In arid and semi-arid regions, where water demand exceeds water availability, water security is becoming a significant concern not only related to water availability but also to rigorous and costly requirements to remove conventional and emerging contaminants from effluents discharging into drinking water sources or as water reuse becomes an alternate water supply for communities in these regions. Water and wastewater treatment demands a great amount of energy and resources, highlighting the need for novel applications of the circular economy concept. Circular Economy Applications for Water Security examines knowledge gaps, avenues of future research, and challenges related to the potential of enhanced underutilized/waste materials as a transition to circular economy applications for ensuring the proper quality of water. This book includes fundamental information and practical examples that helps to better understand the concepts included. The circular economy concept is helpful to incept sustainability in the water treatment processes. Every chapter includes the identification of knowledge gaps, avenues for further research, and challenges that guide readers towards real state-of-the-art analysis. Contributors are experts in their areas and will commit to explaining concepts in a user-friendly way without missing scientific rigor.

The reclamation of wastewater (and other essential materials) is among the major research areas for understanding the effects of implementing a circular economic model. The re-use and re-cycling of wastewater can greatly reduce the overall demand for freshwater for various industrial applications. Such concepts could potentially greatly reduce the overall water demands of our planet if implemented successfully. Circular Economy: Applications for Water Remediation will examine the current understanding of the circular economy in water remediation processes, its drawbacks, and relatively unexplored areas that require further research. This book: • Provides an overview of the processes available to extract value-added materials from wastewater, such as clean water, nutrients, and energy. • Explores the possibilities of re-using wastewater for agricultural uses. • Provides an overview of the current policies and regulations concerning the implementation of circular economy concepts in wastewater remediation.

Cities and regions play a fundamental role in the transition from a linear to a circular economy, as they are responsible for key policies in local public services such as transport, solid waste, water and energy that affect citizens’ well-being, economic growth and environmental quality. This synthesis report builds on the findings from 51 cities and regions contributing to the OECD Survey on the Circular Economy in Cities and Regions and on lessons learnt from the OECD Policy Dialogues on the circular economy carried out in Groningen (Netherlands), Umeå (Sweden), Valladolid (Spain) and on-going in Glasgow (United Kingdom), Granada (Spain), and Ireland.

Presented at the 1st International Conference on Urban Growth and the Circular Economy that was held in Alicante, Spain the papers included in this book focus on the continuing and rapid growth of cities and their regions of influence and how that has led to the need to find new solutions which allow for promoting their sustainable development. The quest for the Sustainable City has until recently focused on the efficient use of resources with the application of technical advances giving rise to the definition of SMART Cities. The economic model emphasised however is still “linear” in the sense that the design and consumption follows the pattern of extraction of natural resources, manufacturing, product usage and waste disposal. The continuous growth of urban population has recently given rise to the emergence of a new model which responds better to the challenges of natural resource depletion as well as waste management. This model has been called the “circular economy”. The circular economy is a recent concept based on the reuse of what up to now has been considered wastes, reintroducing them into the productive cycle. The objective of the circular economy is to reduce consumption and achieve savings in terms of raw materials, water and energy, thus contributing to the preservation of resources in order to reach sustainable development. One of the most important of these resources is water which is becoming a scarce commodity in an ever expanding world whose population demands a better standard of living. Water is required for agricultural purposes as well as by industry, in addition to its use by the general population. The recycling of water is an essential component of the circular economy. There is no possibility for the success of a long term economic policy without addressing the problems of natural resources and environmental pollution, which will affect the reuse of materials and products. The current market economy based on a linear model from resource extraction, manufacturing, consumption and waste disposal, has not proved a long term suitable solution, in spite of the substantial efforts made in reducing its environmental impacts. This is largely due to the continuous population growth, in a society that demands high standards of living, thus requiring an ever increasing share of natural resources.

This book presents possible solutions for a circuler economy (CE) in the water and wastewater sector through an inventory of multidisciplinary knowledge with high scientific and practical importance which can contribute to support the transition to the CE model in water and wastewater sector. Water in modern studies exceeds being an important source for irrigation and drinking. It is now a significant source of renewable energy and a catalyst in most industrial and manufacturing products. The protection and sustainable management of water resources and water-based waste (as wastewater, sewage sludge, or sewage sludge ash) are important aspects of the CE, which is defined as a regenerative growth model that gives back to the planet more than it takes. Our book, entitled "Water in Circular Economy", delivers a comprehensive overview of the latest research covering the following aspects of water management from the perspective of the CE implementation: · Water as a key resource in the circular economy; · Innovative solutions in transition to the circular economy in water and wastewater sector; · Monitoring of circular economy implementation in water and wastewater sector.

This book offers new perspectives on the economic development of the Middle East and North Africa region. Offering both theoretical studies and empirical country studies, it examines micro- and macroeconomic issues and provides deep insights into the development challenges and prospects of various countries in the region. The articles examine a wide range of development issues, including economic growth, natural resource use, food security, poverty and inequality, corruption and transparency, military spending, water and resource scarcity, agriculture and aid effectiveness, and other relevant issues. The volume is aimed at scholars in economic and development studies as well as policy-makers and investors interested in the economic development of the MENA region.

This book presents the advantages of the circular economy as a powerful - and inevitable - model for tackling the current challenges against shrinking resources and establishing the resource efficient economy. The experienced contributors present the status and strategies of circular economy implementation in several countries with hands on experience to protect the environment while promoting the circular economy through legislative requirements, best practices adopted and popularizing the idea of circulation of resources amongst the researchers & academia, policy makers, industry, and the general public at large. The book advocates model that consists of designing products and processes with a view to endlessly recycling them evolving a greater scope of sustainable development.

Water Management and Circular Economy covers the role of water in the mainstream dimensions of society, economy, environment/ecology and technology. Along with the under conceptualization of the Circular Economy (CE), the book covers the role of recycling and reusing the otherwise lost sources of waste, gray or untapped water sources towards a second round of utility. This book bridges the gap between water inflows in nature with the wide spectrum of its potential applications in humanity. Sections cover direct and indirect entities conceptualized as "outflows, including water, energy, products and services to urban, suburban, rural and insular contexts of analysis. As such, this content will be important reading for Water Scientists, Water Managers, and civil engineers. - Includes real-world applications and case studies to show how these policies can be adopted - Presents global coverage, with a diverse list of contributors – all of whom are experts in the field - Showcases a multidisciplinary approach, with editors from environmental and managerial backgrounds, thus helping to cross the bridge between social and science fields

During the past five decades, we have witnessed a tremendous evolution in water resource system management. Three characteristics of this evolution are of particular note: First, the application of the systems approach to complex water management problems has been established as one of the most important advances in the field of water resource management. Second, the past five decades have brought a remarkable transformation of attitude in the water resource management community towards environmental concerns and action to address these concerns. Third, applying the principles of sustainability to water resource decision-making requires major changes in the objectives on which decisions are based, and an understanding of the complicated inter-relationships between existing ecological, economic, and social factors. The Special Issue includes 15 contributions that offer insights into contemporary problems, approaches, and issues related to the management of complex water resources systems. It will be presumptuous to say that these 15 contributions characterize the success or failure of the systems approach to support water resources decision-making. However, these contributions offer interesting lessons from current experiences and highlight possible future work.

Electrochemical Membrane Technology will have a strong impact on electrochemical and membrane separation research in the future and will contribute significantly to academic training and the well-being of human society. This book will include a comprehensive discussion of SWOT analysis of each electrochemical membrane technology, and the discussion of energy production from electrochemical membrane technologies in a separate chapter. This will be based theoretical and experimental studies on electrochemical membrane technologies and applications. Written for chemical and environmental engineers, professors and other university teachers, research scientists, graduate students, water treatment managers, research institutions, and Research and Development departments of industries involved in sustainable water treatment and coproduction of valuable products from water treatment technologies. - Provides comparative analysis of energy production from electrochemical membrane technologies and a comprehensive analysis of the recent advances in these technologies - Discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats/challenges (SWOT) of each electrochemical membrane technology - Addresses the importance energy co-production