Lessons learnt from a “synthesis centres” exercise
The JRC has commissioned two feasibility studies concerning the setup of “synthesis centres”, i.e. the ad hoc gathering of stakeholders, service operators, government and the local community around the problem to be solved, to address one case study relative to small decentralized wastewater treatment solutions in a rural area of Slovenia, and another case study relative to a centralized wastewater treatment solution for two municipalities in Serbia. The solutions designed and discussed in these two case studies have been further tested in a set of pilot cases in all countries of the Lower Danube.
The outcomes suggest that there is considerable scope for the development of decentralized wastewater treatment through constructed wetlands in rural areas and small agglomerations, throughout the Lower Danube. This type of solution offers significantly higher cost-effectiveness than more “technological” and centralized solutions, particularly because it limits the costly investments of sewage collection and the energy and labour requirements of activated sludge or similar processes.
In cases where a centralized plant is justified, this can become the pivot of an “industrial ecological” district where the energy and materials conveyed by wastewater can be conveniently recovered. For energy the benefits are more apparent, while the recovery of fertilizers and water may be limited by lack of a market for these secondary resources, the still relatively high costs, and cultural and legislative barriers hampering their marketability. At the same time, often the sludge line of wastewater treatment plants may be synergetic with the treatment of the organic fraction of municipal, industrial and agricultural waste. When this is the case, expanding the boundaries of the system of waste flows considered in the design of the plant may result in significant economies of scale and revenues that may offset parts of the costs of waste and wastewater treatment.
The study highlights that wastewater tariffs may be relatively low even by standards of middle income countries; however, the large variation of income within countries may give rise to affordability issues. The strategies analysed here may improve the financial sustainability and affordability of the service.
Generally speaking, the involvement of stakeholders in a “synthesis centre” may stimulate the invention of more integrative solutions for affordable and cost-effective wastewater treatment, and efforts should be devoted to a broader involvement of stakeholders in the future, in order to unleash this potential.
PISTOCCHI Alberto;
HUSEMANN Jovana;
MASI Fabio;
NANU Ciprian;
2020-05-06
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC115606
978-92-76-16429-6 (online),
978-92-76-16428-9 (print),
1831-9424 (online),
1018-5593 (print),
EUR 30106 EN,
OP KJ-NA-30106-EN-N (online),
OP KJ-NA-30106-EN-C (print),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC115606,
10.2760/220413 (online),
10.2760/16723 (print),
