As populations continue to grow and shift, all aspects of the water cycle will need to be optimized for sustainability. Instead of simply continuing to bandage old or install new, costly centralized infrastructure, the goal should be to move toward a dependable, safe, and sustainable water cycle that includes wastewater. Implementing alternative cost effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly methods of water and wastewater management that reduce resource consumption has broad benefits including reduced power demands and aquifer recharge.
In a 2014 study comparing resource consumption for centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment systems, it was determined that decentralized systems have a 75 percent reduction in consumed energy, 73 percent reduction in released carbon dioxide, and 68 percent reduction in cost during production and manufacturing compared to centralized systems. For communities, new approaches to improve infrastructure financing is critical to enable communities to implement next generation holistic water and wastewater treatment strategies. The value of preserving the world’s water resource is recognized as one of the greatest challenges of our time.
The evolution of drinking water and wastewater management shifted toward a centralized scheme due to urbanization and the resulting increase of pollutant concentration. The centralized model became the “norm” and public perception followed that centralized management is superior. Meanwhile, globally there are trends of water tables dropping, saltwater intrusion, sewers polluting surface water, and stormwater systems failing to meet the demands of growing populations. The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Water published, The Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis, which identified the potential gap in funding from the year 2000 through 2019 at approximately $270 billion for wastewater infrastructure and $263 billion for drinking water infrastructure.