Towards sustainable water cycles for cities of the future
Global population growth, increased urbanisation and climate change are pushing current urban water management systems to their limits. Many cities are facing impending shortages of fresh water supplies and opportunities to supplement these supplies are increasingly expensive and energy intensive. Increased urbanisation has also led to large daily volumes of wastewater disposal to the environment such as rivers and streams. Urban wastewaters now provide the major component of many inland waterways on all inhabited continents. A further consequence of climate change is believed to be increased frequency and severity of a diverse range of extreme weather events. Extreme weather events place additional pressures on both drinking water supply and sustainable wastewater disposal. The sustainable water cycles focus group is undertaking research to improve the ways in which water is managed, at all stages of the urban water cycle, towards sustainability in the face of population growth and climate change. Key research areas included closing the urban water loop with optimised strategies for water recycling, and managing environmental impacts by matching wastewater discharge quality with receiving environment capacity.
Prof. Stuart Khan is an associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of New South Wales, Australia and works in this Focus Group as a Hans Fischer Fellow. His host at TUM is Prof. Jörg Drewes (Urban Water Systems Engineering).
TUM-IAS funded doctoral candidate:
Philipp Michel, Urban Water Systems Engineering
Publications by the Focus Group