Sustainable Urban Water Management—Progress in the 21st Century

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable urban water management (SUWM) is the ultimate goal of all water professionals and practitioners. In reality, however, it is incredibly difficult to achieve, largely due to the inherent difficulties of retrofitting the necessary infrastructure into established, densely populated urban areas. By and large, progress towards SUWM internationally has been incremental and targets unduly optimistic. The management of stormwater—in order to minimize the potential for damage to urban infrastructure due to flooding, i.e., water quantity—has been the historical design paradigm.

Perhaps, from a pragmatic perspective, this is understandable. However, management of stormwater for water quality is a key aspect of SUWM and yet it continues to play an inferior role to the management of water quantity. The comprehensive reuse of wastewater—another pillar of SUWM—is also falling well short of the true potential of this largely untapped resource. Critics may well argue that true SUWM in an ever-increasingly populated world is but a mirage: the costs being too high, the drivers too few, the benefits too small.

If SUWM is to have a future, it needs to be able to demonstrate its quantifiable benefits to all the key stakeholders or else its critics will be proven right. In this Special Issue, we seek to describe these ‘quantifiable benefits’ and to learn of case studies and examples where SUWM has been practically achieved.

Discussions on methodologies, strategies and results, reviews of current published research, and real-world case studies and applications are encouraged for submission.

A collection of scientific articles on this topic can support scholars, policymakers, industry, and governments to find solutions that support the uptake of SUWM at all scales. Articulation of the benefits of SUWM is key if it is to have a role to play in the future of our urban areas.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome and research areas may include, but are not limited to:

• Sustainable urban water management in theory and practice;
• Cost-benefit analysis;
• Life cycle analysis;
• Stormwater reuse;
• Wastewater reuse and recycling;
• Fit-for-purpose water sources;
• Examples of retrofitting urban areas for SUWM;
• Nutrient capture and reuse from stormwater and wastewater;
• Biodiversity and environmental benefits arising from SUWM;
• Implementation of advanced technologies;
• Low-tech SUWM solutions in low-middle income countries;
• Societal benefits arising from SUWM.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Stewart Dallas
Dr. Biji Kurup
Dr. Martin Anda
Guest Editors

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• sustainable urban water management
• cost–benefit analysis
• life cycle analysis
• stormwater reuse
• wastewater reuse and recycling
• fit-for-purpose water sources