Circular economy in water management: Opportunities for recycling and reuse

Abstract

This bibliographic review, adopting a narrative-qualitative approach, was conducted based on 22 references gathered from academic platforms. Its objective was to identify, analyze, and synthesize the main perspectives, technologies, and practices of the circular economy (EC) applied to water management through the 3Rs (reduce, recycle, and reuse), as well as to highlight the significance and positive impact of these practices in various countries across different economic activities, such as agriculture, where unmeasured water use has been found to be most prevalent. The review underscores the relationship between water EC and biodiversity conservation, emphasizing that preserving water resources also safeguards human life and other ecosystems due to biological interdependence. Therefore, it highlights the need to integrate techniques into technologies that contribute to EC and facilitate salt removal from water to enhance purification, reuse, and recovery processes for this natural resource. Similarly, it urges both public and private institutions in each nation to prioritize water sustainability and conservation. Additionally, it calls on researchers to promote the dissemination of information to bridge knowledge gaps on this topic.