World water day on March 22: why United Nation chose the Hummingbird Symbolism and tale of reusing wastewater in the circular economy!

World water day on March 22, 2023 is launched by the United Nation with the theme of “Accelerating Change” that emphasizes the role of water as fundamental to all aspects of life and is the core of sustainable development in each country; towards solving the water and sanitation crisis on over the world. Thereby, calling on the community to join hands in implementing action programs to protect water resources to make a difference by changing the way water is used, extracted and managed in daily life.

Hummingbird - symbol for the message of World Water Day 2023

On the world water day, hummingbird is a tale that reminding us to react quickly in the face of crisis: we observe (?) or we act (?)

Some actions protect the resources of water on the world:

• Save water: Limit frequent bathing and don’t waste water when brushing teeth, washing dishes, preaparing food;
•  Proctect nature: Plant trees or create rain gardens – use natural solutions to reduce flood and store water;
•  Prevent pollution: Don’t pumb food waste, oil waste, drugs and chemicals down the toilet or household drain;
•  Eat local foods: Buy local, seasonal foods and look for products that use less water.
•  Discover: Find aquatic resources and share them, and manage waste through waste treatment plants.

“Wastewater Reuse” overview from current environmental law

The Government regulates and guides the reuse of wastewater on Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP, effective January 10, 2022. In which, Article 57 - General requirements for wastewater management, especially prevention, reduction, collection, reuse and treatment of wastewater must meet the requirements specified in Clause 2, Article 72 of the Law on Environmental Protection and some specific regulations as follows:

1. Wastewater must be managed to reduce exploitation, increase the efficiency of using water resource, and minimize adverse impacts on the environment.

2. Maximize the using value of wastewater generated from production, business, services and living activities through the application of solutions in the following order of priority:

• a) Treat and reuse wastewater directly for production, business, services activities according to regulations of law;
• b) Treat, transfer and reuse wastewater for other production, business and service activities according to regulations of law;
• c) Transfer to other units to treat and reuse according to regulations of law;
• d) Treat and discharge wastewater up to environmental technical standards.

At Article 74, Decree No. 08/2011/ND-CP regulates: “The wastewater shall be reused when satisfying the environmental protection requirements, specialized standards and regulations appropriate to intended use of water”. In which:

• a) Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall promulgate technical regulations, technical guidance or regulations on use of treated wastewater in accordance with environmental protection requirements for plant watering; wastewater from livestock production, treatment of agricultural by-products to be reused for other purposes. Where a standard, technical regulation or technical guidance is yet to be promulgated, the standard of one of the countries in the group of developed countries shall apply;
• b) Ministries and ministerial agencies shall promulgate standards, technical regulations, technical guidance or regulations on reuse of wastewater as input water for production, business operation and services under their management after obtaining MONRE’s opinions.

“Collect and store rainwater for reuse; collect, treat and reuse wastewater” is one of circular economic criteria for investment project owners, productions, businesses, concentrated service establishments, and industrial clusters. (Article 138, Decree No.08/2022/ND-CP)

The World Water Day 22-3: promte to reuse wastewater in the circular economy!

Many areas on over the world are facing a shortage of water, reusable water so recirculating wastewater after treatment (controlled)for other activities to save water and provide suitable alternative water sources to meet most water needs except for drinking water that requires higher quality.The purpose of water reuse is increasing in the cities of many countries, including sprayed landscape, used industrial; flushed toilets and urinals; used for fire fighting, cleaned streets; used for the purpose of entertainment and environment (water has decorative properties, complement for rivers, lakes,…), used to wash cars and vehicles. These systems of centralized water reuse have grown to the point that are considered an effective component of urban water management and widely used in many cities and countries around the world.

In Viet nam, the Government promulgated legal documents to encourage water reuse, currently include: Law on Environmental protection, Decree No. 08/2022/ND-CP, Technical regulations on water quality… along with local guidelines to ensure the activity of water reuse are implemented and controlled.

Wastewater are reused after treatment in some cases:

As an activity that is encouraged, however, in order to be reused for the purposes of watering plants and washing roads in the campus, the treated wastewater must meet National technical regulations on quality of water and identify reuse options in the environmental dossier. Some specific cases are as follows:

Allow reuse of domestic wastewater which has been treated to ensure compliance with National technical regulations on quality of water suitable for purposes of irrigation B1 column (QCVN 08-MT:2015/BTNMT) to watering trees within the premises of the facility itself. In case of wastewater reuse after treatment for cleaning toilets or streets within the premises of the facility, the establishment owner is responsible for treating wastewater that is met technical regulations according to regulations at QCVN 08-MT:2015/BTNMT, the column of A1 before reusing.

For livestock wastewater is used for plants, which must be treated to meet the requirements of the Regulations QCVN 01-195:2022/BNNPTNT, National technical regulations on livestock wastewater use for plants (promulgated together with Circular No. 28/2022/TT-BNNPTNT) effective from June 30, 2023.

Source: A Chau Environment Co., Ltd