Wastewater treatment: Recent developments particularly in relation to reuse

A rapidly increasing number of countries can be considered as water-stressed. Many industrialized nations face growing problems associated with guaranteeing an adequate water supply. Increasing costs of municipal and industrial disposal for water quality protection and pollution abatement also catalyse interest in water reuse. Nowadays, biotechnology offers a large array of methods available to clean-up wastewater and to produce drinking water from fresh water. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent environmental biotochnology can, by wastewater treatment and water recycling, contribute to better use of the critical water source.