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Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework

Author

Listed:
  • Xin (Cissy) Ma

    (National Risk Management Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

  • Xiaobo Xue

    (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Engineering (ORISE) Post Doctoral Research Participant, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
    Current address: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1 University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144, USA.)

  • Alejandra González-Mejía

    (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Engineering (ORISE) Post Doctoral Research Participant, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

  • Jay Garland

    (National Exposure Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

  • Jennifer Cashdollar

    (National Exposure Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

Abstract

Urban water systems are an example of complex, dynamic human–environment coupled systems which exhibit emergent behaviors that transcend individual scientific disciplines. While previous siloed approaches to water services ( i.e. , water resources, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater) have led to great improvements in public health protection, sustainable solutions for a growing global population facing increased resource constraints demand a paradigm shift based on holistic management to maximize the use and recovery of water, energy, nutrients, and materials. The objective of this review paper is to highlight the issues in traditional water systems including water demand and use, centralized configuration, sewer collection systems, characteristics of mixed wastewater, and to explore alternative solutions such as decentralized water systems, fit for purpose and water reuse, natural/green infrastructure, vacuum sewer collection systems, and nutrient/energy recovery. This review also emphasizes a system thinking approach for evaluating alternatives that should include sustainability indicators and metrics such as emergy to assess global system efficiency. An example paradigm shift design for urban water system is presented, not as the recommended solution for all environments, but to emphasize the framework of system-level analysis and the need to visualize water services as an organic whole. When water systems are designed to maximize the resources and optimum efficiency, they are more prevailing and sustainable than siloed management because a system is more than the sum of its parts.

Suggested Citation

  • Xin (Cissy) Ma & Xiaobo Xue & Alejandra González-Mejía & Jay Garland & Jennifer Cashdollar, 2015. "Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-35, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:9:p:12071-12105:d:55117
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brown, Mark T. & Martínez, Amaya & Uche, Javier, 2010. "Emergy analysis applied to the estimation of the recovery of costs for water services under the European Water Framework Directive," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(17), pages 2123-2132.
    2. Christos Makropoulos & David Butler, 2010. "Distributed Water Infrastructure for Sustainable Communities," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(11), pages 2795-2816, September.
    3. Brown, Mark T. & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2010. "Updated evaluation of exergy and emergy driving the geobiosphere: A review and refinement of the emergy baseline," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(20), pages 2501-2508.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhiheng Ji & Wei Yu, 2022. "Research on Spatial Difference, Distribution Dynamics and Influencing Factors of Urban Water-Use Efficiency in the Yellow River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Yu Li & Ji Zheng & Fei Li & Xueting Jin & Chen Xu, 2017. "Assessment of municipal infrastructure development and its critical influencing factors in urban China: A FA and STIRPAT approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Alessandro Concari & Gerjo Kok & Pim Martens, 2020. "A Systematic Literature Review of Concepts and Factors Related to Pro-Environmental Consumer Behaviour in Relation to Waste Management Through an Interdisciplinary Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-50, May.
    4. Mohammad A. T. Alsheyab & Sigrid Kusch-Brandt, 2018. "Potential Recovery Assessment of the Embodied Resources in Qatar’s Wastewater," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, August.
    5. Sam Arden & Ben Morelli & Mary Schoen & Sarah Cashman & Michael Jahne & Xin (Cissy) Ma & Jay Garland, 2020. "Human Health, Economic and Environmental Assessment of Onsite Non-Potable Water Reuse Systems for a Large, Mixed-Use Urban Building," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-16, July.
    6. Philipp Kehrein & Mark van Loosdrecht & Patricia Osseweijer & John Posada & Jo Dewulf, 2020. "The SPPD-WRF Framework: A Novel and Holistic Methodology for Strategical Planning and Process Design of Water Resource Factories," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-31, May.
    7. Bruno Barroca & Maria Fabrizia Clemente & Zhuyu Yang, 2023. "Application of “Behind the Barriers” Model at Neighbourhood Scale to Improve Water Management under Multi-Risks Scenarios: A Case Study in Lyon, France," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Ben Morelli & Sarah Cashman & Xin (Cissy) Ma & Jay Garland & Jason Turgeon & Lauren Fillmore & Diana Bless & Michael Nye, 2018. "Effect of Nutrient Removal and Resource Recovery on Life Cycle Cost and Environmental Impacts of a Small Scale Water Resource Recovery Facility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    9. Joanna Wicher-Dysarz & Ewelina Szałkiewicz & Joanna Jaskuła & Tomasz Dysarz & Maksymilian Rybacki, 2020. "Possibilities of Controlling the River Outlets by Weirs on the Example of Noteć Bystra River," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-20, March.
    10. Samantha Redman & Kerri Jean Ormerod & Scott Kelley, 2019. "Reclaiming Suburbia: Differences in Local Identity and Public Perceptions of Potable Water Reuse," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Ludovico Pontoni & Eric D. Van Hullebusch & Yoan Pechaud & Massimiliano Fabbricino & Giovanni Esposito & Francesco Pirozzi, 2016. "Colloidal Mobilization and Fate of Trace Heavy Metals in Semi-Saturated Artificial Soil (OECD) Irrigated with Treated Wastewater," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Susana Torres López & Maria de los Angeles Barrionuevo & Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos, 2023. "A new operational approach for understanding water-related interactions to achieve water sustainability in growing cities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 122-137, January.

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