A call for water reuse - My perspective
Water is essential for human survival, yet climate change, rising demand, and pollution increasingly threaten water security.
Rapid urbanization, industrialization, deforestation, and intensified agriculture further strain global water resources. In response, the United Nations convened the 2023 United Nations Water Conference in New York to promote collective action to protect water resources.
A UN report shows nearly half the global population faces water scarcity, with over six billion at risk by 2050. Ghana must urgently manage water amid pollution, erosion, and deforestation.
Surface and groundwater contamination from industry, mining, wastewater, and agriculture threatens health, food security, ecosystems, and growth.
It causes diseases, antimicrobial resistance, unsafe irrigation, fish kills, bioaccumulation, and eutrophication, leading to algal blooms and oxygen depletion.
Water Reuse is generally, “the process of using treated polluted or wastewater for use again for beneficial purposes”.
The production of recycled or reclaimed water of a defined quality to meet multiple water-use objectives has now become a reality, driven by advances in water reclamation technologies, regulatory frameworks, and environmental and public health risk protection measures.
As the country’s population increases and the economy expands, the linear approach of extraction of water by ‘take- use and dispose cannot be allowed to continue.
Ghana must begin to adopt a closed-loop approach in sustainably managing its water resources.
The adoption of a water circular economy that necessitates the demand for water reuse is premised on the drivers of such demand.
Globally, drivers include prolonged drought from climate change, rising water demand due to population growth, agricultural expansion, rapid urbanization, and pollution of water resources.
In Ghana, key factors encouraging water reuse are population growth, climate change, and severe water pollution, particularly from illegal small-scale mining (galamsey).
This situation is limiting Ghana’s available clean water sources.
Hence, there is a need for a critical look at the country’s water economy.
Waste water treatment
Polluted water or wastewater can be treated for potable (drinking) and non-potable (non-drinking) uses through different treatment levels, depending on the intended purpose and associated health risk.
In the case of Ghana, we can eliminate reclamation for drinking purposes for starters, and concentrate on other critical uses for which quality to the level of drinking water is not needed.
Treated water meant for use other than drinking purposes could then be recycled and reuse several times before being discarded as effluent.
Several sectors of the water economy could shift their dependency to recycled water. However, this would depend on treatment level of the recycled (reclaimed) water and regulations.
Sectors that could benefit from this includes the agricultural, industrial, municipal, energy, fisheries, construction and mining, tourism and recreational industries.
The Agricultural sector is said to be and will remain the largest recycled water consumer with established benefits and contribution to food security.
Recycled water from both industry and municipal sources (primarily from food industry and cooling systems) is used to irrigate large farmlands in many developed countries.
This reduces the pressure on fresh treated water meant for potable use.
Industrial use
Industry can benefit from recycled water for cooling, processing, and equipment washing, including the use in car manufacturing and assembly plants before final discharge.Two years ago, some companies reportedly owed the Ghana Water Company Limited millions of Ghana cedis in unpaid water bills.
This could have been avoided if they had invested in treatment plants to reuse wastewater for their operations, reducing reliance on fresh treated water, lowering costs, and improving sustainability.
Food and beverage industries can treat processed water for reuse in cleaning and washing of equipment. Textile industries are known to use large volumes of water; treated waste water can be reused several times for rinse cycles and for dye baths.
In chemical and pharmaceutical industry, non-potable recycled water can support equipment wash-down, heat exchange, and cooling tower makeup with appropriate treatment and monitoring.
In the mining and material processing sector, plants can reuse treated water in ore washing, dust suppression, and machinery cooling to curtail over dependency on fresh treated water.
Landscaping and urban services can use nutrient-rich reclaimed water on parks, fields and road medians.
Street cleaning, dust control on construction sites,sanitation trucks and firefighting could be beneficiaries.
The over-dependence on potable water for nearly all uses in the country is becoming alarming.
Treated water reuse offers several economic and environmental benefits.
It reduces effluent discharge into water bodies, thereby lowering pollution. It also decreases demand for treated potable water.
Additionally, it eases pressure on treatment facilities, reducing breakdowns and maintenance costs.
Water reuse can lower water bills for both industrial and domestic users, saving money.
Ultimately, it supports a circular water economy and helps preserve natural water resources.
It is worth noting that the provision of potable water for domestic use should be non-negotiable.
That is why no matter the cost of the production of treated water from the Teshie Desalination Plant, government should make sure the project is sustainable, once there are no alternatives.
In conclusion, water reuse offers Ghana a practical and sustainable solution to growing water security challenges driven by pollution, climate change, and rising demand. Continued reliance on limited freshwater is neither efficient nor sustainable.
Embracing a circular water economy can reduce pollution, conserve freshwater for domestic use, cut costs, and strengthen resilience in agriculture, industry, mining, and urban services.
Starting with non-potable reuse provides a safe and realistic transition.
Achieving this requires strong policies, investment in treatment infrastructure, effective regulation, and public awareness.
Ultimately, water reuse is essential for protecting public health, supporting economic growth, and ensuring sustainable development.
The author is a Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research- Water Research Institute, Accra
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