Evaluation of acceptability of treated wastewater usage for improving urban river environment

Abstract

 Treated wastewater have had potential of urban water resources and expect to be applied to maintaining the river environment. Arakawa basin, suburban area of Tokyo, was selected as the model and an acceptability of using treated wastewater for the purpose of improving urban river environment was analyzed by an online questionnaire. The 78.9% of residents approve the scenario and value the quality of treated wastewater. Residents who don't appreciate their neighborhood environment show high acceptability of using treated wastewater and strongly expect that urban rivers would provide the natural habitat of wild lives. It indicates that the secondary effects derived from the river water quality improvement by introducing treated wastewater to urban rivers should be focused on for the actual planning decisions.