Cost and energy intensity of U.S. potable water reuse systems

Abstract

This paper reports on a new and open-source dataset, curated from facility-specific engineering reports, detailing facility features for an aggregated total of 70 operating, demonstration, pilot and unbuilt U.S. potable...

Modeling the energy consumption of potable water reuse schemes

“… Sim and Mauter (2021) used data and modeling to quantify the energy intensity of potable reuse in their review of 70 U.S. water reuse facilities. They found four facilities with published energy consumption data, which spanned the range 0.4–1.4 kWh/ 3 .…”

“…They found four facilities with published energy consumption data, which spanned the range 0.4–1.4 kWh/ 3 . Based on a wider dataset of treatment train processes and a model for treatment train energy consumption, they also Sim and Mauter (2021) estimated that advanced treatment trains in the U.S. have energy consumption levels in the wide range of 0.23–2.5 kWh/m 3 and acknowledge that real facilities are more likely to fall on the lower end of that spectrum. They also analyzed costs and air emissions externalities for these plants.…”

“…Their study illustrates the high degree of variability in reuse processes, costs, and energy requirements and calls for more widespread reporting of reuse facility energy consumption in the future. While it shares the aim to quantify the energy consumption of potable water reuse with the review by Sim and Mauter (2021) , the present paper takes a different approach to quantifying the energy consumption of potable water reuse at the scheme level by modeling entire reuse schemes and examining the effects of hypothetical variations within reuse processes. Scheme-level modeling includes processes that use energy or lose water beyond the advanced treatment plant, such as soil aquifer treatment and pipe network losses, and enables comparison of direct and indirect reuse schemes.…”

“…Engineered potable reuse is classified as direct or indirect depending on the path of water beyond the advanced treatment plant. Direct potable reuse (DPR), though rare in current practice ( Sim and Mauter, 2021 ), describes a system where purified wastewater effluents are sent directly from an advanced treatment plant back into the water supply network, typically passing through an engineered storage buffer and/or a drinking water treatment plant on the way. In indirect potable reuse (IPR), water is transferred from the advanced treatment plant to a natural buffer, such as an aquifer or body of surface water, which ultimately provides source water for drinking water treatment and subsequent potable use.…”

“…Two previous studies provide an overview of the major steps in advanced water treatment (AWT): Gerrity et al. (2013) , who review the AWT trains in use worldwide, and Sim and Mauter (2021) , who review the processes used at AWT facilities in the U.S. to analyze energy consumption, cost, and environmental impact. Most advanced water treatment (AWT) processes ( Fig.…”