Water scarcity and the need for ecological sustainability have led to the introduction of treated waste water as an additional water resource in the national water resource management plans of Mediterranean countries. Summarizing the results generated within the European Union-funded project INNOVA-MED, this volume highlights the following topics: Application of innovative technologies and practices for waste water treatment and reuse adapted to the Mediterranean region Constraints on the application of advanced treatments and reuse of reclaimed water and sludge Problems and requirements of sustainable water management in the Mediterranean area The book includes several examples of Mediterranean countries, such as Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine and Spain, and presents their practical experiences in the application of innovative processes and practices for waste water treatment and reuse.

Municipal Wastewater Management in Developing Countries discusses various approaches to municipal wastewater management in order to protect both public health and the environment, with the major focus being on waterborne diseases. Developing countries can be divided into two main categories, i.e. countries in transition with higher growth rates where industrialisation and urbanisation are taking place rapidly, and countries with slower growth rates. It is important, therefore, that approaches should be tailor-made and site-specific. In general, the major trends of water pollution control have significantly contributed to the development of ?conventional sanitation? approaches in terms of legal and financial frameworks, as well as technological enhancement. Despite advances in the science, engineering and legal frameworks, 95 per cent of the wastewater in the world is released into the environment without treatment. Only five per cent of global wastewater is properly treated using the ?standard? sanitation facilities, mainly in developed countries. As a result, the majority of the world?s population is still exposed to waterborne diseases, and the quality of water resources has been rapidly degraded, particularly in poor developing countries. The challenge now is to provide the world?s population, especially the poor, with adequate water and sanitation facilities. Despite billions of dollars of investment spent every year, billions of poor people are still suffering and dying because of poor sanitation. At the beginning of this century, about 1.1 billion people lived without access to clean water (compared to about the same number in 1990), 2.4 billion without appropriate sanitation (compared to 2.3 billion in 1990) and four billion without sound wastewater disposal. The future scenario, that water resources will be further depleted by a growing world population, will be coupled with environmental degradation due to poor pollution control, particularly in most of the developing countries. In order to address the issue of water and wastewater management in developing countries it is necessary to take into consideration the segments of the society itself, particularly the types of housing areas. The segments will indicate the level of socio-economic, mentality and knowledge, which is important for any planned changes in their life style and social engineering. It is also important to segregate the funding framework of any proposed projects. High-income urban communities, for instance, are generally willing to pay for sewerage services and higher water supply tariffs, therefore a designated system can be accordingly provided. Over the past 10 years, serious criticism has been given to the ?conventional sanitation? approach, consequently many definitions, concepts and characteristics have been proposed on ?sustainable sanitation?. Sustainable sanitation is a relevant concept in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 of providing water supply and adequate sanitation for developing countries. Sustainable sanitation is flexible in approach any community ? poor or rich, urban or rural, water-rich or water-poor country ? and requires lower investment costs compared to conventional sanitation approaches. It is also important to note that the framework of sustainable sanitation is much easier to adopt in developing countries where water supply and sanitation infrastructures are still in the developing stages. In some developing countries, no public facilities are available therefore it is an ideal condition to start a new infrastructure with a new framework. This comprehensive reference, prepared by leading international authorities, will provide an invaluable reference for all those concerned with the management of sanitation services in developing countries worldwide.

Water reuse management is one of the challenges all water scarce countries have to deal with in the coming decades. The present book highlights non-conventional solutions within the field of wastewater treatment and reuse predominantly for professionals and decision makers. It focuses on technologies which are reliable, sustainable, low cost and suitable for rural and sub urban areas. In addition, particularly innovative on-site concepts are presented.

Affordable and effective domestic wastewater treatment is a critical issue in public health and disease prevention around the world, particularly so in developing countries which often lack the financial and technical resources necessary for proper treatment facilities. This practical guide provides state-of-the-art coverage of methods for domestic wastewater treatment and provides a foundation to the practical design of wastewater treatment and re-use systems. The emphasis is on low-cost, low-energy, low-maintenance, high-performance 'natural' systems that contribute to environmental sustainability by producing effluents that can be safely and profitably used in agriculture for crop irrigation and/or in aquaculture, for fish and aquatic vegetable pond fertilization. Modern design methodologies, with worked design examples, are described for waste stabilization ponds, wastewater storage and treatment reservoirs; constructed wetlands, upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors, biofilters, aerated lagoons and oxidation ditches. This book is essential reading for engineers, academics and upper-level and graduate students in engineering, wastewater management and public health, and others interested in sustainable and cost-effective technologies for reducing wastewater-related diseases and environmental damage.

Ponds (lagoons) have been used for centuries with great success in the treatment of wastewater. Ponds created for treatment, known as stabilization ponds, model the physical and biochemical interactions that occur in natural ponds. Easy to build and manage, stabilization ponds can accommodate large fluctuations in flow, and provide results that are