ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the wide variety of issues that appear when the management of water resources is related to various articulations of sustainability. It analyses the main aspects of water resource management, introducing integrated water resources management and discusses the participation of stakeholders. The chapter also presents two case studies: the first addresses the application of technologies to treat leachate from an old rubbish dump, located at the centre of Medellin, Colombia, with about 10,000 people living on top of it; the second discusses waste-water treatment technologies for a highly polluted river that crosses an area in Barcelona, Spain. Natural systems for wastewater treatment, like land treatment, floating aquatic plants and constructed wetlands, take advantage of the physical, chemical and biological processes that occur in the natural environment when water, soil, plants, microorganisms and the atmosphere interact. The chapter summarises state-of-the-art technologies for sustainable water management, with the emphasis on sanitation and pollution control.
