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Sustainability
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Advancing Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Sustainable Water Resources
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Advancing Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Sustainable Water Resources

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Water Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 2770

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rui M.C. Viegas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Water Quality and Treatment Laboratory, Urban Water Unit, Hydraulics and Environment Department, LNEC—National Civil Engineering Laboratory, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: advanced water/wastewater treatment technologies (membranes, adsorption, hybrid processes); water reclamation and reuse; control of contaminants of emerging concern; development, modelling and optimization of water/wastewater treatment processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Elsa Mesquita

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Urban Water Unit, Hydraulics and Environment Department, LNEC—National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, 1700-066 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: water, wastewater and reclaimed water quality; water and reclaimed water quality in distribution systems. Water and wastewater treatment processes; water reuse; activated carbon adsorption and biofiltration processes for water and wastewater treatment; control of emerging organic microcontaminants, cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins, oxidation by-products and organic matter
Dr. Filipa Ferreira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CERIS—Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: sanitary engineering; urban drainage systems; urban resilience; modeling and integrated management; monitoring and warning systems; water and wastewater treatment; water reuse.
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Joana Ramirão Costa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CERIS—Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: hydraulic and water quality modelling; asset management; water reuse; wastewater treatment processes and resources recovery; online monitoring and forecasting of hydrodynamics and water quality in estuaries, drainage and distribution systems; data science: data collection, processing and statistical analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the pursuit of water resource protection and sustainability, improving wastewater treatment and water reuse have emerged as indispensable strategies.

Wastewater treatment faces mounting challenges related to the increasing number of micropollutants and contaminants of emerging concern, the rise in population density, the expansion of industrial activities, the increased frequency of climate change-related events and the depletion of freshwater resources. This context demands an effective shift in wastewater treatment strategies, operation and management approaches.

Innovative wastewater treatment processes, focusing on water reclamation, nutrients and energy recovery, along with the digitalization of water and wastewater systems, promise to improve systems’ management efficiency and significantly contribute to the sustainability of water resources. On this path, smart monitoring integrated with mathematical models for hydraulic, water quality and water treatment processes, along with data analysis, model optimization and the application of technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are pivotal elements. They enable faster strategic responses and the development of decision support tools allowing for the efficient management of water drainage systems, wastewater treatment processes, reclaimed water distribution networks and points of use of reclaimed water.  

This Special Issue aims to expand the present knowledge and explore future prospects related to wastewater treatment including operational and management strategies of treatment processes, pollution control, sanitation, resource (water, nutrients and energy) recovery systems, hydraulic and water quality modeling and asset management. Contributions encompassing research on technologies, decision support tools, strategic plans and methodological approaches are welcomed. The discussion of case studies and experimental findings is encouraged.

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. Rui M.C. Viegas
Dr. Elsa Mesquita
Dr. Filipa Ferreira
Dr. Joana Ramirão Costa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wastewater treatment
  • advanced treatment technologies
  • reclaimed water
  • water reuse
  • water quality
  • risk assessment and management
  • cost and life cycle analysis
  • water quality and hydraulic modeling
  • digital water

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 923 KiB  
Article
Water Reuse: Contribution of a Decision Support Model
by Edilson Holanda Costa Filho, Ronaldo Stefanutti, Ulisses Costa de Oliveira and José Saldanha Matos
Sustainability 2025, 17(2), 692; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020692 - 16 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 963
Abstract
Sustainability seeks to strike a balance between preserving the environment and meeting human needs without compromising future generations. In this context, and considering the effects of climate change on water availability, water reuse is emerging as an alternative to conventional water sources for [...] Read more.
Sustainability seeks to strike a balance between preserving the environment and meeting human needs without compromising future generations. In this context, and considering the effects of climate change on water availability, water reuse is emerging as an alternative to conventional water sources for various purposes, contributing to sustainability. Water reuse projects are, in general, not simple to implement due to different technical, environmental, social and economic aspects. In this paper, a support decision model for water reuse projects is presented, identifying relevant indicators and parameters. Based on a literature review, four indicators or dimensions (technical, social, environmental and economic) and twelve parameters (e.g., WWTP safety, transport complexity, existence of legislation, risk to health and environment, energy consumption, degree of acceptance and required investment and operation and maintenance costs) are proposed. The Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) method is used as a component of the model to determine the weights of the indicators and parameters in order to allow the calculation of a reuse feasibility index (RFI). The developed model was applied to the city of Aquiraz, Ceará, Brazil, and the RFI found was 82%, which means that the water reuse project had very high viability. The results underwent a sensitivity analysis, which confirms the consistency of the conclusions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Sustainable Water Resources)
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16 pages, 554 KiB  
Article
The Rise and Transfer of the River Chief System: A Review of Chinese Water Governance and Its Potential to Transfer to the Global Community
by David Peter Dolowitz
Sustainability 2024, 16(19), 8535; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16198535 - 30 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1221
Abstract
As a result of water sustainability issues, China has enacted a range of policies to improve its water ecosystem since the middle of the 20th century. These measures include the creation of the Seven River Conservancy Commissions, the development (combination and recombination) of [...] Read more.
As a result of water sustainability issues, China has enacted a range of policies to improve its water ecosystem since the middle of the 20th century. These measures include the creation of the Seven River Conservancy Commissions, the development (combination and recombination) of ministries and departments to address environmental pollution and degradation, and recently, the implementation of the river chief system. Considering the importance of global water sustainability and the positive impact Chinese measures have had in this area, the author will examine if the river chief can be transferred to other political jurisdictions. To do this, the author gathered data using keyword searches of the Web of Science and Google Scholar, official government sites, media sites and key international organizations. Based on this, the author reviews the development of the river chief system in the context of broader ecological reforms, places the rise of the river chief in the context of potential lessons for future improvement, and speculates on the possibility that China could transfer the river chief to countries facing similar challenges in their water governance regimes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Sustainable Water Resources)
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