as part of the water matrix, but there is now a growing tendency to see these inputs as recoverable resources with their own inherent value, rather than viewing them as pollutants that need removal.
As such, the water sector has a wide range of different opportunities to move to this economic model, with opportunities including recycling and/or reusing water, finding alternatives to ‘grey’ infrastructure, resource recovery from wastewater and sewage sludge, repair and remanufacture of equipment and so on.
David Tompkins, associate director for water advisory at WSP, said: “The transition to a circular economy is no longer an option but a necessity.
“Our whitepaper not only outlines the challenges and opportunities within the water sector but also sets out a long-term vision for systemic change. This vision is critical for inspiring action and ensuring the sustainability of our water resources for future generations.”
The whitepaper publication comes as part of the first phase of the Partnership’s strategic circular economy programme. Phase two will focus on key areas such as biosolids and bioresources, wastewater systems, local-scale circular economy solutions and chemicals in water systems.
Practical case studies and pilot trials will be developed to demonstrate what can be achieved.
Currently, regenerative aspects of the urban water cycle are already being seen in the UK, with the adoption of blue-green infrastructure and catchment-based approaches but these are not yet viewed as circular drivers or metrics because different sectors and policy objectives are yet to align.
As the UK Water Partnership observes, however, the systemic change required to achieve the long-term vision for this transition to a circular water economy is critical for both the future of the water sector and society as a whole.