Research on reclaimed water from the past to the future: a review

Reclaimed water is an important alternative water supply because it solves the water shortage problem. This manuscript is intended to provide a critical review of recent publications that address future reclaimed water requirements and analyze and visualize historical trends, research hot topics and promising future research directions. The results show that treatment technologies and optimized system designs for reclaimed water were early topics of interest. However, in the current era, climate change, sustainability, technology, impact and other keywords appear frequently as the hot topics. Specifically, emerging research topics include (1) the influence of climate change on water quality and water supply system optimization under uncertainty, (2) improving public acceptance and strengthening water management and policy implementation, (3) developing and applying cost-effective treatment technologies for the removal of trace pollutants and (4) more comprehensive health risk assessment and online detection technology. This analysis accurately reflects historical trends in the field and will help researchers choose future research topics.

Automated summary

The hot topics in current research on reclaimed water include treatment technologies and system optimization, the influence of climate change on water quality and supply systems, improving public acceptance and water management, development of cost-effective pollutant removal technologies, and comprehensive health risk assessment.