Anderson J, Adin A, Crook J, Davis C, Hultquist R, Jimenez-Cisneros B, Kennedy W, Sheikh B, van der Merwe B
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Water Sci Technol. 2001;43(10):1-8.
Given the pressures on the world's freshwater resources, recycled water is a valuable resource. Recycled water can increase the reliability of water supply because it is an independent source of water. Water recycling requires effective measures to protect public health and the environment. In the absence of comprehensive international guidelines, different countries have developed different approaches to managing water recycling depending on the understanding of the health risks, their individual economic circumstances, and affordability. Approaches vary between high technology/high cost/low risk and low technology/low cost/controlled risk. Furthermore, differences occur between countries and within individual countries. Inconsistencies can often be traced to lack of a unified scientific position on health effects. These inconsistencies increase public concerns about health risks and may give rise to conservative controls on responses to water recycling projects that some countries may be unable to afford. In this paper, an international panel of authors discusses how the different water recycling approaches might be linked together into international water recycling guidelines. These guidelines would incorporate a uniform approach to assessing hazards and risks while providing flexibility for individual countries to vary requirements to suit local circumstances of affordability and risk. The authors propose a framework of guidelines in which individual countries can progressively improve recycled water quality as lower risk levels become more affordable. The authors argue that a uniform international approach will result in a number of benefits including a better focus on risk management, better targeted research and development efforts and greater public confidence in water recycling. The authors invite discussion on the concepts put forward in the paper.
鉴于全球淡水资源面临的压力，再生水是一种宝贵的资源。再生水可以提高供水的可靠性，因为它是一种独立的水源。水的循环利用需要采取有效措施来保护公众健康和环境。在缺乏全面的国际准则的情况下，不同国家根据对健康风险的理解、各自的经济状况和承受能力，制定了不同的水回收管理方法。这些方法在高科技/高成本/低风险和低技术/低成本/可控风险之间各不相同。此外，不同国家之间以及单个国家内部也存在差异。这些不一致往往可追溯到在健康影响方面缺乏统一的科学立场。这些不一致加剧了公众对健康风险的担忧，并可能导致对一些国家可能无法承受的水回收项目应对措施的保守控制。在本文中，一个国际作者小组讨论了如何将不同的水回收方法联系起来，形成国际水回收准则。这些准则将采用统一的方法来评估危害和风险，同时为各个国家提供灵活性，使其能够根据当地的承受能力和风险情况调整要求。作者们提出了一个准则框架，在这个框架中，随着较低风险水平变得更具承受能力，各个国家可以逐步提高再生水质量。作者们认为，统一的国际方法将带来许多好处，包括更好地关注风险管理、更有针对性的研发努力以及公众对水回收的更大信心。作者们邀请对本文中提出的概念进行讨论。
