UN World Water Development Report 2021
Valuing Water
The 2021 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (UN WWDR 2021) entitled ‘Valuing Water ’ groups current methodologies and approaches to the valuation of water into five interrelated perspectives:
valuing water sources
in situ water resources and ecosystems
valuing water infrastructure for water storage, use, reuse or supply augmentation
valuing water services, mainly drinking water, sanitation and related human health aspects
valuing water as an input to production and socio-economic activity, such as food and agriculture, energy and industry, business and employment; and other sociocultural values of water, including recreational, cultural and spiritual attributes
These are complemented with experiences from different global regions; opportunities to reconcile multiple values of water through more integrated and holistic approaches to governance; approaches to financing; and methods to address knowledge, research and capacity needs.
The current status of water resources highlights the need for improved water resources management.
Recognising, measuring and expressing water’s worth, and incorporating it into decision-making, are fundamental to achieving sustainable and equitable water resources management and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Globally, an estimated 80% of all industrial and municipal wastewater is released into the environment without any prior treatment, with detrimental effects on human health and ecosystems (WWAP, 2017). This ratio is much higher in least developed countries, where sanitation and wastewater treatment facilities are grossly lacking.
About 380 billion m3 of water can be recovered from the annual volumes of wastewater produced. This type of water recovery is expected to reach 470 billion m3 by 2030 and 574 billion m3 by 2050 (Qadir et al., 2020).
Recovering water, nutrients, precious metals and energy from waste streams are means of delivering value added (WWAP, 2017). The full recovery of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from wastewater can offset 13.4% of the global demand for these nutrients in agriculture but current technologies of nutrient recovery from wastewater have yet to reach 100% efficiency levels (Fernández-Arévalo et al., 2017; Ward et al., 2018).
Beyond nutrient recovery and economic gains, there are critical environmental benefits, such as a reduction in eutrophication (Mayer et al., 2016).
Over 2 000 000 000 (two billion) people live in countries experiencing water stress, the time to act is now…
Clearwell’s mission - is to offer a sustainable solution, cleaning industrial wastewater, in order to minimise pollution and damage to nature and humans.
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