Much of the inefficiency surrounding our use and misuse of water derive from entrenched habits formed during previous eras of presumed inexhaustibility of water supplies. Our wastewater treatment approach has traditionally relied on an infrastructure of centralized municipal water plants where tertiary effluent is recycled. These plants consume considerable energy and cost to restore all of the water they process.
Much of the inefficiency surrounding our use and misuse of water derive from entrenched habits formed during previous eras of presumed inexhaustibility of water supplies. Our wastewater treatment approach has traditionally relied on an infrastructure of centralized municipal water plants where tertiary effluent is recycled. These plants consume considerable energy and cost to restore all of the water they process.
This habitual approach to managing water warrants more thoughtful strategies. These could include selectively treating wastewater to different levels of purity based on the varying levels of water purity for specific purposes rather than defaulting to the established approach of one-size-fits-all centralized wastewater treatment.
One emerging strategy of leveraging the efficiency of wastewater treatment is the application of the value park concept. Borrowing from the symbiotic relationship between petrochemical operations and the need for high volume, low cost manufacturing, value parks have become the norm by clustering around the edges of refineries and tank farms in a unified manner to use tertiary chemicals and byproducts to produce everyday household consumer products such as plastics and cosmetics. This consolidation of activity and energy reduces carbon impact of the manufacturing process and uses byproducts that normally would go to waste.
Expanding on the concept, a ‘wastewater value park' envisions a micro-economy of water-dependent business clustered in many urban environments, including local nurseries, small industrial parts manufacturers (aviation, auto) and select processing plants that require less pure water for a variety of purposes from cooling to plating. By integrating our wastewater treatments plants as a catalyst for urban redevelopment, economic opportunity, job creation and environmental stewardship can emerge.
Instead of viewing wastewater treatment plants as isolated facilities, we should look forward to the day when more communities will proudly regard such places as integrators of advanced water technology that helps fulfill the as many goals as possible to change the way cities are built the future.
Memphis Data Center Will Harness Wastewater for Cooling
The xAI-owned Colossus facility uses as much water as 10,000 households.
El Paso Wastewater Purification Facility Breaks Ground
As water supplies become strained and technology advances, cities look to wastewater as a viable source of drinking water.
California Governor Outlines Plan for a ‘Hotter, Drier Future’
With California’s water supply expected to drop by 10 percent in the next two decades, Governor Newsom’s strategy calls for conservation and increased investment in water collection, storage, and desalination infrastructure.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association
