EMUN 2016
Environmental Commision - The question of international cooperation on
water recycling
2016
Environmental Commission
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EMUN 2016
Environmental Commision - The question of international cooperation on
water recycling
Index
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3
Definition of key-terms .......................................................................................................... 5
General Overview ................................................................................................................. 6
Major parties involved and their views ................................................................................ 10
Timeline of important events/Documents ............................................................................ 12
UN involvement................................................................................................................... 13
Possible Solutions ............................................................................................................... 14
List of Sources .................................................................................................................... 15
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Environmental Commision - The question of international cooperation on
water recycling
Forum: Environmental Commission
Issue: The question of international cooperation on water recycling
Student Officers: Paula Aguilar, Lucía Cofelice
Position: Chairs of Environmental Commission, EMUN 2016
Introduction
Water is one of the most precious natural resources. It is needed for domestic purposes, for
agricultural, industrial and energy production. Water is central to climate change, linking the
climate system to the environmental and socio-economic systems It is a key factor in
managing risks such as famine, epidemics, migration, inequalities and political instability.
Integrated water resources management is essential to ensure availability. However, in
some countries of the world water has become a difficult resource to find. As the world´s
population increases, and industries continue to expand, Earth´s freshwater reserves are
being stretched dangerously thin.
Many sources of water can be reused after being more or less treated. Most of the time,
greywater is reused since its supplies grow with the population growth. In addition to this,
greywater does not require as much treatment as blackwater does. More Economically
Developed Countries (MEDCs) have the wealth and the technology to recycle blackwater.
However, water recycling requires engineers and experts that most of the less
economically developed countries (LEDCs) do not have. International cooperation is
therefore, vital to ensure that water is well reused in every country.
The United Nations (UN) is particularly preoccupied with this issue and has decided to put in
place the “Water for life” decade (2005 to 2015) which goal was to promote efforts to fulfill
international commitments in the water sphere by 2015. In addition to this, the year 2013
was designated by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) as the International
Year of Water cooperation. Moreover, the UN-Water decided in September 2015 to devote
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Environmental Commision - The question of international cooperation on
water recycling
the 6th goal of the Sustainable Development Goals to availability and sustainable
management of water.
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Environmental Commision - The question of international cooperation on
water recycling
Definition of key-terms
Water availability
Water availability of an area depends on the water resources available and the population of
this area. Availability means that water should be present in time, in space and in adequate
quality. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), good water availability is
provided when the entire population has 20 litres per day per person of quality water and
that this water provided continuously.
Water Recycling
Recycled water is wastewater that has been purified so it can be used again for new
purposes. Wastewater is treated from sewage treatment plants to produce high quality
recycled water suitable for a range of non-drinking purposes.
Water Stress
Water stress occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount during a
certain period or when poor quality restricts its use. Water stress causes deterioration of
fresh water resources in terms of quantity and quality.
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is in a given area, all the living beings (plants, animals, organisms) which
interact with each other and their environment (soil, climate, water, light, the atmosphere).
Greywater
Grey water (spelled alternately as greywater or gray water) is the recycling of ‘waste’ water
that is generated in homes and commercial buildings through the use of water for laundry,
dishes, or for bathing. Grey water differs from black water which is wastewater used in
toilets and designated for sewage systems.
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General Overview
Water availability
Over 70% of our Earth's surface is covered by water. Although water is seemingly abundant,
only 2.5% is fresh water. Nearly 70% of that fresh water is frozen in the Attics, present as
soil moisture, or lies in deep underground aquifers not accessible to human use. Only 1% of
the world's fresh water is available for direct human uses and is found in lakes, rivers,
reservoirs and those underground sources that are shallow enough to be tapped at an
affordable cost. According to the Millennium Development Goals Report 2012, 783 million
people, or 11 per cent of the global population, remain without access to an improved
source of drinking water. Furthermore, there are regions particularly delayed such as SubSaharan Africa where over 40 per cent of all people without improved drinking water live.
In July 2010 the United Nations General Assembly recognized of the human right to water
and sanitation, every human being to have access to sufficient water for personal and
domestic uses which must be safe, acceptable, affordable, and physically accessible.
Moreover, there are still approximately 880 million people in the world –representing more or
less 1 in 8 humans – who do not have access to water. With the population growth, the UN
expects the world’s population to rise to 9.6 billion people in 2050, an increase which will
occur mostly in LEDCs, meaning that if we do not react, the number of people with low
water availability will also increase.
Reusable water sources
Reusing and recycling alternative water supplies is a key part of reducing the pressure on
our water resources and the environment. Using rainwater is an easy and effective way to
conserve our water supplies and reduce the amount of mains water you use. Even though
greywater may contain traces of dirt, food, grease, hair, and certain household cleaning
products, it is a safe and even beneficial source of irrigation water in a yard. If greywater is
released into rivers, lakes, or estuaries, its nutrients become pollutants, but to plants, they
are valuable fertilizer.
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Furthermore, reusing and recycling industrial water can ease the pressure on our water
resources and avoid the need to discharge to the environment. With appropriate
management, which may include treatment, industrial water can be used for a wide range of
purposes including industrial uses (e.g. cooling or material washing) or non-industrial uses
(e.g. irrigation or toilet flushing).
Benefits of water recycling
Environmental benefits
There are several environmental benefits for water recycling: can help us find ways to
decrease the diversion of water from sensitive ecosystems, it decreases wastewater
discharges and reduces and prevents pollution. Recycled water can also be used to create
or enhance wetlands and riparian habitats.
Plants, wildlife, and fish depend on sufficient water flows to their habitats to live and
reproduce. The lack of adequate flow, as a result of diversion for agricultural, urban, and
industrial purposes, can cause deterioration of water quality and ecosystem health.
Therefore, water recycling can prevent this to happen.
It costs a lot of energy to extract, treat and transport water so recycling water can save a lot
of energy. If the water is groundwater, the more water we use, the deeper we have to
extract it and consequently, the more energy we spend on it. If the wastewater is recycled
locally, of course it will cost energy, but much less than if we had to extract and transport it.
And if we target the right treatment for the right use, it will be less energy consuming. For
example, toilet flushing does not require such a high water quality as drinkable water does,
and thus requires less energy to achieve.
Economic and social benefits
There are a lot of benefits of using recycled water. First of all, using recycled water for
irrigation can be a way for farmers to save money. It contains nutrients such as nitrogen and
phosphorus which work as fertilizers. From a social point of view, recycled water is also
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Environmental Commision - The question of international cooperation on
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beneficial: using it over drinkable water for community facilities such as parks and fountains
is cheaper and will generate greener public open spaces. More importantly, recycled water
is a safe way to manage water resources, especially in time of drought. Another benefit of
water reuse is that recycled water is always in supply irrespective of climate or population
density.
Uses of recycled water
In agriculture
Recycling urban wastewater and using it to grow food crops can help mitigate water scarcity
problems and reduce water pollution, but the practice is not being as widely implemented as
it should. While on a global scale only a small proportion of treated wastewater is used for
agriculture, the practice is winning increased attention worldwide and in a few countries —
Spain and Mexico, for example — a high proportion of reclaimed water is used in irrigation.
In addition to this, farmers would be able to avoid some of the costs of pumping
groundwater and would reduce their fertilizer expenses.
In industry
Over 20% of global fresh water consumption relates to industry and in the industrialized
countries, this figure rises up to 60%. Wherever potable water supply is endangered, the public
authorities first reduce the supply to industry. In industry, recycled water can be very useful,
especially in cooling towers used in oil refineries and power stations to transfer waste heat into
the atmosphere. To cool a liquid, most of the time water, such towers may use ambient air or
cold water. In the case of the latter, industrial water consumption rises very rapidly. Reusing
wastewater for such purposes is beneficial to the company given that it will use less freshwater
and its water consumption will decrease, thereby alleviating pressure on water resources.
Domestic uses for greywater
Typically, about a third of household water is used for flushing the toilet, but reclaimed
greywater can be used to fulfil this purpose saving valuable potable mains water. Once the
greywater was gone through the complete filter process and treated with chemicals to kill all
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Environmental Commision - The question of international cooperation on
water recycling
microorganisms, it can be pumped from source back to the toilet via a header tank, and
used as appropriate. Also, greywater can be used for watering plants: can be a major issue
where there are droughts. The greywater can be used in combination with an irrigation
system to water the garden automatically. Reclaimed greywater can also be used for
washing clothes.
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Major parties involved and their views
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
In the face of increasing water scarcity, and the dominance of agricultural water use, FAO is
in the forefront to enhance global agricultural performance while promoting the sustainability
of water use for food production. FAO-Water is engaged in a programmatic approach to
agricultural water management addressing water use efficiency and productivity, and best
practices for water use and conservation, throughout the continuum from water sources to
final uses.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
UNIDO focuses on giving support to developing countries and countries with economies in
transition to achieve higher levels of inclusive and sustainable industrial development. It is
now also concerned with environmental issues and therefore UNIDO is working on ways to
develop such industrial activities while reducing the pressure they cause on ecosystems.
For example, the organization created the UNIDO’s Transfer of Environmentally Sound
Technologies (TEST), a program which aims to raise awareness of eco-friendly systems in
companies. This program has been a huge success and has been implemented in 19
countries.
United Nations Environment Programmed (UNEP)
The United Nations Environment Programmed (UNEP) is the leading global environmental
authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation
of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations
system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. The UNEP has
created the Global Wastewater Initiative (GWI), a multi-stakeholder platform which
encourages cooperation and knowledge exchanges between countries on wastewater
management as well as providing information, tools and policy mechanics for partnerships
which create programs to tackle the issue of wastewater.
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Israel
Israel was named the world's most efficient recycled water user in a United Nations report
issued in honor of International Water Day. Presented at the 5th World Water Forum in
Istanbul, the UN report also ranked Israel as one of the world's leaders in desalinated water
use. Israel purifies and reuses almost 70 percent of its waste water each year for
agriculture. Much of the leftover sewage water is reused for other purposes.
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Timeline of important events/Documents
Date
Description of event
March 22nd, 2005
Beginning of the “Water for life” decade
July 28th, 2010
UN recognizes the Human Right to water
and sanitation
January 1st, 2013
Beginning of the International Year of
Water cooperation
April 12th-17th, 2015
7th World Water Forum in South Korea
September 25th, 2015
Adoption of the SDGs
November 30th, 2015
Opening of the UN Climate Change
Conference (COP21)
January 18th-21st, 2016
International Water Summit in Abu Dhabi
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UN involvement
• Implementation of the International Year of Water Cooperation 2013, 21 December 2012
(A/RES/67/204)
• Agricultural technology for development, 20 December 2013 (A/RES/68/29)
• Harmony with Nature, 21 December 2012 (A/RES/67/214)
• International Water Summit 2013
• Protocol on Water and Health
• The UN SDGs:
o Goal 6 “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for
all”
o Target 6.3 “By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping
and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion
of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse
globally“
o Target 6.a “By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support
to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programs,
including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment,
recycling and reuse technologies “.
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Possible Solutions
In order to find the best solution for each situation, all systems and technologies must be
studied very carefully. It is essential that studies should be supported by experienced
countries. However, it is crucial to include LEDCs in the research to encourage them to
continue their water management efforts afterwards. MEDCs have to help the LEDCs which
do not have the money or the technology to implement such systems. This could be
implemented through the deployment of engineers and water management experts on the
ground. However, this is only a short-term solution. The training by experts of local
engineers would be a better long-term solution, as those engineers would be able to
implement systems in their own countries and thus, this could limit the “brain-drain” which
takes place nowadays in developing countries.
Secondly, education is essential to spread the idea that freshwater is not an unlimited
resource. One of the most important factors resolving the issue is to spread awareness in
enterprises, industries, municipalities but also among individuals. We must explain people
that water can be unlimited if we recycle and reuse it. This could be done through several
means such as awareness campaigns or seminars organized by official organizations,
whether they are sub-organizations of the UN or NGOs.
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List of Sources
http://washfunders.org/Blog/The-Water-Rich-vs.-the-Water-Poor
http://www.unwater.org/sdgs/a-dedicated-water-goal/en/
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/
http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2013/04/16/water-availability-and-the-vulnerability-of-largeunited-states-cities/
http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water/wise-help-centre/glossary-definitions/water-stress
http://www.melbournewater.com.au/whatwedo/recyclewater/pages/what-is-recycled-water.aspx
http://www.ecolife.com/define/grey-water.html
www.un.org/en/globalissues/water/
http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/water/links.shtml
https://www3.epa.gov/region9/water/recycling/
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/44899/icode/
http://www.wabag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Reuse_EN_2014.pdf
http://www.thegreenage.co.uk/tech/greywater-recycling/
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/what.html
http://www.unido.org/unido-united-nations-industrial-development-organization.html
http://www.unep.org/about/
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/130565#.Vx0Fr_l97IU
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