A RAPID APPROACH TO RATIONAL WATER-POLLUTION CONTROL STRATEGIES

Citation
Ap. Economopoulos, A RAPID APPROACH TO RATIONAL WATER-POLLUTION CONTROL STRATEGIES, Environmental monitoring and assessment, 43(1), 1996, pp. 49-64
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Environmental Sciences
ISSN journal
01676369
Volume
43
Issue
1
Year of publication
1996
Pages
49 - 64
Database
ISI
SICI code
0167-6369(1996)43:1<49:ARATRW>2.0.ZU;2-3
Abstract
The formulation of rational wastewater control strategies is becoming increasingly important in many countries where, exploding urbanization , industrialization and/or tourism, often combined with improved stand ards of living and better awareness of the environmental problems, are resulting in enlarged pollution problems, but also in the availabilit y of expanding financial resources for environmental protection. Howev er, more often than one tends to believe, lack of planning, or plannin g with limited understanding of the principles involved, has resulted in solutions that are both expensive and incapable of addressing the k ey problems. As rigorous planning is extremely resource intensive, and for this reason impractical for most study areas, the development of a much simplified analysis procedure, capable of generating rational, near-optimum, strategies and detailed action programs, is required, if proper environmental management is to be widely practiced. In an effo rt to achieve the above objectives, a systems analysis approach is sel ected as the most suitable at rationalizing the allocation of availabl e resources and at producing detailed action programs that promote imp lementation. In the context of this approach, new, easy to use models have been developed, while others, have been selected, adapted and str eamlined in their use. The entire problem analysis and strategy synthe sis procedures have thus been simplified and defined to a degree appro priate for widespread use, and the resultant procedure is actively pro moted by WHO and UNEP.