The short course on Cleaner Production and the Water Cycle introduces the concept of Cleaner Production in the context of the water cycle in general and water management in particular. The module focuses on the careful use of the resource water and brings in various tools that can aid in saving water.

Learning objectives

Participants will be able to answer:- what steps can be taken to conserve water in the domestic context?

how can the benefit to the environment be determined when substituting one process or process component by another?
how can a systematic environmental management approach contribute to better environmental management in an industry, meaning less resources and/or less water wasted?
how can environmental considerations in the design stage contribute to better environmental performance in the use phase?
how can minimizing the generation of waste contribute to better water quality?
what needs to be done to make beneficial use of wastewater?

These and other topics will be discussed in the context of water for domestic, industrial and urban uses.

Additional information

What is Cleaner Production, why is it needed, what are benefits, and what does it mean in practice?

After this introduction, tools are discussed that can help in analyzing and improving the environmental status, such as Life Cycle Analysis and Eco-design. The importance of proper environmental management is brought in and how these systems can be set up. ISO and ISO certification is mentioned.

Specific attention is devoted to industrial water management in which both the raw water, the in-process water and the water leaving a process or set of processes are looked at from the point of few of optimized usage.

The short course includes a fieldtrip to a site where Cleaner Production has been practiced on a water issue.

Lecturers/Trainers:

Mark Goedkoop (PreConsultants Amersfoort);
John Stans (Tauw); Richard Hill (Whitewater UK);
Prof. Huub J. Gijzen, PhD;
Maarten A. Siebel, PhD, MSc(UNESCO-IHE).