Water reuse is a form of wastewater recovery whereby water can be extracted for purposes such as agricultural and golf course irrigation, rather than being discharged to the environment. This ties in with a growing trend to see wastewater treatment plants instead as resource recovery centres. Recovering the water, energy, nutrients and other precious materials embedded in wastewater is a key opportunity, according to the IWA.
水回用是废水回收再利用的一种形式，即提取污水用于农业及高尔夫球场灌溉等用途，而非经过处理后直接排入环境。这与未来社会发展趋势相契合：将污水处理厂转变为资源回收中心。根据国际水资源协会（IWA）的观点，回收利用废水中蕴含的水、能源、养分及其他宝贵资源，蕴含着巨大的市场机遇。
Image credit 图源: World Bank Group
Used water is one of the most under-exploited resources available. Water from industrial or domestic use contains energy, water, organics, phosphates, nitrogen, cellulose, rare earths, and other resources. The IWA said technologies are increasingly making resource recovery from wastewater commercially feasible, including bio-gas, fertiliser, paper, metals, plastics.
用过的废水是目前最可行的待开发资源之一。工业或生活用水中含有大量的能量、水、有机物、磷酸盐、氮、纤维素、稀土及其他资源。国际水资源协会（IWA）指出，越来越多的技术发展使废水资源回收商业化变得可行，包括沼气、肥料、纸、金属、塑料等。
Industrial Wastewater Treatment
工业废水处理
Most water reuse applications prior to the last decade were producing secondary quality water for industrial or agricultural purposes. These will still provide major uses for lower grade reused wastewater. However, for potable and some industrial purposes, a high level of treatment is required.
过去十年间，大多数废水回用主要是将二级处理后的水用于工业或农业用途。这是初级水回用的主要应用领域；然而，若想用作饮用水或用于某些工业用途，则需要进行高级处理。
When addressing the question of why reuse wastewater, one answer is because you've already paid for the treatment so why not make the most of this resource.
当探讨为何要进行废水回用时，一个直接的答案是：既然已经为废水处理支付了成本，何不充分利用这一资源呢？
Potable water reuse & management
饮用水回用及管理
Techniques for potable water reuse can involve membrane-based techniques such as ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO), and using ultraviolet (UV) light or ozone for disinfection. Lately, these are finding other applications in industry. Other techniques such as electrodialysis, ceramic membranes and advanced oxidation are also being used in novel ways to enable wastewater reuse.
饮用水回用技术包括膜处理技术，如超滤膜（UF）和反渗透膜（RO），以及用于消毒的紫外线（UV）或臭氧技术。近年来，这些技术不断被投入各种应用。其他技术如电渗析、陶瓷膜和高级氧化技术也正以崭新的方式用于废水回用。
For potable purposes, the industry has split wastewater reuse into indirect (IPR) and direct (DPR) reuse, the latter requiring much more stringent standards and approvals than the former.
就饮用水用途而言，行业将污水回用分为间接饮用回用（IPR）与直接饮用回用（DPR）两类，后者的技术标准和审批要求远比前者更为严格。
Real-life examples of potable water management 饮用水管理的现实案例分享
The city-state of Singapore has long been the pathfinder in reusing wastewater for potable purposes - NEWater, as the government terms it. Yet the small cities of Big Spring and Wichita Falls in Texas and the much larger city of San Diego in California will probably be better remembered as ushering in DPR across the world.
新加坡长期以来一直是污水回用为饮用水的先驱——政府将其称为“新生水”。然而，德克萨斯州的大斯普林、威奇托福尔斯这两个小城市，以及加利福尼亚州的大型城市圣地亚哥，或许会更因其在全球范围内开启直接饮用水回用（DPR）技术的里程碑意义而被铭记。
Image credit: Orange County Water District
The US already hosts a world-leading example of IPR in the Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System in California. Meanwhile, Australia boasts an equally large project, the 232,000 m3/day Western Corridor Recycled Water Project in Queensland. This has three advanced wastewater treatment plants, which contribute reused water to industry and agriculture.
美国加利福尼亚州的橙县地下水补给系统（Groundwater Replenishment System）已展现了全球先进的间接饮用水回用（IPR）技术的应用实践。与此同时，澳大利亚昆士兰州也拥有规模相当的“西部走廊再生水项目”，日处理能力达23.2万吨。该项目包含三座先进的污水处理厂，为工业与农业持续提供再生水。
点击回顾：行业洞察 | 不止于净化：揭秘污水处理与回用的宝藏“黑科技”（上篇）
The full report can be read here 完整报告可在此处阅读:
https://www.aquatechtrade.com/water-stories/wastewater/wastewater-essential-guide
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