Wastewater Between Impact and Management

The performance and reliability of a wastewater treatment plant is a critical consideration, especially if the treated wastewater will be reclaimed for later reuse. Safety margins for public health and environmental protection must be assured and met. Nowadays, a lot of interest has been attributed to wastewater treatment. Although there are many specific physical-chemical and biological treatment methods, they are not only expensive and cumbersome to implement. The need for new techniques, economically competitive and able to preserve the characteristics of the ecosystems has been felt. In recent years, several regulatory and legislative texts as well as national programs for the development of this field have been put into force by the public authorities leading to the creation of new treatment plants on a national scale. But the scientific and technical dimension which should be used as support for the application of these texts is not defined or mastered. Indeed, the few WWTPs designed were often standards reproduced from the experiences of developed countries, leading to design and operating principles unsuited to the regional context.