STANDARDS, COSTS AND BENEFITS - AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

This paper considers the development of standards for the discharge of wastewaters from the perspectives of (a) the developed world, (b) the developing world, and (c) the newly industrializing nations. It consi ders the potential environmental benefits which can be obtained by the imposition of stringent effluent standards, and weighs this against t he economic costs of meeting such standards. By means of case studies it considers how inappropriate standards can often arise in other coun tries of the world and how the imposition of unjustifiably high standa rds can be demoralizing, costly, and produce no environmental improvem ents. Finally, it considers how a more pragmatic approach to the setti ng of standards, especially in the newly industrializing and developin g nations, place them in context of applicability, affordability, regu lation and enforcement.