Economics in Wastewater Treatment
A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 29
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue, “Economics in Wastewater Treatment”, brings together research that quantifies, evaluates and guides economic decision-making across the wastewater value chain, from collection and treatment to reuse and resource recovery. Recent policy shifts in the European Union (notably the Water Reuse Regulation and the revision of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive) underscore tighter environmental standards, stronger implementation of the polluter-pays principle, and explicit targets to advance circularity and energy performance in treatment plants. While these policies are European, the challenges and economic considerations they address, including cost-allocation, affordability, financing models, and the value of recovered resources, are of global relevance and can inform practices globally. This Special Issue invites empirical studies, techno-economic assessments, policy analyses, models, and case studies that address cost–benefit and lifecycle perspectives, incentives and regulation, market design for recovered products, distributional impacts on utilities and users, and innovative financing or business models that make ambitious regulatory goals attainable and socially fair. Submissions that link rigorous economic analysis with practical implementation in utilities and policy are especially welcome.
Dr. Federico Micolucci
Guest Editor
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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. Water 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 2600 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 economics
- cost–benefit analysis
- resource recovery
- water reuse
- polluter-pays principle
- energy neutrality
- micropollutant removal costs
- affordability and financing
- circular economy
- policy instruments
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
