System solutions to urban wastewater control

Using an actual municipal situation as an example, this paper demonstrates that there are potential resource savings to be realized by expanding the scope of the search for alternatives in problems of urban effluent treatment. Specifically, least cost system solutions cannot be achieved by an examination of alternative treatment installations by a municipality alone, but can be realized only by a broader system perspective which also incorporates treatment alternatives and process changes available to the major dischargers within the urban environment.