The One Health and Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Hubs have partnered to form a global network focused on advancing the circular water economy for small and rural communities.

The program is led by Matt Schrenk and builds on related work by Wei Liao, director of the Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center (ADREC), with key leadership from Stephen Gasteyer, who brings critical insights through a social science lens. (See: Mueller, J.T., & Gasteyer, S. [2023]. The ethnically and racially uneven role of water infrastructure spending in rural economic development. Nature Water, 1, 74–82. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-022-00007-y)

Core MSU faculty collaborators include:

• Amber Pearson (public health)
• Elizabeth Mack (economic development, water affordability)
• Joan Rose (microbiology)
• Sriram Narayanan (supply chain)
• Leo Zulu (political ecology)

International partners include:

• Roy Brouwer (water resource economics, Canada)
• Jiuhui Qu (water and wastewater technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
• Water technology groups from the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore

Resource recovery facilities are being developed or studied in Costa Rica, New Zealand, Nepal, and South Africa. The team is also conducting work in Michigan.

The circular water economy (CWE) is defined as “where resources within the water use and treatment cycle are used optimally, and recycled and recovered in a way that maximizes value for people, nature, and businesses” (Water Environment & Technology, June 2024, p. 51).

Water challenges in rural areas are complex, and the interconnected issues of water, food, and energy have long been overlooked. This team is developing a global network to apply CWE principles in small and rural communities, in collaboration with the Water Environment Federation and the International Water Association.

• Water Environment Federation
• Water Utilities Pathways in a Circular Economy
• Water and Development Congress