FOR DOWNLOAD: SITS releases report on Water Reuse and Tourism

Water supply will be an important issue for decades to come. Increasing water consumption due to global trends such as urbanisation, demographic growth and ageing populations will lead, if not regulated, controlled or reused, to more wastewater production and is expected to threaten the environment with a diminution of available water sources, a situation exacerbated by droughts intensified by climate change. Wastewater will have to be treated to avoid environmental pollution and sanitary problems, and also represents an important and promising source of water, with regards to the expected severe water scarcities worldwide, like the Euro-Mediterranean region. From a business point of view, the wastewater market is therefore extremely interesting and is already currently fast growing, boosted by new legislations in the domain of wastewater and water reuse in several countries and at international level. In this context, tourism is an important actor as it impacts water resources in several ways. This report summarises the findings from the market survey carried out in the EU FP7 demEAUmed project, analyses the global water recycling and reuse challenges, and links them with particular conditions of the tourist sector and the MEDA region.