water management research topics

WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Water scarcity affects more than 40% of the global population. Water-related disasters account for 70% of all deaths related to natural disasters. The World Bank helps countries ensure sustainability of water use, build climate resilience and strengthen integrated management.

• Context & Challenges
• Results & Initiatives

Today, most countries are placing unprecedented pressure on water resources. The global population is growing fast, and estimates show that with current practices, the world will face a 40% shortfall between forecast demand and available supply of water by 2030. Furthermore, chronic water scarcity, hydrological uncertainty, and extreme weather events (floods and droughts) are perceived as some of the biggest threats to global prosperity and stability. Acknowledgment of the role that water scarcity and drought are playing in aggravating fragility and conflict is increasing.

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Feeding 10 billion people by 2050 will require a 50% increase in agricultural production , (which consumes 70% of the resource today), and a 15% increase in water withdrawals. Besides this increasing demand, the resource is already scarce in many parts of the world. Estimates indicate that over 40% of the world population live in water scarce areas, and approximately ¼ of world’s GDP is exposed to this challenge. By 2040, an estimated one in four children will live in areas with extreme water shortages . Water security is a major – and often growing –challenge for many countries today.

Climate change will worsen the situation by altering hydrological cycles, making water more unpredictable and increasing the frequency and intensity of floods and droughts. The roughly 1 billion people living in monsoonal basins and the 500 million people living in deltas are especially vulnerable.  Flood damages are estimated around $120 billion per year (only from property damage), and droughts pose, among others, constraints to the rural poor, highly dependent on rainfall variability for subsistence. 

The fragmentation of this resource also constrains water security. There are 276 transboundary basins, shared by 148 countries, which account for 60% of the global freshwater flow. Similarly, 300 aquifers systems are transboundary in nature, with 2.5 billion people worldwide are dependent on groundwater. The challenges of fragmentation are often replicated at the national scale, meaning cooperation is needed to achieve optimal water resources management and development solutions for all riparians. To deal with these complex and interlinked water challenges, countries will need to improve the way they manage their water resources and associated services.

To strengthen water security against this backdrop of increasing demand, water scarcity, growing uncertainty, greater extremes, and fragmentation challenges, clients will need to invest in institutional strengthening, information management, and (natural and man-made) infrastructure development. Institutional tools such as legal and regulatory frameworks, water pricing, and incentives are needed to better allocate, regulate, and conserve water resources. Information systems are needed for resource monitoring, decision making under uncertainty, systems analyses, and hydro-meteorological forecast and warning. Investments in innovative technologies for enhancing productivity, conserving and protecting resources, recycling storm water and wastewater, and developing non-conventional water sources should be explored in addition to seeking opportunities for enhanced water storage, including aquifer recharge and recovery. Ensuring the rapid dissemination and appropriate adaptation or application of these advances will be a key to strengthening global water security.

Last Updated: Oct 05, 2022

The World Bank is committed to assisting countries meet their economic growth and poverty reduction targets based on the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ).  Particularly, water resource management is tackled in SDG 6.5, but other SDGs and targets require water resource management for their achievement.  Accordingly, the Bank has a major interest in helping countries achieve water security through sound and robust water resource management.

Water security is the goal of water resources management . For a rapidly growing and urbanizing global population, against a backdrop of increasing climatic and non-climatic uncertainties, it is not possible to "predict and plan" a single path to water security. To strengthen water security we need to build capacity, adaptability, and resilience for the future planning and management of water resources.

Water Resources Management (WRM) is the process of planning, developing, and managing water resources, in terms of both water quantity and quality, across all water uses. It includes the institutions, infrastructure, incentives, and information systems that support and guide water management. Water resources management seeks to harness the benefits of water by ensuring there is sufficient water of adequate quality for drinking water and sanitation services, food production, energy generation, inland water transport, and water-based recreational, as well as sustaining healthy water-dependent ecosystems and protecting the aesthetic and spiritual values of lakes, rivers, and estuaries. Water resource management also entails managing water-related risks, including floods, drought, and contamination. The complexity of relationships between water and households, economies, and ecosystems, requires integrated management that accounts for the synergies and tradeoffs of water's great number uses and values.

Water security is achieved when water's productive potential is leveraged and its destructive potential is managed . Water security differs from concepts of food security or energy security because the challenge is not only one of securing adequate resource provision – but also of mitigating the hazards that water presents where it is not well managed. Water security reflects the actions that can or have been taken to ensure sustainable water resource use, to deliver reliable water services, and to manage and mitigate water-related risks. Water security suggests a dynamic construct that goes beyond single-issue goals such as water scarcity, pollution, or access to water and sanitation, to think more broadly about societies' expectations, choices, and achievements with respect to water management. It is a dynamic policy goal, which changes as societies' values and economic well-being evolve, and as exposure to and societies' tolerance of water-related risks change. It must contend with issues of equity.

The Water Security and Integrated Water Resources Management Global Solutions Group (GSG) supports the Bank's analytical, advisory, and operational engagements to help clients achieve their goals of water security.  Achieving water security in the context of growing water scarcity, greater unpredictability, degrading water quality and aquatic ecosystems, and more frequent droughts and floods, will require a more integrated and longer-term approach to water management. Key areas of focus will be ensuring sustainability of water resources, building climate resilience, and strengthening integrated management to achieve the Global Practice's (GP) goals and the SDGs. The GSG will work with a multiple GPs and Cross Cutting Solutions Areas (CCSAs) directly through water resources management or multi-sectoral projects and indirectly through agriculture, energy, environment, climate, or urban projects. 

Robust water resource management solutions to complex water issues incorporate cutting-edge knowledge and innovation, which are integrated into water projects to strengthen their impact. New knowledge that draws on the World Bank Group’s global experiences, as well as partner expertise, are filling global knowledge gaps and transforming the design of water investment projects to deliver results. Multi-year, programmatic engagements in strategic areas are designed to make dramatic economic improvements in the long term and improve the livelihoods of millions of the world’s poorest people.

The Water Security Diagnostic Initiative is an analytical framework that can be used to examine the status and trends related to water resources, water services, and water-related risks, including climate change, transboundary waters, and virtual water trade. The framework helps countries determine if and to what extent water-related factors impact people, the economy, and the environment, and determine if and to what extent water-related factors provide opportunities for development and well-being.

The World Bank is proactively working to address new global challenges, by adapting its operations to reach those that most need it today. Working across sectors is ensuring that water considerations are addressed in energy, the environment, agriculture, urban and rural development, and within new global challenges. The Bank also supports transformational engagements and initiatives, which seek to optimize spatial, green, and co-benefits among water and other infrastructure sectors. A large proportion of World Bank-funded water resources management projects include institutional and policy components.

Recent initiatives include:

• Through the Federal Integrated Water Sector Project (INTERÁGUAS) , Brazil's federal government sought to integrate the water sector by improving coordination among and strengthening the capacity of the sector’s key federal institutions. In an ambitious innovation, the World Bank supported the government by helping to bring together the most important federal water sector agencies while supporting ongoing water reforms and institutional strengthening.
• The integration of nature-based solutions in the Bank’s water infrastructure projects has helped place a spotlight on the world’s growing infrastructure crisis, driven by climate change and growing populations. Embedding nature-based solutions into project designs can help deliver infrastructure services with greater impact and lower cost, all the while reducing risks from disaster, boosting water security and enhancing climate resilience.
• The publication of a National Framework for Integrated Urban Water Management in Indonesia , focuses on the potential for IUWM to address the severe and interrelated water security challenges faced by Indonesian cities.
• The Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Management Project (PAMP II) supported the Government of Tajikistan in improving water resource management at local, basin and national levels, and in increasing crop yields through improved irrigation management. Key to improved irrigation was rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure and support to Water Users Associations, which are community-based organizations linking farmers with irrigation service provider.
• The Water Management and Development Project in Uganda improved the integration of water resources planning, management and development, as well as access to water and sanitation services in priority urban areas. More than 1.01 million people received access to improved water sources, and 25,000 piped household water connections were rehabilitated from 2012-2018.

With 263 international rivers in the world, support for cooperative transboundary water management can make an important contribution towards improving the efficient and equitable management of water resources. The Bank supports transboundary waters through Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTF), knowledge pieces, and its lending portfolio:

• Central Asia Water & Energy Program ( CAWEP ) is a MDTF administered by the World Bank and financed by the European Commission, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, UK AID, and DFID. The MDTF is building energy and water security by leveraging the benefits of enhanced cooperation in Central Asia, including all five Central Asian countries plus Afghanistan.
• The Cooperation for International Waters in Africa (CIWA) is a MDTF administered by the World Bank and financed by Denmark, European Commission, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The trust fund finances upstream work in African International Rivers, 75% of which go to four priority basins – Nile, Niger, Volta, and Zambezi.
•  The South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI) is a MDTF administered by the World Bank and financed by the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Norway in South Asia. The trust fund provides recipient executed grants to initiatives in the major Himalayan River systems – the Indus, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra.
• In the Mekong River Basin, the Bank is supporting riparian states such as Cambodia , the Lao People’s Democratic Republic , and Vietnam in strengthening their integrated water resource management and disaster risk management capacities, cooperating closely with the basin-wide Mekong River Commission.
• The Bank is also investing in knowledge pieces such as ROTI ( Retooling Operations with Transboundary Impacts ) to identify tools that promote riparian country coordination aimed at mitigating transboundary harm and leveraging benefits of investments in transboundary basins.

The Bank follows an integrated flood management agenda, which includes well-functioning early warning systems, infrastructure, and institutional arrangements for coordinated action to address increased variability and changes to runoff and flooding patterns.  In addition, a new perspective, referred to as an "EPIC Response," is offered to better manage hydro-climatic risks: This perspective looks at floods and droughts not as independent events but rather as different ends of the same hydro-climatic spectrum that are inextricably linked. The EPIC response provides a comprehensive framework to help national governments lead a whole-of-society effort to manage these risks.

Water scarcity is also addressed in:  

• The Water Scarce Cities Initiative , initially focusing on the Middle East and North Africa ( MENA ) region, seeking to bolster the adoption of integrated approaches to managing water resources and service delivery in water scarce cities as the basis for water security and climate resilience.
• Small Island States . The challenges and innovations of water management in small island states can be particularly vivid. These countries warrant particular attention not only because they are often neglected, but also because they provide an opportunity to focus on intensive reuse and non-conventional water resources development, which will be increasingly important knowledge for implementation in megacities and extremely water scarce settings. A scoping study is proposed on the state-of-the-art and the Bank’s portfolio.

Sustainable groundwater management is also a priority of the World Bank, and central to water security in many countries.

• Recognizing that groundwater is being depleted faster than it is replenished in many areas, the World Bank has collaborated with key global partners through years of consultations to develop a framework for groundwater governance. The 2030 Vision and Global Framework for Action represents a bold call for collectively responsible action among governments and the global community to ensure sustainable use of groundwater.

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Integrated Water Resources Management in Cities in the World: Global Challenges

• Open access
• Published: 22 March 2023
• Volume 37 , pages 2787–2803, ( 2023 )

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• Chloé Grison   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5842-1524 1 , 2 ,
• Stef Koop   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9906-3746 1 , 2 ,
• Steven Eisenreich   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5920-3764 3 ,
• Jan Hofman   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5982-603X 4 ,
• I-Shin Chang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6307-5806 5 ,
• Jing Wu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6911-2041 6 ,
• Dragan Savic   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9567-9041 1 , 7 , 8 &
• Kees van Leeuwen   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1605-4268 2  

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Water scarcity and accessibility remain persistently amongst the most prominent global challenges. Although there is a wide agreement among international organizations that Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and water governance are key to overcome water-related challenges, global assessments of the progress made by cities is lacking. This paper for the first time analyses the challenges of water, wastewater, municipal solid waste and climate change in cities. We used empirical studies (125 cities) based on the City Blueprint Approach and developed a statistical estimation model to estimate IWRM performances of another 75 cities. These 200 cities in total represent more than 95% of the global urban population. This comprehensive global picture enables us to evaluate the existing gaps in achieving water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities). The best performing cities were Amsterdam and Singapore. Unfortunately, most cities do not yet manage their water resources wisely and are far from achieving the SDGs. For instance, targets regarding drinking water supply are still a challenge for many cities in Africa and Asia and challenges regarding sanitation are high in cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The same holds for solid waste management, climate adaptation, and people living in informal settlements. In another paper we will address the solution pathways to these global challenges.

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1 Introduction

International agreements on the need for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) have led to major policy initiatives in many countries. IWRM is widely acclaimed by international organizations such as the International Water Management Institute, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Bank and various regional authorities. IWRM is defined as a process that promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources in order to maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems (UNEP 2022 ; United Nations 2022 ). The concept and its application is considered by many as pivotal for achieving the water-related UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; Essex et al. 2020 ; Pahl-Wostl et al. 2021 ). As approximately 70% of the population will be living in urban areas by 2050, with the largest growth taking place in cities in Africa and Asia, the pressure for tackling water challenges has shifted to cities (Romano and Akhmouch 2019 ). Cities have the responsibility for local resources management, land use and urban infrastructures, and therefore can position themselves as arenas for tackling the largest changes (OECD 2015a ; Hachaichi and Egieya 2023 ).

The impact of IWRM in cities can be far-reaching. As urban populations grow, water demands increase, which can substantially exacerbate freshwater scarcity at a regional scale (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2017 ; OECD 2015a ). Cities are, therefore, as vulnerable to water challenges as they are influential in finding management solutions. Due to the pressing nature of climate change, cities are forced to rapidly adapt their IWRM and anticipate long-term climate impact, such as in the case of Cape Town (Madonsela et al. 2019 ), Sabadell (Šteflová et al. 2018 ) and Ahmedebad (Aartsen et al. 2018 ). IWRM has rather universal claims on how water management should be reshaped. This triggers discussions on the ambiguity of IWRM, because it has also been criticized for being too all-encompassing which results in difficulty in providing clear implementations steps (Casiano Flores et al. 2019 ; Gupta et al. 2013 ; Medema et al. 2008 ; Saravanan et al. 2009 ). Hence, as a next step, cities need to identify which elements of their water management and governance already perform well and which ones need to be improved (Koop et al. 2017 ; OECD 2015b ; Pahl-Wostl et al. 2021 ).

Despite ample research on IWRM theory and application in many world regions, there are limited indicator-based studies that provide coherent global perspectives that are specifically focussed on IWRM in cities (Engle et al. 2011 ; Koop and Van Leeuwen 2017 ). Key impediment of such a focus is the availability of a coherent, meaningful and reliable indicators that can lay out urban IWRM challenges and prospects. It is particularly challenging to ensure that data-poor world regions are not under-represented. The City Blueprint Approach (CBA) has been developed and applied to address this gap and the methodology has been published in this journal (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2015a , b ; Koop et al. 2017 ). The approach uses quantitative water management performance assessments. The outcome – a baseline assessment – can initiate a development and implementation cycle for improving IWRM in the cities.

Early 2021, we completed the assessment of 125 cities in 53 countries (See Supplementary Information ). The city’s locations are biased towards Europe and China (Chang et al. 2020 ; Feingold et al. 2018 ; Koop and Van Leeuwen 2015a ; Rahmasary et al. 2019 ). Because a significant amount of quantitative data are required to complete the CBA, urban populations in data-poor regions of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Central Asia are underrepresented.

The aim of this paper is to provide a coherent outline addressing urban IWRM challenges and prospects across the globe. In order to fulfil this aim, an assessment of the current state of urban water management across the globe is provided. Water management performance is summarized by the Blue City Index (BCI), the geometric mean of the 24 City Blueprint indicators. This will be explained in more detail in the methodology section. To address the gap in city assessments of data-poor regions, a statistical BCI estimation model has been developed which is based on empirical data from 125 cities. Capitals in 75 data-poor countries were selected and their BCIs were estimated. Next, the current water challenges are examined using appropriate SDGs and other relevant indicators. The focus here is mainly on SDG 6 and SDG 11. In this way, a broad diagnosis of urban water challenges across the globe is provided. In another paper we will provide the solution pathways to these global challenges (Koop et al. 2022 ).

2 Methodology

2.1 the city blueprint approach.

The CBA assesses the main social, environmental, financial and governance pressures exerted on cities by the Trends and Pressures Framework (TPF; Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021a ). These pressures may identify less favourable conditions for a city’s water management performance. How cities are managing their IWRM is assessed with the City Blueprint Framework (CBF; Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021b ). Where cities can improve their water governance is assessed with the Governance Capacity Framework (GCF; Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021c ). An example of a complete analysis with the CBA has been published recently for the city of Windhoek (Olivieri et al. 2022 ). In this study we apply only the TPF and the CBF. Each city is assessed using 24 indicators for the TPF (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021a ) and 24 indicators for the CBF (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021b ). Each TPF and CBF indicator is standardised to a scale of zero to ten (see Supplementary Information ). The indicators, the sources of information, and sample calculations are provided in great detail (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021a , b ).

The TPF is a quantitative approach and is composed of 24 descriptive indicators divided over 4 categories (social, environmental, financial, and governance). Indicators are scored on a scale from 0–10, where 0 means no concern and 10 is high concern.

The CBF deals with the adequacy of the city's water management assessing seven main categories: (i) basic water services, (ii) water quality, (iii) wastewater treatment, (iv) water infrastructure, (v) solid waste (vi) climate adaptation and (vii) plans and actions. The IWRM performance is summarized in the BCI, the geometric average of the 24 indicators of the CBF (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021b ). A low BCI implies that there are many improvement options needed, in for example, the city’s wastewater treatment, solid waste treatment and climate adaptation activities. The 24 indicators are visualised in a spider web diagram (Fig.  1 ).

The 24 City Blueprint performance indicators of Singapore. The indicators score from zero to ten

2.2 Update of the Methodology and Database of Cities

CBA data have been gathered for 125 municipalities and regions in 53 countries over a period of about 10 years. In order to consolidate the databases and to remove temporal inconsistencies and to further simplify and harmonize the methodology, a major review and update took place in 2021. Every effort has been undertaken to verify sources and to find the most recent information available. During this process the original CBA applied since 2015, has been modified as well. Details on the consolidation of the database are provided in the Supplementary Information . The update of the database of cities was the first step in the process which is summarized in Fig.  2 .

Schematic illustration of the methods adopted in this study

2.3 Development of a Statistical Estimation Model for the BCI

For the development of the BCI estimation model, a forward stepwise regression analysis approach was adopted using Microsoft Excel to create an expression composed of a limited number of variables representing the indicators. Stepwise regression is a method of fitting regression models in which the choice of predictive variables is carried out to select important variables to obtain a simple and easily interpretable model. Stepwise regression is a process of building a model by successively adding or removing variables based solely on the p values associated with the t statistic of their estimated coefficients. It begins with a model that contains no variables and subsequently adds the most significant variables one after the other (Sokal and Rohlf 1981 ). This methodology was applied three times: using the 24 CBF indicators, using the 24 TPF indicators and using the combined 48 CBF and TPF indicators. The consolidated database of 125 cities was used (see Supplementary Information ). For the BCI estimation model, this process was concluded when three easily accessible variables were identified and the prediction intervals reflected a similar variation as observed in the empirical BCI scores observed in countries in which many cities were assessed, such as the Netherlands, Sweden, the USA and China.

Once the equations for each of these three datasets were determined, the equation that resulted in the smallest 95% prediction interval was selected as the estimation model. To be useful, data for each of the CBA indicators in this equation must be readily available for countries globally. As such, the ease of finding data for each indicator was assessed. It was decided for reasons of transparency and replicability to only include indicators that can be obtained from accessible public databases from international organizations.

2.4 Selection of Cities for Applying the Estimation Model

Before applying the estimation model, a list of cities to be evaluated was selected. As the aim of this paper is to provide BCI scores for cities globally to adequately provide global representation, a list was constructed by first selecting countries lacking CBA assessments. To avoid a bias towards urban populations in countries with a negligible portion of the global urban population, countries with greater than 0.5% of the world population were included, while countries with less than 0.02% of the world population were excluded. Then the capital cities of the remaining countries were selected for evaluation. The final sorting was dependent on data availability. The complete list of cities for which the BCIs were estimated (BCI*) using the estimation model can be found in the Results section and the Supplementary Information .

2.5 Challenges in Cities

The challenges in cities across the globe, were calculated on the basis of the empirical and estimated BCI scores and sorted at continental level, i.e., for Europe, Oceania, Asia, North America, Latin America and Africa.

2.6 Challenges in Countries

The CBA can also provide links to a broader set of IWRM goals and international strategies, such as the United Nations’ SDGs (Essex et al. 2020 ; Koop and Van Leeuwen 2017 ). This is particularly reflected by SDG 6—Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all , and by SDG 11—Make cities and human settlements inclusive safe, resilient and sustainable (UN General Assembly 2017 ). Every indicator in SDG 6 and most indicators in SDG 11 are represented by the CBA, ensuring that city assessments using this method will be representative of SDG targets as well. With a target date of 2030 for these SDG goals, it is vitally important to obtain a global assessment of where cities currently stand in terms of achieving these goals (Essex et al. 2020 ). Unfortunately, these data is not available. As of 2020, only 42% of the 92 SDG environment-related SDG indicators had sufficient data at national level to assess progress in achieving the targets (UNEP 2021a ). Thus, in order to broaden the assessment of the global urban challenges, we used a number of water-related and urban SDG indicators (United Nations 2022 ) for which data were available at national level:

Achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all (SDG 6.1).

Access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all (SDG 6.2).

Urban population (not) living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing (SDG 11.1).

Urban solid waste regularly collected and with adequate final discharge out of total urban solid waste generated by cities (SDG 11.6.1).

Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (SDG 11.6.2)

We also included one of the World Bank governance indicators, i.e., government effectiveness (Kaufmann et al. 2010 , 2022 ) and climate adaptation (ND-GAIN 2020 ) to provide a broader set of indicators. Data for these indicators had to be available for any country and ideally come from the same source. Data sources were selected based on quality, availability and reliability. As such, large data banks such as World Bank and the UN were prioritized. All data except for government effectiveness and climate adaptation was under a percentage of the population either meeting or not meeting the target. The percentage of the population meeting the target was calculated per country based on its total population.

3 Results and Discussion

3.1 the bci estimation model.

We developed a simple BCI estimation model for assessing urban water management performances (BCI*), particularly for cities in data-poor regions. The results of the full statistical analyses including all data used are provided in the Supplementary Information . The resulting equation for estimating BCI scores (denoted as BCI*) is shown in the equation below:

One of the most important results of the statistical analysis is the relevance of the Governance effectiveness parameter of the World Bank in predicting water management performance. Governance effectiveness is the most important variable (Multiple R = 0.71 and R Square = 0.50). It explains most of the variation observed in the empirical BCIs, and confirms the results published earlier based on an analysis of only 45 cities (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2015b ). Although correlations are not cause-effect relations, the results support the view expressed by Romano and Akhmouch ( 2019 ), that if you want to ‘fix the water pipes, start with the institutions’. The second most important variable is secondary wastewater treatment. Poor waste water treatment is observed in many cities and contributes to severe surface water pollution. Water infrastructure, and sewers and wastewater treatment plants in particular, are among the most expensive infrastructures in cities (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2017 ). The logic of this parameter in the estimation model is that only countries with a high gross national income per capita (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021a ) can afford to invest in proper wastewater treatment. Proper collection and treatment of wastewater is also a prerequisite for energy recovery from wastewater, which is the third varable in the BCI estimation model.

The estimation model predicts the BCI* within a range of ± 1.3 (95% prediction interval) from the fully assessed value with a correlation coefficient (R 2 ) of 0.83. The estimated BCI scores using this model versus CBA-assessed BCI scores are shown in Fig.  3 .

Three-variable BCI* estimation model based on CBF and TPF, as provided in Eq. ( 1 ):  BCI* =  4.25—0.396*TPF21 [Government effectiveness]  +  0.195*CBF4 [Secondary WWT]  +  0.111*CBF8 [Energy recovery]. The plot shows the estimated BCI*s against the fully assessed BCIs for the combined 48 CBF and TPF indicators. The solid red line represent a full correspondence of the estimated BCI* and the actual BCI (Y = X; slope = 1). The applicability domain of the estimation model covers the BCI range of 1 to 6.5 as for BCI values > 6.5 a departure from linearity can be observed

3.2 Limitations of the BCI Estimation Model and Its Implications

The 125 cities that were used for the statistical analysis have not been randomly selected. In fact, our work was originally focussed on cities in Europe, that volunteered to participate. Later on cities in other regions were added. Collaboration with scientists in China resulted in the inclusion of all provincial capitals of China to our database (Chang et al. 2020 ). Hence, the cities used for the statistical analysis for the development of the estimation model have a distribution bias towards Europe and China. Of the 125 cities that were assessed, 67 cities are non-European of which 32 cities are Chinese.

The implications of this bias in the selection of cities on the estimation model are not large. The width of the prediction interval is comparable to the variation of BCIs in countries where multiple cities have been assessed such as in China, the USA, the Netherlands and Sweden. For example the lowest BCI in the Netherlands was for the city of Eindhoven (5.8) and the highest BCI value (8.7) was for the city of Amsterdam.

Above BCI values of 6.5, there is a departure from linearity, resulting in lower BCI* values. This implies that the applicability domain of the BCI estimation model covers the range of 1 to 6.5. For our assessments of the BCI* scores for 75 capitals in this study this has no practical consequences as all BCI* values are in the range of 1 to 5.5 (Table 1 ). The full data sets of cities, the statistical analyses and the data are provided in the Supplementary Information .

3.3 Application of the BCI Estimation Model

Successful application of the model requires reliable input data for the three indicators selected in the equation: TPF 21 – Government effectiveness, CBF 4—Secondary wastewater treatment, and CBF 8 – Energy recovery from wastewater. Developing the model meant searching for high quality credible data, readily available for any country and ideally coming from the same source (see Supplementary Information ). The data input was then converted to a score out of 10, in order to reflect BCI scores which range from 0 (low performance) to 10 (high performance). The process for each indicator is described below.

3.3.1 TPF Indicator 21: Government Effectiveness

Government effectiveness is one of the governance indicators rigorously assessed by the World Bank (Kaufmann et al. 2010 ; 2022 ), as established in the guidelines for assessing the TPF indicators (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021a ). The World Bank database provides government effectiveness data for 209 countries (and territories) with the most recent data from 2019. The indicator score of the World Bank varies from -2.5 to 2.5 and has been transformed by a min–max standardization method into scores of 0 to 10 (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2015a ). Finally, the scores are converted into “concern scores”, where a score of 0 means a low concern and a score of 10 indicating a high concern for government effectiveness (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021a ):

3.3.2 CBF Indicator 4: Secondary Wastewater Treatment

This indicator measures the percentage of the urban population whose wastewater is treated by secondary treatment. The original suggested data source for this indicator in the guidelines for assessing CBF scores is from the OECD (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021b ; OECD 2021 ). However, these data are limited to OECD countries, many of which have already been assessed by the CBA. As the goal of the model is to estimate BCI* scores for unassessed regions globally, new data sources are required.

An in-depth review revealed two reliable data sources. A joint UNICEF and WHO report ( 2019 ) provides data for the proportion of wastewater treated to at least secondary treatment for 65 non-CBA assessed countries. The IB-Net database (IBNET 2021 ) also provides data for the percentage of collected sewage that receives at least secondary treatment for 51 non-CBA assessed countries.

Because the data from these two sources are partly overlapping, together they provide data for 85 countries that have not yet been assessed by the CBA. As both sources provide data in percentages, the indicator score could then be transformed for use in the model by using the following equation:

3.3.3 CBF Indicator 8: Energy Recovery

The energy recovery from wastewater systems is expressed as CBF Indicator 8 (Koop and Van Leeuwen 2021b ). Data for the percentage of wastewater treatment plants where energy recovery systems are installed and operational have been found for eight cities (International Water Association 2018 ), of which only three have not yet been assessed by the CBA. For these data, the indicator score could be determined using the following equation:

Aside from this source, adequate data are generally lacking for energy recovery from wastewater systems. Our BCI assessments of cities have revealed that the value of CBF indicator 8 is zero for approximately half of the cities assessed. Published reports support these results, as energy recovery from wastewater treatment is only widely practised in regions with established energy recovery, i.e., Western Europe, North America and Australia (Alvarez and Buchauer 2015 ; Strazzabosco et al. 2021 ). Energy recovery is unlikely in countries that possess little or no secondary or tertiary wastewater treatment (Jones et al. 2021 ; Qadir et al. 2020 ). Furthermore, energy recovery is costly (as are secondary and tertiary treatment), and countries with low GDPs are unlikely to invest in these technologies (Jones et al. 2021 ; Van Puijenbroek et al. 2019 ). Countries with low GDPs and/or no secondary wastewater treatment are likely to have scores of zero for CBF indicator 8.

3.4 A Global Overview of Challenges in 200 Cities

The result of the above analysis is that in addition to the 125 cities already assessed, the BCI* scores for 75 cities were estimated, representing in total 95% of the world population (Table 1 , Fig.  4 and Supplementary Information ).

Global map of estimated BCI* and fully assessed BCI scores for 200 cities. This shows that Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia generally have BCI scores lower than 4, indicating a great disparity in IWRM. Only Northern Europe shows a distinct cluster of cities scoring higher than 6, whereas Singapore (BCI = 8.1) and Amsterdam (BCI = 8.7) are the only cities with BCI scores > 8

The global map illustrating BCI scores indicates that the majority of cities show ample room too improve IWRM. This is further evidenced when examining the BCI scores per continent (Table 2 ): 145 cities of the 200 assessed have BCI scores lower than 5 and the average score across all continents is 4.1. Even in Europe, with the largest concentration of higher scoring cities, 36% of those assessed scored lower than 5.

3.5 Challenges in Countries

Table 3 provides an overview of the current relative distances to several water-related and urban SDG targets, as well as to other relevant indicators such as government effectiveness and climate adaptation. SDG 6.1 and 6.2 correlate with CBF indicators 1 (access to drinking water) and 2 (access to sanitation), respectively. SDG 11.6.1 corresponds with CBF 15 (Municipal solid waste collected) and SDG 11.6.2 corresponds with TPF 14 (air quality). Finally, TPF 21 (government effectiveness) and CBF 19 (climate adaptation) were included as well to provide broader insights into the challenges.

The results of these assessments reflect the observations at city level as presented in Table 2 and Fig.  4 . Targets regarding drinking water supply have been met in many countries with the exception of some countries in Africa and Asia. Challenges regarding sanitation are still high in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The same holds for management of solid waste, climate adaptation, the percentage of the urban population living in slums and needs for improving governance effectiveness. Air pollution is a global challenge. Relatively positive scores regarding air pollution are observed for Australia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, USA and Uruguay. Globally much work remains to meet these targets, especially with regards to urban solid waste management, waste water treatment, air pollution and climate adaptation.

4 Concluding Remarks

This paper aims to provide a coherent outline of IWRM challenges and prospects in cities cross the globe. The 125 empirical assessments and the 75 estimates of the BCI have been used to measure progress on making cities and human settlements inclusive and safe. Additionally, the assessments have been used to determine the current status of the implementation of the greater international water and urban agendas (SDGs 6 and 11). We observe that 145 of the 200 cities assessed or estimated have BCIs below 5, which means that many cities still have to implement advanced wastewater treatment, energy and resource recovery, and climate adaptation measures. Only two cities have BCI scores > 8 (Amsterdam and Singapore). The current state of affairs urges for accelerated improvements: large portions of the global population are far from reaching the SDGs goals, notably related to water, waste and climate change. This further supports the global assessment performed using the CBA, revealing not only relatively low BCI scores in cities around the world, but also significant regional disparities between Europe and Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia. There is a need to focus on the practical implementation of the SDGs for which global availability and accessibility of data is essential (Essex et al. 2020 ).

As populations continue to grow and urbanisation rates increase, cities must accelerate their development beyond their growth rates to achieve IWRM. This requires long-term strategies, continuous monitoring of progress, adaptive capacity and stable and sustainable financing. As water can be linked, directly or indirectly, to nearly all of the SDGs, addressing water challenges could be the gateway to meeting the targets of the other SDGs as well (Essex et al. 2020 ; Makarigakis and Jimenez-Cisneros 2019 ; Van Leeuwen 2020 ).

Meeting the UN SDGs is a political choice. Data gaps are preventing adequate implementation of the SDGs. It is not possible to manage a process if progress cannot be monitored, and monitoring of progress is hindered if adequate data is not available (UNEP 2021a ). To date, funding for SDG 6 targets has been deemed insufficient and the global framework for IWRM shows a poor record of implementation. Unless significant progress is made, it is envisaged that SDG 6 targets will not be met by 2030, which in turn impacts other SDGs (UNEP 2021a ).

Finally, our data indicate that the World Bank indicator government effectiveness is the most important indicator in the developed estimation model (see also Supplementary Information ). It echoes the relevance of IWRM, and in particular the relevance of good water governance as stated by the OECD that if you want to ‘fix the water pipes, start with the institutions’ (Romano and Akhmouch 2019 ). The relevance of effective public–private collaboration for IWRM has been widely acknowledged and plays a major role in cities where most of the challenges of water, waste and climate change reside and solutions for these challenges need to be developed (Beisheim and Campe 2012 ; Koop and Van Leeuwen 2017 ; Rahmasary et al. 2020 ; UNEP 2021b ). The longer it takes to start the actions, the more difficult it will be to overcome challenges of water, wastewater, waste and climate change in cities. In another paper we will discuss the global solutions for IWRM in cities (Koop et al. 2022 ).

Data Availability

The authors declare that all the data supporting the findings of this study are included in its Supplementary Information .

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all master students from Utrecht University, the young professionals from UNESCO, and all volunteers in our urban network for their efforts to participate in the City Blueprint efforts to analyse IWRM in cities. We thank Sharon Clevers (KWR Water Research Institute) for her assistance in the preparation of Fig. 4 . Last but not least we want to thank the management board of KWR who has stimulated this research as part of the global Watershare activities.

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K.v.L., S.K. and D.S. designed the study. C.G created the estimation model and calculated the distance to targets. C.G. drafted the manuscript. I.C and S.W. provided data for the CBF and TPF of cities in China. S.E. suggested improvements for the TPF. D.S., S.E., J.H., S.K. and K.v.L. reviewed the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the manuscript.

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Grison, C., Koop, S., Eisenreich, S. et al. Integrated Water Resources Management in Cities in the World: Global Challenges. Water Resour Manage 37 , 2787–2803 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-023-03475-3

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• Multidisciplinary Approach to Water Pollution This paper shows how the multidisciplinary approach addresses water pollution as a public health issue. It is important to understand what the model entails.
• Water: An Often Overlooked Essential Element in Our Environment The freshwater required for growing food and livestock is also in great demand by the large numbers of inhabitants in the world’s cities and towns.
• Glacéau Company: Vitamin Water Ethics The business practice of this paper is the production and sale of vitamin water by Glacéau in which the company states that the water being sold has been “enriched” with vitamins.
• Water Intake and Output: Mechanisms of Regulation For healthy function, the human body requires water balance as one of the key mechanisms, where the average daily water intake and output are relatively equal.
• Virtual Water Trade and Savings in Agriculture This essay discusses the savings associated with virtual water trade in agriculture and touches on the effects of a shift to local agricultural production on global water savings.
• Substances Influence on Water The objective of the experiment will be to find if the freezing rate of water changes when different substances are added.
• Bottled Water Impacts on Environment As the use of bottled water continue to rise steadily around the world, many critics have focused on its impacts on the environment, economy and other social implications related to the use.
• Food and Water Security Management The purpose of this article is to evaluate the current methodologies for addressing food and water security issues and propose sustainable solutions based on scholarly evidence.
• Fiji Water Case Study Analysis Brandon Miller aims to establish a business that is the distribution of Fiji water for Monroe and Wayne market areas.
• The Problem of Environmental Water Pollution This paper discusses a public health concern by explaining the causes of water pollution, how it affects human communities, and the possible strategies.
• Bottled Water Impact on Environment This paper seeks to amplify the need for regulation of the used water bottles. It is quite obvious that water bottles are the highest in a number of all bottles thrown away after use.
• Water Recycling: Why Is It Important? Different countries face varying challenges in as far as provision of clean water to its population is concerned depending with its economic development level and geographic location.
• Studying the Venturi Effect Through Water Flow Calculation The Venturi effect is of particular importance in fluid dynamics, characterizing the pressure drop of a fluid as it flows through narrow spaces.
• Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Nhuong The book Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam by Nhuong tells the story of a young boy in a central village in Vietnam. The story presents unique characteristics of Vietnam society and culture.
• Aspects of Global Pollution of Water Global pollution of water resources has devasting effects on the environment that include the destruction of the ocean ecosystem and biodiversity.
• Is Bottled Water Safe for Public Health? Bottled water is just water but is marketed in such a way that makes it appear as healthy because it is positioned as “bottles water is healthy”.
• The Global Water Crisis: Issues and Solutions The water crisis has now been associated with the reduction in food quantity besides the scarcity of safe drinking water.
• Bottled Water: Environmental and Cultural Impact The consumption of bottled water has an impact on society. Appropriate strategies must be implemented to ensure that the hazards associated with bottled water are reduced.
• “Bling H2O” Bottled Water in the Australian Market Bling H2O water is the world’s most expensive bottled water. The brand’s creator targeted to sell it to the celebrities who highly esteem their bottled water.
• “Erin Brockovich” Film and 2014 Flint Water Crisis This paper analyzes the movie “Erin Brockovich” and compares it with the current situation in Flint, which started in April 2014.
• Biogeochemical Cycles: Carbon, Nitrogen, and Water The most common biogeochemical cycles are carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles. The purpose of this paper was to summarize these three cycles.
• Water Pollution in the Florida State The researchers claimed that plastic pollution was caused by the tourists and citizens who live along the coastline and dumping from the industries.
• The Water Shortage Supply in Las Vegas The water shortage supply in Las Vegas is a major problem due to the city’s reliance on Lake Mead and Colorado Rivers, which are drying up due to droughts.
• Effects of Climate Variability on Water Resources, Food Security, and Human Health Evaluating the effects of climate variability on water, food, and health will help identify the areas for improvement and offer solutions to current environmental challenges.
• The Issue of Food and Water Security The global issue for the analysis is food and water security. This is a topical problem nowadays, especially in light of climate change and population growth.
• Environment: There’s Something in the Water Environmental racism hurts the natural image of landscapes and negatively affects the atmosphere and reduces the quality and duration of life for minorities.
• Solutions for Food and Water Security Issue With many nations encountering food and water security problems, the consequences of such events have become global, giving rise to multiple outcomes this insecurity.
• Food and Water Security as Globalization Issues Globalization has several implications for the business environment, among which are the expanded access to resources, and the interdependence of international companies.
• Baxter Water Treatment Plants and Public Health The Baxter Water Treatment Plant is the largest water treatment facility in Philadelphia, supplying about 60 percent of the city’s drinking water.
• Water Quality Assessment. Environmental Impact Maintaining good water quality is essential to human health; thus, the recent decades have outstandingly worsened the water across communities worldwide by pollution.
• Benefits of Water Birth Overview Waterbirth remains to be a controversial approach. The studies examined in this paper provide some evidence for the benefits that waterbirth has.
• First Nations Communities Water Resources Drinking water is by no means an infinite resource, but there are places in the world where women and children spend hours each day just to collect it.
• Changes in the Global Water Cycle Changes in the climate brought about by global warming have a much bigger likelihood of impacting negatively on the global hydrological cycle.
• Water Sector Privatisation in Saudi Arabia The paper explores the decision by the Ministry of Water and Electricity in Saudi Arabia to form the National Water Company to facilitate the privatization process and oversee the regional operations.
• Water Treatments and Maximum Plant Height The first research question was how different water treatments affect maximum plant height. The experiment involved 12 plants – 6 plants for each type of water.
• Green Infrastructure in Water Management This paper evaluates the utility of water management in urban areas from the aspect of perception and interpretation of green infrastructure in water management.
• All About Water: Problems and Solutions In addition to explaining water benefits, the paper has also shown that many people globally struggle with water shortages or exposure to contaminated water.
• Relocation of Solar Power System to Easy Life Water Ventures The paper states that having an effective power source will help the organization operate smoothly and sustainably and increase its reputation.
• Resolutions to Fight Water Scarcity The World Health Organization outlines water scarcity as a global crisis affecting more than 2.8 billion people.
• Water Scarcity Due to Climate Change This paper focuses on the adverse impact that water scarcity has brought today with the view that water is the most valuable element in running critical processes.
• Lake Mattoon: Recreational Site and Water Reservoir Lake Mattoon remains one of Coles county’s best recreation sites and major water reservoirs; it is a big, man-made lake with lush green shores and big fish populations.
• Water Pollution Effects on Human Health The paper describes the effects of water pollution on human health from the perspective of existing findings on this topic and the assessment of information.
• Combating Arsenic Contamination in Water The well known fact is that water is the most valuable natural resource that exists and without which survival of life is impossible.
• Is Bottled Water Dangerous for People and the Environment? The purpose of this paper is to discuss alternative perspectives on bottled water and whether it is dangerous for people and the planet.
• Pressurized Water Reactors: An Analysis The paper describes the operations of a Pressurised Water Reactors (PWR) plant in-depth, discusses the functions of PWR plants, their advantages and disadvantages.
• Bottled Water Status in the UK With the current economic climate in the UK, the issue of whether bottled water has become a luxury or a necessity.
• Water Resources in Australia: Usage and Management Australia is one of the driest continents in the world. Various governmental and non-governmental institutions have teamed up to face the challenges facing people as far as water is concerned.
• Water Management and Ecology Issues The paper studies water management, its various implications and explains why this area is important on examples of environmental issues.
• Water Scarcity Issue and Environment The paper answers the question why to be worried about running out of drinking water even though the earth’s surface is mostly made of water.
• Human Energy Consumption and Water Power Human energy use is significantly low compared to natural energy flow. Waterpower is not significant in energy flow because it is renewable energy.
• Agriculture, Water, and Food Security in Tanzania This paper evaluates the strategies applicable to the development and further maintenance of agriculture, water, and food security in Tanzania.
• High-Quality Water Supply in the United States The American community has become more conscious about their health and general physical condition. Consequently, a high-quality water supply stays a priority in many households.
• Assessment: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority As a key component of Dubai’s economy, DEWA is critical in assisting the Emirate’s growth and transition to a zero-economy economy.
• Hyponatremia: How Much Water Do You Actually Need? Some schools, like Mississippi State, do hydration tests before each practice to ensure their players are adequately hydrated.
• Analyzing the Use of Water in Danticat, Roumain, and Marshall The use of water in the three novels Roumain’s “Masters of the Dew,” Danticat’s “Krik? Krak!” and Paul’s “Praise Song for the Widow” has a symbolic meaning.
• Water Pollution and How to Address It A person must protect nature – in particular water resources. After all, the possibilities of water resources are not unlimited and sooner or later, they may end.
• Water Pollution: Effects and Treatment Pollution of water bodies is a serious hazard to humans and the aquatic ecology, and population growth is hastening climate change.
• Examining Solutions for Mitigating the Food and Water Security Issue Hunger, malnutrition, and decreased resource distribution manifest in communities having issues with food and water security, which decreases the well-being of individuals.
• Impact of Water Pollution: Water Challenges of an Urbanizing World Water is a source of life on Earth, and it is one of the very first needs of living beings. It is a vital resource for the development of the economic and social sectors.
• Evaluation of Articles on Food and Water Security The two resources chosen for this discussion pertain to food and water security solutions. The scholarly source is visually distinct from the popular source due to its structure.
• The Clean Water Network Support Statement Fresh water has become one of the most valuable resources in the world, around which regional or even global wars may occur in the future.
• Global Societal Issue: Food and Water Security According to research, food and water security is a pertinent global problem in the current decade, with access to food and water becoming scarce in certain world regions.
• Climate Change and Accessibility to Safe Water The paper discusses climate change’s effect on water accessibility, providing graphs on water scarcity and freshwater use and resources.
• The High Heat Capacity of Water The heat capacity of water greatly affects the planet’s climate. At high temperatures, water absorbs heat, and when it gets colder, it gives it away.
• Exploring the Agenda for Fresh Water Supply in Remote Regions The fundamental thesis of this entire paper is that scientific and technological advances catalyze the development of technologies to deliver fresh water to remote areas of Texas.
• What Is Water-Related Terrorism and How to Cope With It? Water-related terrorism includes damaging government facilities, and since water resources are vital for human existence, it is profitable for terrorists to attack them.
• Whirlpool in the Sea off the Coast of Scotland Near Ayrshire Due to Waste Water Stunning drone images near Lendalfoot in South Ayrshire captured a glimpse of a mammoth whirlpool off the Scottish west coast.
• Fresh Water Toxins: Serious Threat to Health This paper discusses fresh water toxins as a serious threat to health, analyzes Los Angeles drinking water, access to clean water and sanitation.
• Safe Drinking Water: Current Status and Recommendations The study proposes the usage of agricultural waste as a sustainable biosorbent for toxic metal ions removal from contaminated water.
• The Problem of Environmental Pollution: Fresh Water One of the more important concerns that are fast becoming a major threat is pollution and no form of pollution seemed to be bigger than that of freshwater pollution.
• Essentials of Water in Supporting Biological Systems Water is essential in supporting the biological system in various ways; the properties of water help in understanding its importance.
• Underground Water Contamination in St. Louis Mo City In St. Louis Mo City of Missouri State, contamination of underground water is most likely and that is why the water supply is a subject to government policies.
• Twitter Campaign: Impact of Water Runoff Water runoff can cause flooding, which means property damage and mold formation in damp basements and more. This paper is a twitter campaign about the impact of water runoff.
• Water Pollution of New York City Rivers The aim of the analysis was to assess the effects of CSOs on water quality and the environment at different sites along the Harlem River.
• Water Cooling Tower Construction Site’s Problems The paper highlights three major problems at the construction site. They are security, scheduling, and safety problems.
• Recent Water Treatment and Production Developments This study attempts to investigate whether inorganic filters are more suitable for industrial and water treatment processes when compared to organic filters.
• Chemistry: Partitioning Coefficient of the Water The partitioning coefficient of the water solutions with of diuron, decadienal, atrazine, fluoranthene, and desethylatrazine compounds are calculated in accordance with the formula.
• Study of Local Water Resources Quality This laboratory report aims to summarize the results obtained during the study oxygen consumption, BOD, and detecting dissolved suspended solids in Hong Kong water.
• Developing Suspension Carbon Nano-Tubes in Water This paper has discussed nano-tubes and suspension as well as stabilization which make use of Multi-Wall-Carbon-Nanotubes by the function of concentrated SDS.
• A Cartographic History of Water Infrastructure and Urbanism in Rome The freshwater available to the city was a huge cultural and economic boon to Roman citizens. Some of this ancient water infrastructure is operational to this day.
• Integrated Water Strategies From Website Water Recycling The website http://waterrecycling.com/ is a front-end of their company showing various services that the company offers in the field of water recycling.
• The Causes of Water Pollution Water pollution is a significant decrease in water resources’ quality due to the ingress of various chemicals and solid waste. The causes of pollution are related to human activities.
• Bottle Water Industry in Current Economic UK Climate The research question is whether bottled water is a necessity or a luxury with regard to the current economic climate in the United Kingdom.
• Political Ecology and Water Wars in Bolivia The given critical assessment will primarily focus on bringing a new perspective to the issue from the standpoint of political ecology.
• The Influence of Water on the Growth of Popcorn Plants The information from the study would aid farmers in identifying appropriate seasons to cultivate popcorn plants based on data of meteorological forecasts.
• Boiling Is a Process That Cools the Water This paper tells that bringing water to a boil while making tea is a progression that cools it since the process lessens the overall temperature.
• Water Conservation Practice in Olympia Olympia city has a comprehensive water conservation program that involves many projects. The city puts much effort into the conservation of water.
• Protecting the Current and Future Water Supply for Rio de Janiero In the current rate of use, as well as the consensus reached by the governing officials in Rio de Janeiro, there will be enough potable water until 2025.
• Water Quality and Supply The main problem on the way to the solution of environmental issues is a violation of generally accepted rules.
• Water Conservation Practice in Houston From the treatment of wastewater to the reduction of the consumption of the same Houston is an epitome of the increasing need to conserve resources, especially water.
• Burning Issue of Water Pollution in Washington The problem of polluted drinking water in Washington should be solved immediately despite various obstacles, such as pressure for money, etc.
• Drinking-Water in Third World Countries The shortage of drinking water in countries of Third World and the public controversy, surrounding the issue, illustrates the validity of this thesis better then anything else.
• Underground Water Overdraft in Southern California In California, the overuse of underground water reserves and the resultant overexploitation (overdraft) led to a serious water resources deficit.
• Water and Soil Pollution: Effects on the Environment Water and soil pollution is the process of contaminating water and soil. In this project, we will investigate the apparent main pollutants of the Spring Mill Lake.
• Bottled Water: Culture and Environmental Impact Bottled water as a particular branch of industrial growth in countries throughout the world represents the source of environmental pollution.
• Alternative Energy Sources: A Collaborative Approach in Water Management With the increasingly high prices of gasoline in particular and fossil fuels in general there is a need to find an alternative source of energy.
• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Effect on Water Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) constitute one of the largest groups of compounds that produce widespread organic environmental pollution posing a risk to marine biota
• Lack of Water in California as an Environmental Issue California can run out of water because of technological and social problems that affected the region. Defining water resources’ “development” is critically important.
• Water Scarcity in the Middle East The Arab region has always had issues with the water supply but as the population continues to grow steadily, this issue has become even more alarming
• Potential Threats to Water Supplies in Ottawa The purpose of the research is to identify the distribution of threats to drinking water in the city and determine who might benefit and who might be harmed in the process.
• Water Quality in Savannah, Georgia The City of Savannah Water Supply and Treatment Department conducts numerous annual tests to ensure that drinking water in the region is safe for human consumption.
• Water Pollution Index of Batujai Reservoir, Central Lombok Regency-Indonesia Despite having 6% of the world’s water resources, Indonesia’s environmental policies have not only been raising concerns but also pushed the country to the brink of water crisis.
• Dream Water Company’s Product Marketing The core product is the main benefit that the product brings to the consumer. For Dream Water, the core product is the medication against insomnia.
• Water Management in the “Flow” Documentary The documentary “Flow” discusses and describes two significant things that are preventing people from having access to freshwater.
• Water Sanitation Program in Saudi Arabia In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the demand for water continues to increase without an equivalent increase in the supply, the level of hygiene may soon become a problem.
• Virtual Water Content and Global Water Savings The Virtual Water Content concept was the byproduct of discussions regarding the need to provide food in countries suffering from drought or plagued with perpetual water scarcity.
• Active Remediation Algorithm for Water Service in Flint The Active Remediation algorithm aims to inspect the water service in Flint, Michigan, and identify those lead pipes that need to be replaced by copper pipes.
• Water Savings and Virtual Trade in Agriculture Water trade in agriculture is not a practice that is unique to the modern generation. The practice was common long before the emergence of the Egyptian Empire.
• Virtual Water Trade of Agricultural Products Virtual water trade is a concept associated with globalization and the global economy. Its rise was motivated by growing water scarcity in arid areas around the world.
• Virtual Water Savings and Trade in Agriculture The idea of virtual water was initially created as a method for assessing how water-rare nations could offer food, clothing, and other water-intensive products to their residents.
• Environmental Legislation: Clean Water Act Clean Water Act determines water quality standards, serves as a basis for the enactment of pollution control programs, and regulates the presence of contaminants in surface water.
• Third-Party Logistics, Water Transportation, Pipelines Transportation plays a crucial role in today’s business world. This work shows the benefits and limitations of third-party logistics providers, water transportation, and pipelines.
• Water Quality and Contamination In this paper, carries out detailed experiments on the bottled and tap water available to consumers to establish whether it is worthwhile to purchase bottled water.
• Oil, Water and Corruption in Central Asian States The region of Central Asia has been a focus of the world’s political and economic attention due to its rich oil and gas resources. Corruption is the main curse of Central Asian states.
• Environmental Studies: Water Recycling Different countries face varying challenges in as far as the provision of clean water to its population is concerned depending on its economic development level and geographic location.
• Water Pollution This essay seeks to examine the concept of water pollution, its causes, effects and solutions to water pollution.
• Environmental Pollution (Fresh Water) In terms of the water Pollution, conditioning it would be analyzed whether it has declined or improved over the past few years and if so the degree would be determined.
• How Does Water Pollution Affect Human Health?
• Are Sports Drinks Better for Athletes Than Water?
• What Happens if You Don’t Filter Your Water?
• Can Game Theory Help to Mitigate Water Conflicts in the Syrdarya Basin?
• How Can We Reduce Water Scarcity?
• Are Water Filters Really That Important?
• How Much Water Do We Need to Feed the World?
• Why Is Water Important for Food Production?
• Can Markets Improve Water Allocation in Rural America?
• How Can We Reduce Water Consumption in Food Industry?
• Can Public Sector Reforms Improve the Efficiency of Public Water Utilities?
• What Are the Modern Technologies Used to Treat Water?
• How Does Water Pollution Affect Global Warming?
• Can Sea Water Generate Usable Energy?
• What Are the Steps Taken by the Government to Reduce Water Pollution?
• Can Sugar Help Lower the Freezing Point of Water?
• Do We Need More Laws to Control Water Pollution?
• Can the Global Community Successfully Confront the Global Water Shortage?
• What Is the Government Doing to Save Water?
• Can Virtual Water ‘Trade’ Reduce Water Scarcity in Semi-arid Countries?
• Does Urbanization Improve Industrial Water Consumption Efficiency?
• How Has Technology Helped Us Save Water?
• Does Piped Water Improve Household Welfare?
• Can Water Pollution Policy Be Efficient?
• How Does Green Infrastructure Improve Water Quality?

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StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 167 Water Essay Topics & Research Questions about Water. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/water-essay-topics/

"167 Water Essay Topics & Research Questions about Water." StudyCorgi , 9 Sept. 2021, studycorgi.com/ideas/water-essay-topics/.

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StudyCorgi . "167 Water Essay Topics & Research Questions about Water." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/water-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "167 Water Essay Topics & Research Questions about Water." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/water-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Water were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 9, 2024 .

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Environmental Pollution and Industrial Development: Realities and Solutions to Waste and Discharge

Improving Carbon Management Through Maximizing Hydrolysis and Fermentation at Water Resource Recovery Facilities Provisionally Accepted

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The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Wastewater treatment plants are transitioning from a sole focus on treatment objectives to integrated resource recovery and upcycling. Effective carbon management is critical for upcycling within a water resource recovery facility (WRRF) to produce energy or other usable products, which involves carbon diversion at primary treatment and waste activated sludge (WAS) from biological treatment processes. Many WRRFs are also driven to meet stringent effluent nutrient discharge targets while minimizing energy usage and chemical addition.Nutrient removal systems still rely on biodegradable organic carbon to support denitrification and enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). Biological nutrient removal not only requires sufficient organic substrate, but also the right type of bioavailable carbon for optimal utilization.The main objective of this pilot fermentation testing was to evaluate the most effective utilization of the range of organic-carbon rich feedstocks within a WRRF. Preliminary results suggest that a 50-50 blend of primary sludge (PS) and return activated sludge (RAS) fermentation leads to highest volatile fatty acid (VFA) yield. PS fermentation resulted in the minimum nutrients release per unit of volatile suspended solids (VSS), which makes it a best suited for biological nutrients removal WRRFs with stringent nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) limits. The volatile fatty acids fractions produced from different combinations of RAS and PS can impact the most suitable end use for each sludge type fermentation. PS resulted into higher levels of propionate, which are ideal for selecting phosphate accumulating organisms (PAO) over glycogen accumulating organisms (GAO). On the other hand, for denitrification, acetate is the preferred substrate, which was most abundant with RAS only fermentation. Our research outcomes will be of value to utilities aiming to integrate the stringent effluent nutrient (N and P) discharge targets with energy and resource recovery.

Keywords: Carbon Diversion, Hydrolysis, Fermentation, Carbon speciation, Sustainable nutrient management

Received: 29 Jan 2024; Accepted: 25 Apr 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Cecconi, Pifer, Sabba and Downing. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Dr. Fabrizio Sabba, Black & Veatch, Kansas City, Kansas, United States

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