Wastewater Treatment Costs: A Research Overview through Bibliometric Analysis

Leticia Gallego-Valero, Encarnación Moral-Parajes and Isabel María Román-Sánchez
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Leticia Gallego-Valero: Department of Economy, University of Jaén, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Encarnación Moral-Parajes: Department of Economy, University of Jaén, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Isabel María Román-Sánchez: Department of Economics and Business, University of Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: Given the problem of water scarcity and the importance of this resource for the sustainability of the planet, wastewater treatment and its costs have become a key issue for proper water management. Using bibliometric analysis of publications in the Web of Science database, this study presents an overview of the research on wastewater treatment costs in the period 1950–2020. The worldwide search returned 22,788 articles for wastewater treatment costs, which compares poorly to the results for research on wastewater treatment, accounting for only 12.34% of the total output on wastewater treatment. The findings of this study reveal the leading countries in this field of research (China, USA, India, Spain and the UK), with the articles being published in a wide range of high impact journals. Similarly, there are very few results on UV and chlorination costs, despite the importance of these two treatments for wastewater disinfection and reuse. This study is aimed at researchers in this field, helping them to identify recent trends, and at the main institutions in the scientific community working on this subject.

Keywords: cost; database; treatment; wastewater; water; Web of Science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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