Water & Nutrient Cycle Perspective

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Water & Nutrient Cycle Perspective

Find technologies and socio-economic approaches to optimise your local water management and sanitation system.

This perspective is geared to help you find the ideal and sustainable solution to optimise your local water management and sanitation system. It comprises technical instruments and tools (hardwares) as well as economic, political and social approaches (softwares) relating to the main steps of the Water and Nutrient Cycle, namely Water Sources Management, Water Purification, Water Distribution, Water and Nutrient Use, Wastewater Collection, Wastewater Treatment as well as Reuse and Recharge of Nutrients and Water.

Find technologies and socio-economic approaches to optimise your local water management and sanitation system.

This perspective is geared to help you find the ideal and sustainable solution to optimise your local water management and sanitation system. It comprises technical instruments and tools (hardwares) as well as economic, political and social approaches (softwares) relating to the main steps of the Water and Nutrient Cycle, namely Water Sources Management, Water Purification, Water Distribution, Water and Nutrient Use, Wastewater Collection, Wastewater Treatment as well as Reuse and Recharge of Nutrients and Water.

Imhoff Tank

The Imhoff tank is a primary treatment technology for raw wastewater, designed for solid-liquid separation and digestion of the settled sludge. It…
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Network Design and Dimensioning

The aim of a distribution network is to supply a community with the appropriate quantity and quality of water. There are four network types: dead end…
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Pumping Stations

Pumping stations in a water distribution system are necessary where water is pumped directly into the system (e.g. from a lake) or where pressure has…
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Water Distribution Pipes

A water pipe is any pipe or tube designed to transport treated drinking water to consumers. The varieties include large diameter main pipes, which…
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Trenches

Before an underground water pipe can be installed, a trench must be excavated. Trench dimensions depend on pipe size, soil, and climate. Mostly, the…
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Human-Powered Distribution

Where there is no or not sufficient piped supply of freshwater and drinking water, nor any motorised vehicles to distribute it, water distribution…
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Free-Water Surface Constructed Wetland

A free-water surface constructed wetland aims to replicate the naturally occurring processes of a natural wetland, marsh or swamp. As water slowly…
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Horizontal Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetland

A horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlandis a large gravel and sand-filled basin that is planted with wetland vegetation. As wastewater flows…
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Motorised Distribution

Where there is no or an insufficient supply of piped freshwater and drinking water, water has to be transported either by trucks or by human power.…
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Hybrid Constructed Wetland

Different types of constructed wetlands can be combined in order to achieve a higher treatment efficiency by using the advantages of individual…
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Vertical Flow Constructed Wetland

A vertical flow constructed wetland is a planted filter bed that is drained at the bottom. Wastewater is poured or dosed onto the surface from above…
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Non-planted Filters

A non-planted filter is a box filled with sand and gravel, through which wastewater flows and is filtered. There are several types of non-planted…
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Leakage Control

Water leakage is an important component of water losses. Many methods for controlling leakage from urban water supply systems have emerged, but it…
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Preventing Recontamination

Recontamination of clean or already treated water is a common problem in many countries. On the household level, there are several simple methods to…
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Intermittent Water Distribution

Intermittent water supply is a piped water supply service delivering water to users for less than 24 hours in one day, and is used when the available…
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The graph shows the water and nutrient cycles and how they are interlinked. It is a simplified and idealised version of the water and nutrient loop that puts humans at the centre. Water coming from water sources is purified, distributed and used in agriculture, households and industry. By using water for these different purposes, nutrients are introduced into the water cycle (e.g. through wastewater, but also in runoff in agricultural systems, etc.). Wastewater, in order to be treated, is collected. The treated wastewater is reused or used to recharge water sources. Nutrients are reused beneficially to produce food or animal feed, thereby not polluting aquatic ecosystems. In this way, both the water and the nutrient loop are closed.

The Water and Nutrient Cycle Perspective recognizes that sectoral approaches are not going to solve the global water and sanitation crisis. Instead, holistic approaches that consider the entire water cycle from source to sea, and that look critically analyse the human influence thereupon are required. It compiles the hardware and software instruments for each step of the Water and Nutrient Cycle, that help you develop a sustainable sanitation and water management system.

The content of this perspective was compiled by seecon gmbh in collaboration with a number of partners:

SSWM Collaboration Partners