A historical review of sewage and wastewater systems in the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan region. A general ?worldwide? history precedes a more detailed history of the San Diego-Tijuana area. Starting with the days of raw sewage flowing down the dusty streets of Old Town San Diego in the 1800s to today with the modern challenges of scarce potable water, ocean water quality and federal mandates. The complete history of the City of San Diego?s present 550 square mile ?Metro? wastewater system, along with the histories of the various connecting agencies and cities that utilize the San Diego system. A detailed review of Tijuana, Mexico?s wastewater system is presented together with the history of the continuing cross-border pollution and health issues. Over 200 photos and illustration, a full index and detailed appendices compliment the main text of the book.

Expanding water reuse-the use of treated wastewater for beneficial purposes including irrigation, industrial uses, and drinking water augmentation-could significantly increase the nation's total available water resources. Water Reuse presents a portfolio of treatment options available to mitigate water quality issues in reclaimed water along with new analysis suggesting that the risk of exposure to certain microbial and chemical contaminants from drinking reclaimed water does not appear to be any higher than the risk experienced in at least some current drinking water treatment systems, and may be orders of magnitude lower. This report recommends adjustments to the federal regulatory framework that could enhance public health protection for both planned and unplanned (or de facto) reuse and increase public confidence in water reuse.

The effective integration of water and reclaimed wastewater still requires close examination of public health issues, infrastructure and facilities planning, wastewater treatment plant siting, treatment process reliability, economic and financial analyses, and water utility management. This book assembles, analyzes, and reviews the various aspects of wastewater reclamation, recycling, and reuse in most parts of the world. It considers the effective integration of water and reclaimed wastewater, public health issues, infrastructure and facilities planning, waste-water treatment plant siting, treatment process reliability, economic and financial analysis, and water utility management.

A small but growing number of municipalities are augmenting their drinking water supplies with highly treated wastewater. But some professionals in the field argue that only the purest sources should be used for drinking water. Is potable reuse a viable application of reclaimed water? How can individual communities effectively evaluate potable reuse programs? How certain must "certain" be when it comes to drinking water safety? Issues in Potable Reuse provides the best available answers to these questions. Useful to scientists yet accessible to concerned lay readers, this book defines important terms in the debate and provides data, analysis, and examples of the experience of municipalities from San Diego to Tampa. The committee explores in detail the two major types of contaminants: Chemical contaminants. The committee discusses how to assess toxicity, reduce the input of contaminants, evaluate treatment options, manage the byproducts of disinfection and other issues. Microbial contaminants, including newly emerging waterborne pathogens. The book covers methods of detection, health consequences, treatment, and more. Issues in Potable Reuse reviews the results of six health effects studies at operational or proposed reuse projects. The committee discusses the utility of fish versus mammals in toxicology testing and covers issues in quality assurance.

Water Reuse: An International Survey of current practice, issues and needs examines water reuse practices around the world from different perspectives. The objective is to show how differently wastewater reuse is conceived and practised around the world as well as to present the varied needs and possibilities for reusing wastewater. In the first section water reuse practices around the world are described for regions having common water availability, reuse needs and social aspects. The second section refers to the “stakeholders” point of view. Each reuse purpose demands different water quality, not only to protect health and the environment but also to fulfil the requirements of the specific reuse. Reuses considered are agricultural, urban agriculture as a special case of the former, municipal and industrial. Alongside these uses, the indirect reuse for human consumption through aquifer recharge is also discussed. The third section deals with emerging and controversial topics. Ethical and economical dilemmas in the field are presented as a subject not frequently addressed in this field. The role of governments in respect of public policy in reuse is discussed as well as the different international criteria and standards for reusing wastewater. The importance of public acceptance and the way to properly handle it is also considered. The fourth section of the book presents contrasting case studies; typical situations in the developed world (Japan and Germany) are compared to those in developing countries (Pakistan and Brazil) for agricultural and industrial reuse. Indirect planned reuse for human consumption (Germany) is compared with an unplanned one (Mexico). The Windhoek, Namibia case study is presented to emphasize why if the direct reuse of wastewater for human consumption has been performed with success for more than 35 years it is still the only example of this type around the world. To illustrate the difficulties of having a common framework for regulating water reuse in several countries, the Mediterranean situation is described. Other case studies presented refer to the reuse situation in Israel, Spain, Cameroon, Nepal and Vietnam, these latter countries being located in water rich areas. This book will be an invaluable information source for all those concerned with water reuse including water utility managers, wastewater policy makers and water resources planners as well as researchers and students in environmental engineering, water resources planning and sanitary engineering. Scientific and Technical Report No. 20

In December 2002, a group of specialists on water resources from the United States and Iran met in Tunis, Tunisia, for an interacademy workshop on water resources management, conservation, and recycling. This was the fourth interacademy workshop on a variety of topics held in 2002, the first year of such workshops. Tunis was selected as the location for the workshop because the Tunisian experience in addressing water conservation issues was of interest to the participants from both the United States and Iran. This report includes the agenda for the workshop, all of the papers that were presented, and the list of site visits.

This book reviews the practice of reclaiming treated municipal wastewater for agricultural irrigation and using sewage sludge as a soil amendment and fertilizer in the United States. It describes and evaluates treatment technologies and practices; effects on soils, crop production, and ground water; public health concerns from pathogens and toxic chemicals; existing regulations and guidelines; and some of the economic, liability, and institutional issues. The recommendations and findings are aimed at authorities at the federal, state, and local levels, public utilities, and the food processing industry.