Holistic methodological framework for the assessment of non-conventional water resources reclamation and reuse

The project FIT4REUSE will provide safe, sustainable and accepted ways of water supply for the Mediterranean basin by exploiting non-conventional water resources. Treated wastewater and desalinated water can contribute to compensate the gap between agricultural water demand and supply and provide consistently high-quality water throughout the year. FIT4REUSE will focus on innovative, sustainable and safe treatment technologies, and on the use of treated wastewater and desalinated water for the Mediterranean agricultural sector and for aquifer recharge. Therefore, specific methodological and assessment tools framework will be created to meet the project objectives. The report “Holistic methodological framework for the assessment of non-conventional water resources” contains the bases to analyse the sustainability impacts (environmental, social and economic) of different non-conventional water reuse systems in FIT4REUSE project; through the application of different methodologies: life cycle thinking (LCT) methods, such as life cycle assessment (LCA), social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC); and cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The methodology utilized to design this framework combines: 1) an iterative literature review in the application of each life cycle thinking method and cost-benefit analysis in water management (both from conventional and non-conventional resources); 2) experts’ knowledge, to harmonize and integrate literature findings providing specific know-how (including consensus with other FIT4REUSE partners); and 3) Design a stakeholder consultation and test it through a survey to drive further consultations related to the sustainability assessment of FIT4REUSE solutions. See figure 1 for the graphical representation. The literature review was based on the analysis of different documents (books, standards, scientific papers, reports and others) which helped to set the baseline conditions to use the selected methodologies in the water management context. The outcomes of the literature review have been then integrated with experts’ knowledge to fill additional knowledge gaps. The literature review and the expert’s knowledge represented also the basis for the design of a survey aimed at the organization of the six steps stakeholders’ consultation. The survey was tested through the Water Reuse Forum (WRF), a web platform developed within FIT4REUSE. The WRF aims at providingvoice to different stakeholders relevant for the project – as they could be affected and/or benefit from FIT4REUSE solutions – as well as to confirm or reject information already identified in the literature review but tailored to specific territorial situations. The survey will be revised according to the results of the test and opened again to further review the methodology before the sustainability assessment of FIT4REUSE solutions takes place. It will also help to understand the functioning of the WRF. The selected combination of LCT and CBA approaches in the sustainability assessment of non-conventional water resources and water use represents: 1) a novelty as no study based on the combination of these two methodologies is currently present in the scientific literature related to water management; 2) a challenge due to the amount and quality of data needed to be performed; and 3) an opportunity as the combination of the two methodologies could provide a complete sustainability assessment to take informed decisions towards the application of new technologies. Therefore, this methodological report provides: • A contextualization of the application of water reuse technologies within the FIT4REUSE project. • The rationale behind the development and application of a sustainability assessment methodology combining LCT and CBA. The opportunities and the challenges of selected methodologies are also considered. • The design of a six steps consultation based on recognized methodologies to identify and engage stakeholders, including the development and test of a survey. • A summary of the next project activities and their relationship with this deliverable.