About the authors
Name and title(s):
Chongrak Polprasert, Professor.
Thammarat Koottatep, Associate Professor.
Areas of expertise:
Wastewater Treatment and Management; Environmental Sanitation Systems; Waste Reuse, Recycle & Recovery.
Chongrak Polprasert &Thammarat Koottatep are authors of Organic Waste Recycling: Technology, Management and Sustainability, which is soon to be released in a fourth edition.
Questions
This year, the UN’s World Water Day is dedicated to topics in wastewater. What do you think/hope this will achieve?
We do hope that UN’s World Water Day will raise people’s awareness not limited only to environmental and health concerns of wastewater problems, but also to valuable resources in the wastewater if it is properly reused in the agricultural practices and/or degraded areas. This would bring indirect benefits to society rather than spending huge investments for sophisticated treatment facilities.
Why is the topic of wastewater important?
Due to climate change and with limited fresh water resources, if wastewater generated from human activities is continually disposed of without proper management and treatment, it will cause tremendous water shortage especially in severe circumstances.
What do you think is the most significant change or development in wastewater research/treatment in recent years?
A paradigm shift of wastewater management from “End-of-the-Pipe” treatment to “Reuse/Recycle/Recovery” is the most significant development in research in recent decades.
How might you suggest people get involved and/or learn more about the significance of wastewater?
Instead of diverting wastewater problems out of sight in a pipeline, it would bring more attention to people if it is managed on-site or on-spot of the wastewater generation. Another means is to create “monetary currency” of the wastewater derived from its economic impacts and tangible values of the reuse/recycle, such as the concept of “Bitcoin” but, in this case, the “Liquid-penny”, for example.
To learn more about World Water Day, visit the website.