Water scarcity is a major threat for life on Earth. The small fraction of water that is available for human consumption (2.5% of the total), in rivers and streams, lakes, reservoirs, and groundwater aquifers, is not distributed uniformly around the world. Demographic growth, economic development, and improvement of living standards, climate change and pollution are major causes of increased water consumption and also of water quality deterioration.

It is impressive that the total annual water withdrawal was less than 600 km³/year, at the beginning of the twentieth century and was more than 3 800 km³/year at the end of the same century. Although water use is inherently circular, natural and man-made systems to depurate water are no longer capable of producing clean waters, exempt of environmental impacts.

Nevertheless, the accelerated water circularity is no longer an option; it is a necessity in many regions of the world and will soon be a requirement for many others. It is increasingly recognized that water circularity is an unavoidable circumstance that can affect human and environmental health. However, it can be also a driver to improve wastewater and water treatment and to protect one of the most precious natural resources, whose exhaustion is becoming evident.

However, water circularity brings also new challenges. The widespread and increasing occurrence of contaminants of emerging concern (pesticides, biocides, pharmaceutical, and industrial chemicals), where antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes can be included, represent major obstacles to attaining wastewater with water quality standards capable of avoiding the food web contamination. This is essential for the promotion of One-Health, where water is a major connecting link, uniting humans, animals, and the environment. This seminar aims at discussing that despite the threats that water scarcity may bring, water reuse can be a truly win-win approach, influenced by both the incentive to improve wastewater treatment and to reuse what has been discarded.

Keywords: Water reuse; Antibiotic Resistance; Public Health; One-health

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