Upscaling Urban Recycled Water Schemes: An Analysis of the Presence of Required Governance Conditions in the City of Sabadell (Spain)

Josep Pinyol Alberich, Farhad Mukhtarov, Carel Dieperink, Peter Driessen, Annelies Broekman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Cleaning wastewater and using it again for secondary purposes is a measure to address water scarcity in urban areas. However, upscaling of recycled water schemes is challenging, and little is known about the governance conditions which are required for this. This paper addresses this knowledge gap. Based on a review of governance literature we suggest that five governance conditions are necessary for a successful upscaling of recycled water schemes: (1) policy leadership, (2) policy coordination, (3) availability of financial resources, (4) awareness of a problem, and (5) the presence of a public forum. We applied these concepts in a case study on the upscaling of a recycled water scheme in Sabadell, Spain. We reviewed policy documents, conducted a set of 21 semi-structured interviews, and attended two policy meetings about the subject. Our results suggest that Sabadell meets the required conditions for upscaling reused water to a certain extent. However, a public forum is not well-developed. We discuss the implications of this and conclude with some suggestions for future research and some lessons for other cities that plan to upscale their recycled water schemes.
Original languageEnglish
Article number11
Number of pages13
JournalWater (Switzerland)
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Dec 2018

Keywords

  • Water recycle
  • upscaling
  • water governance
  • water availability
  • climate change adaptation

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