Innovative sewage solutions: Tackling the global human waste problem

Feb 1, 2022

Sewage contaminates ocean water. Image: REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Sean Mowbray

Freelancer, Mongabay

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how SDG 06: Clean Water and Sanitation is affecting economies, industries and global issues

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

SDG 06: Clean Water and Sanitation

Untreated wastewater enters the ocean in Roatan, Honduras.

Wastewater pollutes the ocean. Image: Antonio Busiello/Coral Reef Alliance.

Protecting human health and ecosystems, including coral reefs and seagrass meadows. Image: Beth Watson/Ocean Image Bank

A staff member at the Polos Water Treatment Plant in Half Moon Bay in Roatan, Honduras.

Pollution was significantly reduced there, resulting in benefits for locals and coral reefs. Image: Antonio Busiello/Coral Reef Alliance.

U.S. annual precipitation compared to 20th century average.

normal annual U.S. precipitation as a percent of the 20th-century average for each U.S. Climate Normals period from 1901-1930 to 1991-2020. Image: NOAA Climate.gov and NCEI

This 6-hectare (15-acre) treatment wetland was constructed in 2014 on the site of an abandoned poplar plantation. Image: IRIDRA

Scandinavian Green Roof Inst. Scandinavian Green Roof Inst.

Green roofs are another nature-based solution. Image: Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

algae grown on a vertical conveyor belt are used to strip nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater, producing reusable fertilizer in the process.

The release of nitrogen and phosphorus via wastewater and sewage is contributing to pressure on coastal ecosystems. Image: Gross-Wen Technologies

The main retention pond at the entrance of Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park.

park was constructed to provide a green space, reduce pressure on the city’s sewage treatment system, and reduce flood risk. Image: Supanut Arunoprayote/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

A remote boat developed by the INTCATCH project.

Equipped with onboard sensors, it can monitor water quality in real-time. Image: INTCATCH

Discover

What is the Forum doing to address the global water challenge?

Ongoing Park Habitat project in San Jose, California.

Diverting tens of thousands of pounds of methane-emitting organics from landfill. Image: Kengo Kuma and Associates/Westbank.

Have you read?

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.