With both increasing water demands and strained capacity to handle wastewater, there is a growing need for exploring water reuse and recycling in Canadian cities.

McPhedran, University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) Centennial Enhancement Chair in Water Stewardship for Indigenous Communities, and professor in Civil, Geological and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering, said funding from the NSERC Discovery Grant will support a project that explores community concerns around reusing municipal wastewater and stormwater for personal and industrial use. “We put a lot of energy and money into putting wastewater and stormwater into a river instead of finding ways to reuse it,” said McPhedran. “And recently there is a big push to reuse water but as you can imagine the biggest hurdle, especially with municipal wastewater, is stigma. People don’t want to drink it.”

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