Publisher's Synopsis
In the decade since the first INTERURBA conference (Wageningen 1992) the power of the integrated approach to address pollution control and the preservation or enhancement of receiving waters in urban areas has been ever more widely recognised. There have also been significant advances in understanding the interactions between urban drainage systems and sewage treatment plants and the influence of contaminants from different sources on receiving waters. New ideas have been developed, for instance, applying process models for receiving waters and sewer systems together with established models for wastewater treatment processes, and ecologically sustainable wastewater systems and best management practices for wastewater systems (sewer systems and receiving waters or soil). The objective of INTERURBA II was to bring together scientists and practising engineers from five continents, the leading figures in the areas of environmental management and control, to discuss the physical, chemical and biological processes and their interactions within the urban water cycle, with the aim of reaching a common understanding, which in turn could lead to development of guidelines on the integrated management of sewers, treatment plants and receiving ecosystems. A significant number of papers gave special emphasis to one of the components within the integrated system, especially to the sewer. This issue contains a selection of 31 papers presented at INTERURBA II. They have been divided into the following four themes: in-sewer processes and effects on treatment plants and/or receiving waters; mathematical modelling of integrated systems; management practices of urban basins and sustainability of wastewater systems; and operation of sewer systems and treatment plants. Together they constitute a major step towards the consolidation of the new framework for urban water management.
