Main Article Content

Gumersindo Feijoo
USC
Spain
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6231-3887
Vol 4 No 15 (2021): Sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), Essays, pages 120-131
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15304/ricd.4.15.8109
Submitted: 15-11-2021 Accepted: 15-11-2021 Published: 17-01-2022
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Abstract

In 2020, the average percentage of the world's population living in cities was 56%, with the average for the European continent being 74%. A survey of the European population in 2021 suggests that the three main challenges facing humanity are climate change, lack of water and the spread of disease. In fact, the availability of clean water and its proper sanitation is one of the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the Agenda 2030 (SDG 6). Therefore, management of the water cycle in cities, starting with water purification systems, is necessary to reduce the water footprint. Households play a key role in this goal, as adapting water consumption to real needs can be done in a simple way by following a series of small actions that are economically and technologically accessible. Furthermore, the R&D&I currently being carried out will shape the WWTP of the 21st century, directing its evolution towards the design of a biofactory capable of recovering the material and energy resources present in wastewater, an aspect that is compatible with its primary objective of removal pollutants before they are discharged

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