Nanotechnology in Industrial Wastewater Treatment

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The global population has grown significantly over the last few decades; this has led to a great increase in the demand for water supply. The water shortage situation has the potential to develop into a global water crisis. Reliance on surface water bodies alone seems to be insufficient to respond to this rising demand, while heavy extraction of ground water can lead to negative long term effects such as land subsidence. Recycle and re-use of water, therefore, has emerged into an urgent environmental and social issue. Treated wastewater is one of the promising alternatives, which has drawn great interest over the last two decades, especially in arid and semi-arid regions where water sources are limited. The wastewater is a readily available and reliable source, and its treatment and recycling would reduce the extensive amount of water extracted from the natural environment (Toze, 2006). The potential use of the treated wastewater can be varied significantly, depending upon the degree of treatment and quality for public acceptance. Advances in the treatment made it possible to use wastewater from irrigation purposes to public water supply.