There is a proactive interest in recovering water, nutrients and energy from waste streams with the increase in municipal wastewater volumes and innovations in resource recovery. Based on the synthesis of wastewater data, this study provides insights into the global and regional “potential” of wastewater as water, nutrient and energy sources while acknowledging the limitations of current resource recovery opportunities and promoting efforts to fast‐track high‐efficiency returns. The study estimates suggest that, currently, 380 billion m3 (m3 = 1,000 L) of wastewater are produced annually across the world which is a volume five‐fold the volume of water passing through Niagara Falls annually. Wastewater production globally is expected to increase by 24% by 2030 and 51% by 2050 over the current level. Among major nutrients, 16.6 Tg (Tg = million metric ton) of nitrogen are embedded in wastewater produced worldwide annually; phosphorus stands at 3.0 Tg and potassium at 6.3 Tg. The full nutrient recovery from wastewater would offset 13.4% of the global demand for these nutrients in agriculture. Beyond nutrient recovery and economic gains, there are critical environmental benefits, such as minimizing eutrophication. At the energy front, the energy embedded in wastewater would be enough to provide electricity to 158 million households. These estimates and projections are based on the maximum theoretical amounts of water, nutrients and energy that exist in the reported municipal wastewater produced worldwide annually. Supporting resource recovery from wastewater will need a step‐wise approach to address a range of constraints to deliver a high rate of return in direct support of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6, 7 and 12, but also other Goals, including adaptation to climate change and efforts in advancing “net‐zero” energy processes towards a green economy.

中文翻译：

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废水作为水、营养和能源的全球和区域潜力

随着城市废水量的增加和资源回收的创新，人们对从废物流中回收水、养分和能量产生了积极的兴趣。基于废水数据的综合，本研究提供了对废水作为水、养分和能源的全球和区域“潜力”的见解，同时承认当前资源回收机会的局限性，并促进了快速高效回报的努力。研究估计表明，目前全世界每年产生 3800 亿立方米（立方米 = 1,000 升）废水，是每年流经尼亚加拉大瀑布的水量的五倍。到 2030 年，全球废水产量预计将比当前水平增加 24%，到 2050 年增加 51%。在主要营养素中，16。全球每年产生的废水中含有 6 Tg（Tg = 百万公吨）氮；磷为 3.0 Tg，钾为 6.3 Tg。从废水中完全回收养分将抵消全球农业对这些养分需求的 13.4%。除了养分回收和经济收益之外，还有重要的环境效益，例如最大限度地减少富营养化。在能源方面，污水中的能量足以为 1.58 亿家庭提供电力。这些估计和预测基于每年报告的全球城市废水中存在的最大理论水、养分和能量量。