Identifying Opportunities for Water Reuse and Alternative Water Sources in the Industrial Sector

Many industrial operations are threatened by water stress and decreasing usable water supply, highlighting the urgent need to explore water reuse and alternative water sources (e.g., brackish water, seawater, produced water, industrial wastewater). Despite increased innovations in water treatment technologies and an imminent need to optimize water usage, industries – such as the chemical industry – have been slow to transition to these opportunities. Industries face many challenges, including financial constraints, regulatory requirements, and ineffective water treatment technology adoption. Using two chemical plants (one in Massachusetts (USA) and one in Belgium) as case studies, this work will identify opportunities for the use of alternative water sources or water reuse. Inductive qualitative content analyses of semi-structured interviews conducted with stakeholders (e.g., operational staff, engineers, supervisors) will be used to answer the following question(s): (1) what factors motivate or obstruct the use of alternative water sources or water reuse in industrial processes? and (2) what opportunities are there for the adoption of novel water treatment technologies in industry? We anticipate that current and future water availability, cost, and environmental regulations and incentives will impact decisions made about water sources. We expect cost-effectiveness, energy demands, adaptability, and resilience to be drivers for the adoption of novel treatment technologies. Such drivers will likely vary based on geographic location due to differing situational contexts. These results can be used to develop strategies to overcome barriers to water reuse and alternative water source usage (e.g., policy incentives) and to inform technology development.