World water day
March 22 was chosen as the World Water Day. This was established in order to remember how water is an invaluable resource that needs to be safeguarded by each one of us. Almost all the human activities utilize water turning it into “used” or wastewater. Every time we use water, we turn it into wastewater and instead of reusing it, we drain to sewarage losing about 80% of its residual potentials. The good observance, always listened but never followed, to close the tap while brushing teeth, while washing dishes or vegetables, it transforms water resource into wastewater without even using it. Another indication that is still present in many public baths warns you to put waste, wet wipes and advanced food into appropriate containers and not drain it into sewers, which increases the level of pollutant and, consequentially, increases purification costs.
The United Nations World Water Development 2017 report “Waste water, unused resource” shows that in most cases wastewater is released into the environment without being collected or treated. More than 80% of wastewater of the world – and over 95% in some less developed countries – is discharged into the environment without any treatment.
“Wastewater is a precious resource in a world where water is over and demand is on the rise,” says Guy Ryder, UN-Water President and General Manager of the International Labor Organization. “Everyone can do their part to achieve the sustainable development goal by halving the percentage of untreated wastewater and increasing its reuse by 2030.
Untreated water or ineffective treatment for wastewater, once conveyed to water bodies, is transported downstream to oceans or seas with negative impacts on environment or infiltrating into aquifers, worsening the quality (and thus the availability) of fresh water.
The 2017 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report shows how improving sewage management creates social, environmental and economic benefits for sustainable development.
This report is written with the aim of providing as much information as possible to those responsible for government, civil society or the private sector, about the importance of wastewater management as a source of water, energy, nutrients and others recoverable by-products and not as something that needs to be disposed of by generating problems that tend to be ignored.
