Call for Speakers on Wastewater

Modern wastewater treatment plants are able to produce an effluent that has a negligible impact on the receiving watercourse.  The efficacy of such treatment is evidenced by the continuous improvement in the quality of our rivers which the Environment Agency acknowledges as being the best on record.  However achieving this level of improvement itself generates pollution, principally as a result of its high energy usage and release of greenhouse gases (GHG's) such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides.  The impact of GHG's on our climate is widely recognised and accepted and the consequences of ignoring these impacts have been clearly outlined in the Stern Report.  Indeed many commentators now consider that climate change is the biggest global threat to public health of the 21^st Century.  There are many examples of costly enhancements to wastewater treatment  that deliver questionable environmental benefits, inter alia: a spot compliance regime, effluent disinfection, odour control, nitrogen removal and sludge pasteurisation.  If the water industry is to take seriously the threats of climate change, the challenge for both the regulators and the water companies is to balance the environmental costs and benefits of wastewater treatment in a manner that considers the wider environmental impacts and not solely the aquatic environment. 

It is the aim of this event to consider:

• What are the relative environmental impacts and benefits of our current treatment regime and which consented parameters deliver negligible measurable benefits?

• What is the scope for relaxing consents, where this can be shown to demonstrate negligible adverse impacts but large reductions in GHG emissions?    

• What low-carbon treatment alternatives are available, but held back by the consenting regime? 

• What limits on GHG emissions should water companies strive towards for its wastewater treatment activities?

Aquaenviro invites speakers to contribute to this debate and if you wish to make a presentation please email your suggested title and three brief bullet points by Wednesday 25^th November 2009.