A daunting challenge for the Scottish Water Industry is reliably and sustainably providing water and wastewater services to geographically dispersed small rural populations. The prevailing centralised water/wastewater paradigm that emerged in the early 20th century has delivered chemical and energy intensive water technologies that serve dense urban populations in wealthy Western cities. However, this centralized approach is not ideal for half of the World’s population who do not live in urban areas, in both developing and the developed world (e.g. Scotland). The Engineering and Physical Research Council (UK) have funded this workshop for UK Water and Environmental Engineers to work with World renowned US academics to explore alternative approaches. For example, can we deliver decentralized (water and wastewater) systems powered by local and renewable energy sources that are efficient at resource recovery and reuse?
