Perceptions of Different Stakeholders on Reclaimed Water Reuse: The Case of Beijing, China

Sustainability

Weiping Chen¹  Yanying Bai²  Weiling Zhang¹  Sidan Lyu¹  Wentao Jiao¹ 

[1] State Key Laboratory for Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; E-Mails:;Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

关键词: public awareness;    stakeholder willingness;    wastewater reuse;    water resource;    risk management;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su7079696

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Public involvement is critical to the successful implementation of reclaimed water reuse programs. Based on the participatory research method, we studied the attitudes of the stakeholders who are involved in reclaimed water reuse in Beijing, China. Results showed that the general public’s knowledge on water resources was poor, while their awareness on reclaimed water reuse was high. The general public showed a strong acceptance of non-contact and non-potable reclaimed water reuse, but their acceptance of the three major water reuse types of river water supplement, park water supplement, and agriculture irrigation was not high. The beneficial use of reclaimed water was admired by water resource managers, industrial sectors, and researchers, and these stakeholders strongly supported the advancement of reclaimed water reuse. However, some of the stakeholders showed concerns about the potential risks from reclaimed wastewater reuse. Among them, risks from waste water treatment facilities were the biggest concern. Stakeholders’ perception of reclaimed water was influenced by their social-economic attributes. This study will enrich the current survey findings on public perception of reclaimed water reuse, particularly in developing countries.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.