1. UN World Water Development Report: Wastewater: The Untapped Resource

UNESCO Wastewater: The Untapped resource Most human activities that use water produce wastewater. As the overall demand for water grows, the quantity of wastewater produced and its overall pollution load are continuously increasing worldwide. Over 80% of the world’s wastewater – and over 95% in some least developed countries – is released to the environment without treatment.

Once discharged into water bodies, wastewater is either diluted, transported downstream or infiltrates into aquifers, where it can affect the quality (and therefore the availability) of freshwater supplies. The ultimate destination of wastewater discharged into rivers and lakes is often the ocean with negative consequences for the marine environment.

The 2017 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report, entitled “Wastewater: The Untapped Resource”, demonstrates how improved wastewater management generates social, environmental and economic benefits essential for sustainable development and is essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In particular, the Report seeks to inform decision-makers, government, civil society and private sector, about the importance of managing wastewater as an undervalued and sustainable source of water, energy, nutrients and other recoverable by-products, rather than something to be disposed of or a nuisance to be ignored. Click here to download the report

2. ING Bank Report – Circular Loop Systems – How thinking in circles can save water

ING 22 March 2017   There are seven and a half billion people on the planet, yet only 2.5 percent of the world’s water is fresh. Millions continue to have no access to drinking water and that scarcity is set to worsen with an increasing global population and climate change. All is not lost though. A new water report produced by ING shows how the circular economy could save 400 billion of cubic metres of water every year.

The ING Group (Dutch: ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, and insurance services. ING is an abbreviation for Internationale Nederlanden Groep (English: International Netherlands Group).

https://www.ing.com/Newsroom/All-news/How-thinking-in-circles-can-save-water.htm