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Water Management 28 a Korrespondenz Abwasser, Abfall · International Special Edition 2022/2023 en.dwa.de/journals.html Recommendations for Non-Potable Water Reuse Implementation of projects for the reuse of treated wastewater Tim Fuhrmann (Essen/Germany), Stefan Gramel (Frankfurt a. M./Germany) and Jens Haberkamp (Münster/Germany) Abstract From 2023, new minimum standards for the reuse of treated wastewater will apply in the EU. Internationally, water reuse has already been a relevant issue for some time. Rising water demand worldwide, also as a result of global climate change, is increasing the scarcity of freshwater resources in some areas. Reclaimed water is increasingly considered as a valuable substi- tute for natural water resources. Even before the new EU regu- lation came into force, DWA has published an extensive report covering a variety of aspects to be considered within the scope of non-potable water reuse. This article provides an overview of that DWA Topics issue “Non-Potable Water Reuse – Develop- ment, Technologies and International Framework Conditions for Agricultural, Urban and Industrial Uses” *) . 1 Introduction In June 2020, EU Regulation 2020/741 on minimum require- ments for water reuse [1] came into force. After a three-year transitional period, it sets binding standards for all EU Member States with regard to water quality and risk management, among other things. This regulation standardises the require- ments for water reuse, which is already widespread especially in southern Europe, across the EU and sets out framework conditions for future applications. But internationally, water reuse has already long been an issue. Along with the world population growth, the need for increased food and energy production, both with significant associated “water footprints,” also rises [2]. Scarcity of locally available water supplies, competition for water with agricul- ture and energy, climate change impacts, rising energy prices, environmental restoration, and economics will require commu- nities to reuse far more water. Thus, water reclamation and water reuse will play an important role in future water man- agement. Types of Water Reuse Unplanned reuse of municipal wastewater – untreated or treated – has been practiced for many centuries with the objec- tive of diverting human waste outside of urban settlements [3], but also by farmers in many arid and semiarid regions to irri- gate their fields. Planned water reuse is defined as the benefi- *) DWA Topics issue “Non-Potable Water Reuse” (2019) was prepared by the following members of the DWA Working Group BIZ-11.4 “Water Reuse”: Prof. Dr. Peter Cornel (Darmstadt), Prof. Dr. Jörg E. Drewes (Garching), Edgar Firmenich (Frankfurt a. M.), Dr. Tim Fuhrmann (Essen), Dr. Stefan Gramel (Frankfurt a. M.), Prof. Dr. Jens Haberkamp (Münster), Andreas Hartmann (Braunschweig), Dr. Wolfgang Jendrischewski (Köln), Volker Karl (Bad Nauheim), Prof. Dr. Steffen Krause (Neubiberg), Dr. Josef Lahnsteiner (Vienna), Dr. Manfred Lübken (Bochum), Dr. Ingmar Obermann (Eschborn), Dr. Florian Schmidtlein (Essen), Jochen Sinn (Darmstadt), Prof. Dr. Dörte Ziegler (Koblenz); the following guests have contributed: Dr. Tamara Avellán (Dresden), Dr. Serena Caucci (Dresden), Emily Fokin (Münster), Alexander Grieb (Frankfurt a. M.), Roland Knitschky (Hennef), Veronika Zhiteneva (Garching). Figure 1: Water reuse for drip irrigation of public green spaces in Bahrain (source: p2m berlin)