Redrawing the Hydrosocial Cycle Through Treated Wastewater Reuse in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona
March, Hug ; Gorostiza, Santiago LU
and Saurí, David
(2023)
In Water Alternatives
16(2).
p.463-479
- Abstract
- Increasing economic, social and environmental limits to the development of conventional water supply sources have shifted water resource frontiers to alternative sources, most notably desalination and wastewater reuse. In the past few years, critical scholarship has been prolific in its exploration of how desalination may redraw the hydrosocial cycle in different geographies; wastewater reuse, however, has received much less attention. In this article, we aim to contribute to a critical exploration of the implications of different types of wastewater reuse for urban purposes. We do so through an examination of the case of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), an area with a fragile water supply system that has been undergoing a harsh... (More)
- Increasing economic, social and environmental limits to the development of conventional water supply sources have shifted water resource frontiers to alternative sources, most notably desalination and wastewater reuse. In the past few years, critical scholarship has been prolific in its exploration of how desalination may redraw the hydrosocial cycle in different geographies; wastewater reuse, however, has received much less attention. In this article, we aim to contribute to a critical exploration of the implications of different types of wastewater reuse for urban purposes. We do so through an examination of the case of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), an area with a fragile water supply system that has been undergoing a harsh drought in 2022/2023. We examine two examples of how treated wastewater may enter the residential sphere. The first involves the reuse of greywater for toilet flushing in residential buildings. The second is linked to the possibilities that advanced treatment of wastewater open up in terms of making urban water systems more robust and more resilient to recurring droughts; this advanced strategy enables both the bolstering of indirect reuse of reclaimed water for potable purposes and direct reuse through the development of dual networks of supply in new urban areas. In this paper, we attempt to unravel the different economic, social, environmental and political implications of those interventions through the lens of the hydrosocial cycle and resource frontiers. We triangulate a critical review of policy documents with informal conversations with policymakers and, in one of the case studies, previous research. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3d79e365-5dcc-4da5-abd2-b70baaa3dfc6
- author
- March, Hug
; Gorostiza, Santiago
LU
and Saurí, David
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Greywater recycling, hydrosocial cycle, indirect potable water reuse, Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, resource frontiers, Spain
- in
- Water Alternatives
- volume
- 16
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 17 pages
- publisher
- Water Alternatives Association
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85162127057
- ISSN
- 1965-0175
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © THIS ARTICLE IS DISTRIBUTED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE CREATIVE COMMONS ATTRIBUTION-NONCOMMERCIAL-SHAREALIKE LICENSE WHICH PERMITS ANY NON COMMERCIAL USE, DISTRIBUTION, AND REPRODUCTION IN ANY MEDIUM, PROVIDED THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR(S) AND SOURCE ARE CREDITED. SEE HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-NC-SA/3.0/FR/DEED.EN
- id
- 3d79e365-5dcc-4da5-abd2-b70baaa3dfc6
- alternative location
- https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol16/v16issue2/702-a16-2-5/file
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-12 13:43:24
- date last changed
- 2025-06-16 13:30:13
@article{3d79e365-5dcc-4da5-abd2-b70baaa3dfc6,
abstract = {{Increasing economic, social and environmental limits to the development of conventional water supply sources have shifted water resource frontiers to alternative sources, most notably desalination and wastewater reuse. In the past few years, critical scholarship has been prolific in its exploration of how desalination may redraw the hydrosocial cycle in different geographies; wastewater reuse, however, has received much less attention. In this article, we aim to contribute to a critical exploration of the implications of different types of wastewater reuse for urban purposes. We do so through an examination of the case of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), an area with a fragile water supply system that has been undergoing a harsh drought in 2022/2023. We examine two examples of how treated wastewater may enter the residential sphere. The first involves the reuse of greywater for toilet flushing in residential buildings. The second is linked to the possibilities that advanced treatment of wastewater open up in terms of making urban water systems more robust and more resilient to recurring droughts; this advanced strategy enables both the bolstering of indirect reuse of reclaimed water for potable purposes and direct reuse through the development of dual networks of supply in new urban areas. In this paper, we attempt to unravel the different economic, social, environmental and political implications of those interventions through the lens of the hydrosocial cycle and resource frontiers. We triangulate a critical review of policy documents with informal conversations with policymakers and, in one of the case studies, previous research.}},
author = {{March, Hug and Gorostiza, Santiago and Saurí, David}},
issn = {{1965-0175}},
keywords = {{Greywater recycling; hydrosocial cycle; indirect potable water reuse; Metropolitan Area of Barcelona; resource frontiers; Spain}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{463--479}},
publisher = {{Water Alternatives Association}},
series = {{Water Alternatives}},
title = {{Redrawing the Hydrosocial Cycle Through Treated Wastewater Reuse in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona}},
url = {{https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol16/v16issue2/702-a16-2-5/file}},
volume = {{16}},
year = {{2023}},
}