可持续废水处理利用自然过程（例如光合作用，被动曝气和微生物氧化），可再生能源（例如阳光，风，重力和生物质），天然材料和废物（例如大理石碎屑，橡胶覆盖物，和炉渣），以及生态系统的自组织（例如微生物环，水生植物群落以及生物膜中硝化和厌氧氨氮的整合），以达到废水处理，再利用或资源回收的目标。由于可持续的废水处理依靠最少的化石燃料能源和较少的机械过程，因此与传统的废水处理方法相比，它通常具有成本效益。
Sustainable Wastewater Treatment utilizes natural processes (e.g., photosynthesis, passive aeration, and microbial oxidation), renewable sources of energy (e.g., sunlight, wind, gravity, and biomass), natural materials and waste products (e.g., marble chips, rubber mulch, and furnace slag), and self-organization of ecosystems (e.g., microbial loop, aquatic plant community, and integration of nitritation and anammox in biofilms) to reach wastewater treatment, reuse or resource recovery goals. Because sustainable wastewater treatment relies on minimal fossil fuel energy and fewer mechanical processes, it is often cost-effective, compared to conventional wastewater treatment methods.