Wastewater Treatment Enables Reuse

Bursa Technical University Faculty of Maritime Affairs Dean Prof. Dr. Sinan Uyanık said that giving water a second chance by treating wastewater and reusing it is necessary to protect water resources. As usable water resources worldwide decline due to urbanization, increased greenhouse gases, climate change and industrialization, the imbalance between supply and demand growing alongside population is causing the water scarcity problem to worsen. Wastewater treatment methods are important for reducing the environmental damage of used water and ensuring the continuity of water resources. According to Water and Wastewater Statistics published by Turkish Statistical Institute in 2020; municipalities, villages, manufacturing facilities, thermal power plants, organized industrial zones and mining operations discharged 15.3 billion cubic meters of wastewater directly into receiving environments, of which 9.5 billion cubic meters was cooling water. The Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change is conducting studies on the reuse of treated water. Following studies conducted by the Ministry at the strategic planning level, the target of 5 percent set for 2023 in the reuse rate of treated wastewater was exceeded in the first half of the year, reaching 5.2 percent. The Ministry aims to increase this ratio to 15 percent by 2030. In order to encourage the reuse of wastewater, the Ministry provides refunds of up to 50 percent on electricity bills for treatment facilities. Following the regulation made in the Environment Law No. 2872, this rate is being increased in phases up to 100 percent for organizations reusing wastewater treated with advanced treatment techniques, depending on the usage rate.

Our clean freshwater source is being polluted

Wastewater treatment specialist and Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Environment Engineering Department Teaching Member, Faculty of Maritime Affairs Dean and Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Sinan Uyanık, assessing the importance of wastewater reuse, said that water released into the environment after being used as a result of human, agricultural or industrial activities is classified as wastewater. Uyanık said: "Water becomes wastewater and becomes polluted as a result of human activities. In order for this polluted water to be reused and given a second chance, it must pass through a certain treatment system; otherwise our usable clean freshwater source becomes polluted and unusable. Therefore, our usable, accessible, clean freshwater resources are destined to diminish with each passing day." He emphasized this view. Uyanık, stressing that reusing treated wastewater is important not only for protecting water resources and water conservation, but also for preventing coastal pollution and saving water and fertilizer in agriculture, said that reuse could provide additional resources especially in regions with low rainfall and scarce resources.

Examples from around the world and Turkey

Uyanık, explaining that obtaining usable water from seawater is one of the alternative methods but that this method can only be implemented with energy-intensive technologies, noted that treating wastewater is a more environmentally friendly method compared to this approach. Pointing out that Singapore, one of the water-scarce countries, is one of the best examples in the world regarding the treatment and use of wastewater, Uyanık continued: "Singapore has an application called 'NEWater' which is seen as a second chance for water. Since Singapore is located in a region with very limited water resources, it has been buying its fresh water from Malaysia for years. While Singapore used to purchase water flowing from rivers and streams of different countries through pipes similar to the pipeline that carries water from Turkey to Cyprus, now with the system it has established, it collects all the wastewater generated in the city, treats it in a treatment facility and supplies this water to the network as drinking water, creating a system where 40 percent of the population's water for human consumption is supplied from treated wastewater. Furthermore, not only does it supply the network, but they also bottle this clean water produced and a large portion of the water sold in markets consists of water from treated and reused wastewater." Uyanık, stating that the Llobregat wastewater treatment facility in Barcelona, Spain, can also be cited as an example in this regard, conveyed that the facility takes and processes wastewater to produce treated water of different qualities, and these waters are used for environmental purposes in feeding the drying wetlands and groundwater in that region, in agricultural activities and in industry. Noting that one of the applications where wastewater is treated and reused in Turkey was implemented in Kocaeli, Uyanık said, "Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality's Kullar Wastewater Treatment Facility treats water to a certain level and supplies it to Tüpraş. Tüpraş then treats this water to an advanced level and uses it for steam production or for different purposes within its own production system in industry." He expressed this view. Uyanık shared information that in the organized industrial zone in Gebze, wastewater produced by the automotive sector is treated in a treatment facility and water produced to the quality required by industry is treated and reused.

Reminding that Turkey is a country experiencing water stress, Uyanık concluded his remarks as follows:

"In regions like Konya and Burdur where drought and agricultural activities are prevalent, we need to implement wastewater reuse for agricultural purposes. In the Marmara Region, industry is currently able to extract and use groundwater uncontrollably as it wishes. This needs to be prohibited and stopped as soon as possible. Groundwater is a very strategic water resource. These are water resources we need to use in situations of war and famine, but unfortunately anyone can open wells wherever they want and recklessly use our strategic water resources. This needs to be prevented. We need to guide industrialists on treating wastewater and reusing it as an alternative water source." Source