Rapid urbanisation is drawing down peri-urban aquifers faster than they recharge naturally. This research evaluates managed aquifer recharge using treated municipal wastewater as a scalable response, assessing both the treatment standards required for safe injection and the hydrogeological conditions under which recharge is viable.
Pilot recharge sites demonstrated measurable water-table recovery within eighteen months, though performance varied significantly with local soil permeability and the consistency of treated-water quality — underscoring that this is not a uniformly transferable solution across all urban settings.
The study provides the Global Water Partnership with a site-selection framework and monitoring protocol for scaling managed aquifer recharge across additional cities facing similar urban water scarcity pressure.