Climate change, water and wastewater treatment: Interrelationship and consequences

Abstract

Climate change has become an inevitable phenomenon in the recent years and is expected to gain momentum with the coming time. One of the important processes of the society which is affected by present-day climate change scenario is the wastewater management. Wastewater includes municipal sewage effluents, industrial effluents and urban and agricultural runoff, which without appropriate management could be harmful to human health. Changing climate impacts wastewater systems through changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, sea level rise and storm-related changes. It is estimated that climate change has a dual effect on water resources and wastewater treatment plants. Climate change events like extreme weather range will lead to more untreated wastewater. As such, the necessity for wastewater management is continuously increasing. However, emission of certain greenhouse gases like CO2, CH4 and N2O during the process of wastewater treatment further contributes to the already aggravated problem of climate change. As such, there exists a nonending scuffle between the phenomenon of climate change and wastewater management, each intensifying the other problem. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019.