Review of Green Technologies for Sustainable Water Management edited by Huu Hao Ngo, Wenshan Guo, Rao Y. Surampalli, and Tian C. Zhang

Green technologies are receiving considerable attention these days because of growing environmental degradation, increasing scarcity of freshwater resources, and mounting threats to safe water supplies. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, green technologies encompass a wide spectrum of production and consumption technologies, directed toward the development of environment-friendly, economically viable, and energy-efficient processes that result in higher efficiency of pollutant removal and nutrient recovery in order to reduce carbon footprint, minimize waste production, and protect human and environmental health. Sustainable water management requires these technologies. This book on green technologies therefore is very timely. It appropriately describes basic scientific principles and technological advances of green technologies for sustainable water management.

The subject matter of the book spans 28 chapters written by different authors covering green technologies for water and wastewater management; pollution prevention, control, remediation, and restoration; and sustainable society.

The first chapter provides an introduction and an overview of green technologies for sustainable management. It introduces fundamentals and the current status and future challenges. Chapter 2 deals with rainwater harvesting in New South Wales, Australia; Chapter 3 discusses stormwater treatment technology for water reuse; Chapter 4 treats policy and practice of sustainable groundwater management; and Chapter 5 considers water cycle management. These chapters are described well and reflect the authors’ long years of experience in their respective areas.

Beginning with a discussion of green and sustainable technologies for natural wastewater treatment and disposal in Chapter 6, green technologies for industrial wastewater treatment are presented in Chapter 7, value-added products from sludge in Chapter 8, anaerobic treatment in Chapter 9, and constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment in Chapter 10. These chapters are quite informative.

Chapter 11 discusses biological treatment and nutrient removal with on-site treatment, Chapter 12 is on a sustainable technology for nitrogen removal and water recycling, Chapter 13 is on anionic removal by biomass-based adsorbents, Chapter 14 is on a green technology with agricultural by-products for phosphorous removal and recovery from water and wastewater, and Chapter 15 is on removal of trace organic contaminants by integrated membrane processes for water reuse applications. These chapters contain a lot of useful information.

Application of green and physicochemical technologies for treating water polluted with heavy metals is presented in Chapter 16, micellar enhanced ultrafiltration and activated carbon fiber for metal remediation from wastewater in Chapter 17, electrocatalytic membrane reactor for industrial wastewater treatment in Chapter 18, water reclamation by heterogeneous photocatalysis over titanium oxide in Chapter 19, and disposal and recycling of sewage sludge in Chapter 20. These are well prepared and highly useful chapters.

Chapter 21 discusses a water management strategy for adapting to climate change, Chapter 22 discusses the resource economic dimension of wastewater treatment versus green technologies, Chapter 23 presents wastewater as a potential source of energy, Chapter 24 presents fermentative biohydrogen production from wastewater, and Chapter 25 presents anaerobic membrane bioreactors for future green bioprocesses. These chapters contain a lot of gainful information.

Composting toilet for sustainable water management is detailed in Chapter 26, sustainable wastewater management in palm oil mills is discussed in Chapter 27, and nanomaterials for sustainable society are presented in Chapter 28.

This 1,083-page book is an excellent book, full of information. The organization of chapters would have been improved by grouping the chapters into different parts, each devoted to a main theme. The book will be useful to water and environmental engineers and graduate students as well as faculty interested in green technologies. Managers and planners will also find the book to be of value. Green technologies will become part of living in the future so this book is a very timely publication. Indeed, green technologies should become a compulsory course in undergraduate curricula.