An integrated environmental plan for the reuse of treated wastewater effluents from WWTP in urban areas

The reuse of treated wastewater effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is a recent practice in the environmental restoration of marginal areas in combination with tree and shrub planting. In urban areas, an integrated approach to the application of this practice implies (a) reuse of treated domestic wastewater for irrigation of hardy plant species and (b) design of environmentally friendly outdoor landscape including the planting of species acceptable for irrigation with such kind of wastewater.The application of this practice in urban areas is possible through the combined reuse of treated municipal wastewater effluents inside buildings as well as towards the environmental configuration of outdoor spaces in combination with the concurrent planting of hardy plant species and their parallel irrigation with such effluents, within the scope of an integrated, complete reuse. For the successful application of such a plan, it is important to continuously monitor a number of parameters concerned with the physical–chemical properties of wastewater effluents heavy metal concentrations as well as their corresponding concentrations in the soil, and also their corrosive effects that take place within the pipes and the facilities where such reuse is practised. The installation of such a system indoors in urban complexes (house, hotels, etc.) for the reuse of municipal wastewater will make available considerable quantities of water with the simultaneous protection of the environment and the development of urban areas.