The Critical Role of Impact Distribution for Local Recycled Water Systems

Abstract

Small-scale or local recycled water systems are increasingly being installed in urban centers
in Australia, and throughout the world. These (often private) systems are in building basements,
parks, on industrial sites and within small communities that are already serviced by existing public
centralized water and wastewater networks. A consistent and fair assessment of the value of
such local recycling systems, particularly in relation to centralized extension, augmentation and
replacement, has proved to be problematic. This paper reveals why. It suggests that the traditional
characterization of impacts into social, environmental, economic and at times technical groupings
misses a key aspect in understanding the relative costs, benefits and risks of these systems: their
distribution across the wide range of stakeholder groups. This paper proposes that accounting
for the distribution of impacts is critical for assessments that include options of different scales
and different levels of responsibility as there is a significant difference in the impact distribution
between conventional urban water services and small-scale, local recycled water systems. This
will help practitioners better understand the consequences of varying the impact distribution,
particularly when moving from substantially public responsibility and ownership of assets to a
mix of public and private responsibility and ownership.