Elena Neverova-Dziopak 
, Józef Dziopak , Zbigniew Kowalewski
DOI: 10.15199/17.2025.3.3, GWiTS 3/2025, marzec 2025
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Abstract:
Water management is one of the strategic economy sectors of any country intended for water resources use and protection and requires an operational and effective management system. Business‑as‑usual approaches have shown their insolvency and inability to achieve sustainable performance of the water sector on both global and local scales. In connection with this, there is an urgent need for a paradigm shift in the development of management strategies. The need for transformation from a prevailing linear strategy to a circular one is driven to a significant extent by increasing water scarcity and the depletion of mineral and energy resources. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can be an important part of circular sustainability due to the integration of energy production, resource recovery and clean water production. Wastewater and sewage sludge can be reused to boost scarce resources and optimize future investments in the water and wastewater sector. The transformation of WWTPs must be based on a holistic approach assuming political, economic, environmental and social aspects, but the optimal recovery technology is a prerequisite for implementing circular economy (CE) solutions. Water‑and‑resource‑efficient technologies based on the 3Rs approach (Reduce, Replace and Reuse) should be adopted in the initial stage of planning and designing WWTPs. One of the efficient decision‑support tools for optimizing the design and modernization of WWTPs towards circular operation and management is simulation models, which allow assessment of the WWTP’s recovery potential and profitability of planned investments.
Keywords: wastewater treatment plants, circularity, raw materials, simulation models.
Streszczenie:
Gospodarka wodna jest jednym ze strategicznych sektorów gospodarki każdego kraju, przeznaczonym do wykorzystania i ochrony zasobów wodnych i wymaga operacyjnego i skutecznego systemu zarządzania. Podejście typu business‑as‑usual okazało się nieefektywne i nie prowadzi do osiągnięcia zrównoważonego rozwoju sektora wodnego w skali globalnej i lokalnej. W związku z tym istnieje pilna potrzeba zmiany paradygmatu w strategiach jego zarządzania. Potrzeba transformacji dominującego obecnie modelu liniowego na strategie obiegu zamkniętego jest w znacznym stopniu napędzana rosnącym niedoborem wody i wyczerpywaniem się zasobów mineralnych i energetycznych. Miejskie oczyszczalnie ścieków (WWTP) mogą być ważną częścią zrównoważonego rozwoju ze względu na integrację produkcji energii, czystej wody i odzyskiwania zasobów. Ścieki i osady ściekowe mogą być ponownie wykorzystywane w celu zwiększenia ograniczonych zasobów i optymalizacji przyszłych inwestycji w sektorze wodno‑ściekowym. Transformacja oczyszczalni ścieków musi opierać się na holistycznym podejściu uwzględniającym aspekty polityczno‑ekonomiczne, środowiskowe i społeczne, a optymalna technologia odzyskiwania jest warunkiem wstępnym wdrożenia rozwiązań gospodarki o obiegu zamkniętym (CE). Technologie oparte na zasadach zamkniętego obiegu wody i zasobów (tzw. podejście 3R: Reduce, Replace and Reuse) powinny być uwzględniane na początkowym etapie planowania i projektowania oczyszczalni ścieków. Jednym z efektywnych narzędzi wspomagających podejmowanie decyzji w celu optymalizacji projektowania i modernizacji oczyszczalni ścieków w kierunku gospodarki o obiegu zamkniętym i zarządzania nimi są modele symulacyjne, pozwalające ocenić potencjał odzysku oczyszczalni ścieków i rentowność planowanych inwestycji.
Słowa kluczowe: oczyszczalnie ścieków, gospodarka o obiegu zamkniętym, surowce, modele symulacyjne.
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