Applications of Emerging Technologies in the Drinking Water Sector - Waterborne Pathogens: Detection Methods and Applications - page 360

through enhancing membrane technology by improving cost-effectiveness
of methods, reducing operational problems associated with waste streams,
and cutting the energy requirements of the technologies. They hope to
achieve this through a new hybrid combination of different treatment
processes alongside considerable research into improving the performance
of the membranes themselves. 57
11.7.2. Barriers to adoption
One of the main barriers to, and considerations for, adopting new tech-
nologies for water treatment is the need to follow government guidelines
and regulations for the water industry to become more sustainable. There
has been a plethora of new regulations and legislation for the water sector
over the last few years, from the Flood and Water Management Act (2010)
to the EA's strategy “Water for people and the environment”. 58 These new
initiatives, along with the Water Framework Directive at a European level,
all highlight the need for the water sector to innovate while taking into
account the need to be sustainable, to take a long-term perspective in man-
aging risks, and also to work toward mitigating climate change impacts. 59
In light of these regulations and recommendations, the water industry now
needs to innovate and ensure that new technologies for water treatment
adhere to new guidelines on sustainability. Increased innovation in solutions
for water treatment technology is needed to help reduce carbon output,
make systems sustainable and also reduce costs where necessary. 59
Low-carbon solutions for water treatment need to be developed to bal-
ance the demands of the water sector as well as the need to reduce car-
bon under international regulations and legislation for climate change. The
water industry emitted over five million tonnes of greenhouse gases dur-
ing 2007-2008 throughout all its functions for dealing with the treatment
and supply of clean water, as well as wastewater and sewage. The Climate
Change Act of 2008 set an 80% reduction target for carbon emissions in the
UK by 2050, something that the EA and the government strongly believe
the water industry must help to achieve. 60 In light of this recent legisla-
tion, water companies in England and Wales now have to provide details of
potential carbon use and greenhouse gas emissions when looking for invest-
ment in future activities 60 and it has, thus, become very important for water
industries to consider this when developing new technologies for water
treatment. However, these changes mean UV treatment may prove to be a
useful technology, as it typically only uses less than 20 kWh ML −1 of energy,
compared to between 250 and 500kWhML −1 typically used in high lift