Anaerobic Digestion for Sustainable Water Management
Professor Titular Departmento de Biotecnologia
Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa
Water needs in Mexico City are supplied by the over exploited aquifer (60%) and from other watersheds (40%). After usage it is disposed of in the sewers, together with rain water, and sent for irrigation more than 100 km away. There is practically no treatment and recycling (only 8%). Water is unequally distributed through the water net where 38% is lost through water leaks. To change this situation, a sustainable water management requires to be implemented considering the use of rain water, domestic and industrial water saving practices, wastewater treatment and reclamation, energy and nutrients recovery and aquifer equilibrium. With anaerobic digestion at the core of a sustainable technology shift, the net recharge of the aquifer and the reduction of water imports can be possible due to the city capacity of transforming organic wastes into energy which is required to obtain high quality reclaimed water.
Biographical Information
Dr. Oscar Armando Monroy Hermosillo is a Profesor Titular in the Biotechnology Department, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, a National Researcher Level III within the Engineering and Biotechnology Area, and the President of the Watershed Commission “Rivers Amecameca & Co.”
He holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Facultad de Química, UNAM, an MSc in Environmental Control Engineering and Resource Utilization from Strathclyde University, Scotland, UK, and a PhD in Biotechnology also from UNAM.
He has been a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers since 1990, a member of the Mexican Academy of Science since 1998 and a member of the Mexican Academy of Engineering since 2006.