Kuruvilla Mathew

The World Health Organization estimates that globally one billion people are without access to safe water and two billion people without adequate sanitation. The health consequence of such a situation is very serious and demands urgent appropriate action.

The centralised system, which is still promoted all over the world, will not help in providing water and sanitation for all as it depends on huge financial and technological resources that are often not available. The International Conference on Decentralised Water and Wastewater Systems held in Fremantle, Western Australia in July 2006 (organised by the Environmental Technology Centre at Murdoch University) promoted decentralised systems as a means of solving this problem. All the papers submitted at the conference underwent a review process. This book brings together a selection of papers presented at the conference.

Onsite, small-scale and decentralised wastewater treatment systems are widely used around the world (for example serving a quarter of the population in the United States), and are perhaps symbolised by the septic tank and associated soak well or leach drain as used for domestic wastewater treatment in rural areas. More recent innovations have taken advantage of our growing understanding of the fundamental physical, chemical and biological processes of wastewater treatment. Innovation has also been driven by a desire to recycle the water and nutrients to achieve environmental sustainability. Onsite, small scale and decentralised systems assist with achieving the recycling objective. IWAﾒs 6th Specialised Conference on Small Water and Wastewater Systems and 1st Specialised Conference on Onsite Wastewater Treatment and Recycling drew well over two hundred delegates to discuss these issues, and from over 150 platform and poster papers 40 have been selected for these proceedings following peer review.

Water auditing is a method of quantifying water flows and quality in simple or complex systems, with a view to reducing water usage and often saving money on otherwise unnecessary water use. There is an increasing awareness around the globe of the centrality of water to our lives. This awareness crosses political and social boundaries. In many places people have difficult access to drinking water. Often it is polluted. Water auditing is a mechanism for conserving water, which will grow in significance in the future as demand for water increases.

Water is essential for all life forms. It is a fundamental resource necessary for socio-economic development and for ecological sustainability. Good quality water is becoming scarce due to population growth and associated industrial development and pollution particularly in towns and cities. It is timely that the sustainability and management of water resources is widely discussed noting that water can be used an unlimited number of times with proper treatment. The papers in Sustainability of Water Resources, were originally presented at a meeting at Murdoch University on 13-14 November 2002, where new and innovative methods of treatment, better understanding and assessment of resources and their supporting ecosystems, and proper management for conservation were explored.

Domestic wastewater reuse is currently not permitted anywhere in Australia but is widely supported by the community, promoted by researchers, and improvised by up to 20% of householders. Its widespread implementation will make an enormous contribution to the sustainability of water resources. Integrated with other strategies in the outdoor living environment of settlements in arid lands great benefit will be derived. This paper describes six options for wastewater reuse under research by the Remote Area Developments Group (RADG) at Murdoch University and case studies are given where productive use is being made for revegetation and food production strategies at household and community scales. Pollution control techniques, public health precautions and maintenance requirements are described. The special case of remote Aboriginal communities is explained where prototype systems have been installed by RADG to generate windbreaks and orchards. New Australian design standards and draft guidelines for domestic greywater reuse produced by the Western Australian state government agencies for mainstream communities are evaluated. It is recommended that dry composting toilets be coupled with domestic greywater reuse and the various types available in Australia are described. For situations where only the flushing toilet will suffice the unique “wet composting” system can be used and this also is described. A vision for household and community-scale on-site application is presented.

The International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) is an integral part of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Its role is to promote the adoption and use of environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) for the management of urban and freshwater basin environmental issues in developing countries and countries in economic transition. ESTs are recognised as critical to success in achieving sustainable development. One of the Centre's activities is to enhance the capacity of the decision and policy makers to make sensible technology choice. Adopting, applying and operating ESTs are key elements in policy-making and technology practice for integrated environmental management. A global workshop on adopting, applying and promoting of environmentally sound technologies was organised by the UNEP-IETC in Dresden, Germany in 1996. The program combined proactive sessions, exercises, small group works, and field trips to build individual and institutional capacities: it focussed on priority issues such as freshwater resources, water supply, technology transfer, waste management and city planning. In 1997 December UNEP-IETC sponsored a conference in Environmental Technologies for Wastewater Management at Murdoch University in Australia. Thirty participants from 19 countries were sponsored to participate at the conference. The conference was targeted at the needs of national/local government, and civil-society decision-makers in the area of technology implementation/ regulation, as well as at those with responsibilities in environmental management. This publication contains papers selected from the papers presented at the conference after a thorough review process. As such it is a valuable source document for all who are involved in working towards sustainable development.