Welcome to technology update, in which we give you a short update on the latest water treatment process developments, both industrial and from academia.
UK Sewage Discharges
Water companies in the UK have been battling with both government and the public after reports were published showing the number of unnecessary sewage discharges. Some water companies, such as Southern Water, have been fined for discharging raw sewage outside the bounds of their permits.
In general, treatment companies have a license allowing them to discharge raw (untreated) sewage without warning during or after heavy rain or in case of unexpected blockages. It has appeared that companies have also discharged outside of these requirements to save the cost of treatment. The reasoning was that they did stay within their yearly maximum discharge limit, although this limit was set based on expected diluted sewage rainfall-related overflows, not raw sewage.
The battle with the public continues, with new actions from Surfers Against Sewage and other organisations, as wel as the latest report from SAS detailing new unlawful discharges.
India – Denmark cooperation
India and Denmark have announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which details more cooperation in the field of environment and water. The MoU prescribes more detailed information exchange on aquifer mapping, rural water supply, and wastewater treatment.
Aquapreneurs
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has detailed how “aquapreneurs” – entrepreneurs in the water sector – can contribute to solutions combatting the global drinking water crisis, and contribute to sustainable development goals SDG6 and SDG14. The focus should be on using new technology to help people: not just by improving wastewater discharge quality in developed countries, but also improving accessibility for developing countries to new technology.