14th IWA International Conference on Water Reclamation and Reuse

We never envisaged that the time would come so soon when we had to seriously consider water reuse as an important component of our future water security. Indirect water reuse has been the global strategy for many decades and has served us well in managing the security of our water supplies. However, the emerging consequences of climate related impacts and the frequency of these, together with the high rate of urbanisation in many of the large cities in the world is forcing the boundaries of recognising water reuse as not an option but part of the broader water security mix, for achieving current and future water security in many places in the world. For us, Cape Town and several other town and cities has given us a wake up call, that just depending on surface water resources and water from further and further away is not the solution. This jolt of realisation, as well as the great examples of many cities in the world who have transitioned this pathway of reuse, offer us hope a that charging the path of water reuse and reclamation is now going to be part of our future history.