The relationship between regulatory framework and wastewater engineering

Hello Everyone , long time no see, this is my third bolg

Water pollution has become a serious problem that greatly influences our life. Under this condition, how to deal with water pollution has become an urgent problem in today’s society. In order to deal with the problem of the serious water pollution, wastewater treatment has always been recommended as the most effective solution (Anjum, Rasheed, & Ahmed, 2016). Wastewater treatment engineering is to apply relevant wastewater treatment facilities to turn the wastewater into clean water. In previous blogs, I have discussed wastewater treatment. In this week, I attempt to discuss another interesting topic, which is about the relationship between regulatory framework and wastewater engineering. 

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It is well known that population growth is one of key factor that results in water scarcity. It is projected that the world population will increase to 3.6 billion by 2035 (PAI, 2012). The quick population growth results in the increasing demand and consumption of the limited water resource. As a consequent, scarcity of clean water has become an increasingly serious challenge. According to the sustainable development goal 6, ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water for all people across the world is a key sustainable development goal (United Nations, 2019). To achieve such sustainable development goal, wastewater treatment and reuse is becoming essentialto securing water supply, particular the supply of safely drinking water. However, in my opinion, the current wastewater treatment does still not reach acceptable level. An interesting fact is that around 78 million people globally still cannot access safely drinking water (United Nations, 2019). Under this condition, how to ensure the wasted wastewater to reach an acceptable level is still a challenging job. To achieve this, I personally considered that the implementation of effective regulatory framework is a key because I consider that effective regulatory framework helps to promote better wastewater engineering practices. 

Historically, regulatory requirements on wastewater treatment engineering have been continuouslyheightened. For example, Australian government has implemented the South Australian Public Health (Wastewater) Regulations 2013 to strengthen the governance of wastewater treatment. This regulatory framework details the legislative requirements for wastewater systems. Before this regulatory framework is developed and implemented, operators of wastewater treatment systems often failed in complying with relevant wastewater treatment standards. Consequently, the effect of wastewater treatment is not obvious. To strengthen the governance of wastewater treatment, Australia has develop and enforced the regulatory framework “the South Australian Public Health (Wastewater) Regulations 2013”, which outlines specific legislative requirements in terms installation of wastewater system, management of wastewater, operation of wastewater system and maintenance of wastewater system. For example, this regulatory framework prescribes that the operations of wastewater systems must fully ensure that wastewater without treatment is prohibited to dispose to land or other water systems. Such regulatory framework is important to develop better wastewater engineering practice because it clearly outlines specific legal requirements that the operations of wastewater treatment systems must comply. By implementing the South Australian Public Health (Wastewater) Regulations 2013, Australia effectively prevents the disposal of untreated waste into land or rivers and promotes better wastewater engineering practices. Hence, I personally consider that having a regulatory framework is important because it helps to reduce irresponsibile waster treatment behavior of practices and to promote the better wastewater engineering practices. 

To strengthen regulatory frameworks on wastewater treatment and to treat wastewater problems effectively, I personally consider that it is of important to encourage people to share wastewater treatment ideas in order to generate smart and innovative solutions. For example, TEDx is a program of local self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Through TEDxMileHigh, people are able to share their ideas about the wastewater treatment. For example, Eleanor Allen, the CEO of a nonprofit organization called as Water For People, is committed to provide services in water, sanitation, and hygiene. On TEDxMileHigh, Eleanor Allen shared innovative ideas about how to global water and sanitation services, and shared innovation solutions to deal with wastewater based on her experience of providing global water and sanitation services. According to the Sustainable Development Goal 6 developed by United Nations Development Program, ensuring drinking water supply and sanitation is a key target of the sustainable development goal. In order to achieve such sustainable development goal, it needs to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all people across the world. To some extent, I personally considered that the TEDxMileHigh provides a good platform to develop innovative solutions to deal with wastewater problems and to promote better wastewater engineering practices. Additionally, TEDxMileHigh also can bring people around the world together to discuss how to improve and implement regulatory frameworks to regulate wastewater from different perspectives. By promoting the spread of wastewater treatment ideas, I personally believe that the wastewater treatment engineering practice can be further improved so as to address the increasingly serious wastewater problems effectively and finally realize the sustainable development goals on the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. 

Reference

Anjum, M. N., Rasheed, H. U., & Ahmed, W. (2016). Impact of Waste Water Treatment on Quality of Influent & Effluent Water, Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2(11), pp. 844-849

Groppi, A., Garrone, P., Grilli, L., & Marzano, R. (2018). Barriers and drivers in the adoption of advanced wastewater treatment technologies: a comparative analysis of Italian utilities, Journal of Cleaner Production,171, pp. 69-78.

PAI (2012).Why Population Matters to water resource,[Online] Available from:  https://pai.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/PAI-1293-WATER-4PG.pdf [Accessed: 1 September2019].

United Nations (2019). Sustainable Development Goals[Online] Available from: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300 [Accessed: 1 September2019].