Managing risks in advanced wastewater treatment plants

Water scarcity, water pollution control measures and protection of the aquatic environment are major driving forces to develop effective and efficient wastewater management strategies. Today, our objectives in wastewater management are far away from just treatment, but rather to integrate water reclamation, energy and material recovery. Only the integration of water, energy and material allows truly sustainable solutions. Though the concepts and technologies are principally available, these integrated solutions are still not deployed on a large scale. One major inhibitor of realizing such holistic solutions with their increased complexity is the uncertainty of the related risks, which can be technical, economic, financial and/or socio-cultural. This paper presents a risk management framework to identify, quantify and ultimately manage the implied risks in complex wastewater treatment plants. The key components of this framework are stakeholder involvement, scientific knowledge, data analysis, technology management and definition of performance goals.