Editorial: Water and Environment Journal - Volume 39, Issue 1

This volume of the Water and Environment Journal features an array of articles that deal with many currently relevant water and wastewater pollution aspects such as the use of membranes for the removal of emerging contaminants, for the treatment of refinery oily wastewater and for industrial water separation

Another group of articles studied the removal of emerging contaminants by several methods, including nanofiltration, SFODME processes and hydrogen-based metal-organic frameworks.

Finally, another group presents studies on the recovery of important resources through innovative ways to improve phosphorus availability in sludge, the removal of lipids from sludge and the effects of pesticides on the removal of biological nitrogen from wastewater.

These studies are an example of the continuous need for research focused on the development of new ways of recovering resources from wastewater, the detection and removal of persistent contaminants and the continuous development of membranes for the treatment of water and wastewater. This type of research is needed for the protection of human and environmental health and to maintain the natural conditions of natural water courses.

Yet, from an operational point of view, one must come to terms with the fact that, while the technology for the treatment of water and wastewater is a subject that needs our attention, the actual application of this technology is complicated, many times hindered by political or economic factors.

2024 Paris Olympics

And even when all the factors align (the technological, political and economic factors), uncertainty, sometimes driven by climate change, joins the framework. This was the case of the recent 2024 Olympics in Paris which showed that even the country with the 7th largest economy in the world (France), with two of the largest water companies in the world, and one of the richest and most visited cities in the world struggled to clean its watercourses. Although eventually the aquatic events did take place in the Olympics, it was extensively reported that the fecal indicators in the Seine River were high up to a few days before the events took place.

The clean-up process was a huge effort that consisted in the connection of thousands of residences and houseboats into the sewer system instead of dumping all of their wastewater directly into the river, the reduction of the amount of wastewater and stormwater flowing into the river, and an overhaul of sewage processing across the region to make sure water arrives in Paris in a cleaner state in the first place. This effort lasted 8 years and cost approximately 1.4 billion euros (Wired, 2024).

Despite all this, heavy rain around the night of the opening ceremony caused the flushing of pollutants into the water despite all the new infrastructure, possibly leading to health issues that prompted the withdrawal of the entire Belgian triathlon team. Nevertheless, the triathlon event did take place and currently the river is considered to have been cleaned, although storm runoff can still cause pollution and is a major concern considering the unpredictable weather caused by climate change with swimming bans following rainy days. This leads to recommendations from experts, who consider that water monitoring is key for public health, with bacteriological data needed to be published daily, to inform the public about the associated risks.

Mexico budget shortages

Paris and its Seine River might be considered a successful story, however, for the rest of the world, the clean-up of its polluted waterways remains a huge challenge, especially in developing countries where the money needed for such efforts is never enough. An example is Mexico, where the 2024 budget for the National Water Commision (CONAGUA) was 62,600 million Mexican pesos, the equivalent to 3.3 billion US dollars for the whole country.

Of this, only 1.9 billion are for investment and distributed the following way: 1 billion for irrigation, 568 million for water potabilization and wastewater treatment, 207 million for public protection and 31 million for dam rehabilitation (El Economista, 2023). This, clearly, is not enough. The country still only treats 50% of its wastewater and 70% of its rivers and water courses present some degree of pollution.

According to the UN-Water and UNEP, in half the world’s countries one or more types of freshwater ecosystems are degraded, including rivers, lakes and aquifers. River flow has significantly decreased, surface water bodies are shrinking or being lost, ambient water is growing more polluted, and water management is off-track. Lack of data on this scale means that by 2030 over half of humanity will live in countries that have inadequate water quality data to inform management decisions related to address drought, floods, impacts from wastewater effluents and agricultural runoff (UN Water, 2024).

Another report from UN Water, which also tracked progress on Sustainable Development Goal 6, found that many countries must improve how they manage their water resources. By 2030, more than 100 countries, home to 3.3 billion people, are unlikely to have governance frameworks that can balance the demand for water and cope with pressures like climate change. These figures highlight the urgent need for countries to embrace the recently approved UN system-wide strategy on water and sanitation (UN Water, 2024). Yet, it's not only governance that is needed but, more urgently, money, money well invested in infrastructure and operation of water and wastewater technology.

The challenge, therefore, is huge, and even if all countries had the means to invest in the infrastructure needed to prevent pollution, the case of Paris shows us that the redesign and operation of wastewater infrastructure is a massive challenge, even with the political and institutional backing and the economic means to make it work. If Paris struggled, what can we expect from the rest of the world?

You can access the latest journal here: Water and Environment Journal - Volume 39, Issue 1. CIWEM members can access the new issue of WEJ through MyCIWEM portal.

Author: Victoria Harris, publications manager at CIWEM