TABLE OF CONTENTS Everyone of the current world population of 6 billion requires clean water and a safe disposal route for their wastewater. In developing countries waste disposal was traditionally achieved locally while in developed countries waste disposal has become increasingly centralized resulting in large and damaging point sources of pollution. The trend of centralization is no longer a developed world phenomenon, with increasingly fewer urbanized people with satisfactory drinking water or adequate sanitation. The provision of water services simply cannot cope with the rate of population growth, especially where such services are prohibitively expensive. Currently in excess of 1 billion people lack access to clean water and 1.7 billion have no sanitation. Of the 1.75 million tonnes of faeces and 7 million tonnes of urine produced each day, only 15% is currently treated. This, coupled with unregulated industrial development in many parts of the world, has left global water quality in the worse state ever recorded. Thus with the world population predicted to double by the end of the century the water crisis is set to worsen with potentially catastrophic ramifications.
This rapidly increasing demand for water and sanitation, especially in developing countries, is an obvious obstacle to sustainability. Conversely the urgent necessity for its provision is similarly an obstacle with short-term solutions often leading to serious long-term problems. The water industry is struggling to cope with current water demands with little or no opportunity to look to the...
