Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Passive ecosystem services, juxtaposed with engineered processes, can democratize wastewater treatment

Nature Water volume 1, pages 308–310 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Due to technological, economic and environmental constraints, contemporary treatment plants cannot treat all wastewater. In particular, the very high amount of agricultural and urban runoff to be treated is increasingly concerning, especially with more erratic — and unpredictable — rainfall events. Passive ecosystem services can be combined with engineered processes to create hybrid, locally adapted, inexpensive and sustainable technologies to more feasibly treat runoff and wastewater globally.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Flow pattern and examples of passive (eco)interceptors to sustainably treat agricultural runoff in situ.

References

  1. Connor, R. et al. The United Nations World Water Development Report (United Nations, 2017).

  2. Municipal wastewater systems in Canada, 2013 to 2017 Vol. 11-627-M (Statistics Canada, 2019).

  3. Sterling, S. M., Ducharne, A. & Polcher, J. Nat. Clim. Change 3, 385–390 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Cooley, S. W., Ryan, J. C. & Smith, L. C. Nature 591, 78–81 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Progress on Wastewater Treatment (UN, 2021); https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2021/08/sdg6_indicator_report_631_progress_on_wastewater_treatment_2021_english_pages.pdf

  6. Fenton, O. et al. J. Agric. Sci. 152, 71–81 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Daily, G. C. & Matson, P. A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 9455–9456 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Mateo-Sagasta, J., Zadeh, S. M., Turral, H. & Burke, J. Water Pollution from Agriculture: A Global Review — Executive Summary (FAO, 2017); https://www.fao.org/3/ca0146en/CA0146EN.pdf

  9. Lapointe, M., Rochman, C. M. & Tufenkji, N. Nat. Sustain. 5, 366–369 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Belletti, B. et al. Nature 588, 436–441 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Famiglietti, J. S. Nat. Clim. Change 4, 945–948 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Thaw, M., GebreEgziabher, M., Villafañe-Pagán, J. Y. & Jasechko, S. Nat. Commun. 13, 5263 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Wu, W.-Y. et al. Nat. Commun. 11, 3710 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Ghisi, R., Vamerali, T. & Manzetti, S. Environ. Res. 169, 326–341 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Corradini, F. et al. Sci. Total Environ. 671, 411–420 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. École de technologie supérieure, University of Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Mathieu Lapointe

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Chelsea M. Rochman

Authors
  1. Mathieu Lapointe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chelsea M. Rochman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mathieu Lapointe.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lapointe, M., Rochman, C.M. Passive ecosystem services, juxtaposed with engineered processes, can democratize wastewater treatment. Nat Water 1, 308–310 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00065-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00065-w

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene