How environmentally significant is water consumption during wastewater treatment?: Application of recent developments in LCA to WWT technologies used at 3 contrasted geographical locations

Risch, Eva; Loubet, Philippe; Núñez, Montserrat; Roux, Philippe

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2014.03.023

Cited by 49 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Using a whole-process approach and addressing all relevant environmental impacts over the WWTP's useful life, the LCA allows an assessment that goes beyond the usual trade-off between treatment efficiency and effluent quality standards (Corominas et al, 2013;Risch et al, 2014;Zang et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental performance of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant applying Life Cycle Assessment

Lopes¹,

Queiroz²,

Kiperstok³

2018

Rev. ambiente água

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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to estimate and analyze the environmental impacts from the construction and operation phases of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) located in the municipality of Lauro de Freitas, Bahia, Brazil. The WWTP process consists of the association of an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor followed by four constructed wetlands (CWL) and a disinfection step. The functional unit was defined as one cubic meter of treated effluent during the useful life of this WWTP (20 years). The LCA was carried out using SimaPro ® software and the Centre of Environmental Science (CML) assessment method. The environmental impacts during construction phase were mainly from the wooden forms for concrete and the use of reinforcing steel. During the operation phase, the chlorine used as effluent disinfectant caused the greatest impacts in the abiotic depletion and acidification categories. Macronutrient concentrations present in the treated effluent and the methane generated also caused significant environmental impacts during the WWTP's useful life. The results obtained highlight the importance of the application of a methodology like LCA to assist in decision-making with regard to the implementation, construction and operation of a WWTP.Keywords: life cycle assessment, UASB reactor, wastewater treatment. Desempenho ambiental de uma estação de tratamento de esgoto em escala real aplicando a Avaliação de Ciclo de Vida RESUMOA Avaliação de Ciclo de Vida (ACV) foi aplicada para quantificar e analisar os impactos ambientais oriundos da construção e operação de uma estação de tratamento de esgotos (ETE) localizada no município de Lauro de Freitas, Bahia, Brasil. O processo de tratamento consiste de um reator UASB seguido de quatro wetlands construídos e uma etapa final de desinfecção. A unidade funcional foi definida como um mero cúbico de esgoto tratado durante a vida útil da ETE (20 anos). A ACV foi realizada por meio da utilização do software SimaPro ® e o método de avaliação de impactos escolhido foi o CML. As fôrmas confeccionadas com madeira tratada e o aço CA 50 apresentaram maior potencial de geração de impactos ambientais para a fase de construção. Já na fase de operação, o uso do cloro como desinfetante resultou em maiores impactos nas categorias de depleção abiótica e acidificação. A presença de macronutrientes e a geração do gás metano, também, foram responsáveis por significativos impactos ambientais durante a vida útil da ETE. Os resultados demonstram a importância da aplicação de metodologia de avaliação de impactos ambientais como a ACV de modo a auxiliar na tomada de decisão para as fases de implantação, construção e operação dessas ETE.Palavras-chave: avaliação de ciclo de vida, tratamento de esgotos, reator UASB.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental performance of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant applying Life Cycle Assessment

Lopes¹,

Queiroz²,

Kiperstok³

2018

Rev. ambiente água

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“…Since the mid-1990s, the LCA method has proven its worth in the evaluation of the environmental sustainability of water systems by using a whole system approach over their entire life cycle, and by addressing all relevant types of environmental impacts from global to local (Risch et al, 2014). Wastewater treatment has been studied using LCA, with various studies mainly focusing on: (i) comparisons and assessment of new treatment technologies, in order to identify the most environmentally friendly ones (Vidal et al, 2002;Foley et al, 2010), (ii) the identification of wastewater treatment plants' (WWTPs) optimal operating conditions, pointing out their major environmental hotspots as well (Clauson-Kaas et al, 2001;Hospido et al, 2004), and (iii) the integration of the environmental vector at the design/construction phase of a WWTP, in order to optimize the whole system from an environmental point of view (Page et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental footprint of a membrane bioreactor treatment process through Life Cycle Analysis

Ioannou‐Ttofa

Foteinis

Chatzisymeon

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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This study includes an environmental analysis of a membrane bioreactor (MBR), the objective being to quantitatively define the inventory of the resources consumed and estimate the emissions produced during its construction, operation and end-of-life deconstruction. The environmental analysis was done by the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, in order to establish with a broad perspective and in a rigorous and objective way the environmental footprint and the main environmental hotspots of the examined technology. Raw materials, equipment, transportation, energy use, as well as air- and waterborne emissions were quantified using as a functional unit, 1m(3) of urban wastewater. SimaPro 8.0.3.14 was used as the LCA analysis tool, and two impact assessment methods, i.e. IPCC 2013 version 1.00 and ReCiPe version 1.10, were employed. The main environmental hotspots of the MBR pilot unit were identified to be the following: (i) the energy demand, which is by far the most crucial parameter that affects the sustainability of the whole process, and (ii) the material of the membrane units. Overall, the MBR technology was found to be a sustainable solution for urban wastewater treatment, with the construction phase having a minimal environmental impact, compared to the operational phase. Moreover, several alternative scenarios and areas of potential improvement, such as the diversification of the electricity mix and the material of the membrane units, were examined, in order to minimize as much as possible the overall environmental footprint of this MBR system. It was shown that the energy mix can significantly affect the overall sustainability of the MBR pilot unit (i.e. up to 95% reduction of the total greenhouse gas emissions was achieved with the use of an environmentally friendly energy mix), and the contribution of the construction and operational phase to the overall environmental footprint of the system.

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“…Wastewater treatment is a key function of constructed wetlands and, in this case, the construction phase also plays an important role (Risch et al, 2011). Still, those treatments consisting of vertical flow reed bed filters have up to 3 times less impact than do conventional activated sludge technologies (Risch et al, 2014).…”

Section: Environmental and Economic Assessment Of Stormwater Bmpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental and economic assessment of a pilot stormwater infiltration system for flood prevention in Brazil

Petit‐Boix

Sevigné‐Itoiz

Rojas-Gutierrez

et al. 2015

Ecological Engineering

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Abstract:Green and grey stormwater management infrastructures, such as the filter, swale and infiltration trench (FST), can be used to prevent flooding events. The aim of this paper was to determine the environmental and economic impacts of a pilot FST that was built in São Carlos (Brazil) using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC). As a result, the components with the greatest contributions to the total impacts of the FST were the infiltration trench and the grass cover. The system has a carbon footprint of 0.13 kg CO 2 eq./m 3 of infiltrated stormwater and an eco-efficiency ratio of 0.35 kg CO 2 eq./USD. Moreover, the FST prevented up to 95% of the runoff in the area.Compared to a grey infrastructure, this system is a good solution with respect to PVC stormwater pipes, which require a long pipe length (1070 m) and have a shorter lifespan. In contrast, concrete pipes are a better solution, and their impacts are similar to those of the FST. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the changes in the impacts with the varying lifespan of the system components. Thus, the proper management of the FST can reduce the economic and environmental impacts of the system by increasing its durability.

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How environmentally significant is water consumption during wastewater treatment?: Application of recent developments in LCA to WWT technologies used at 3 contrasted geographical locations

Cited by 49 publications

References 20 publications

Environmental performance of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant applying Life Cycle Assessment

Environmental performance of a full-scale wastewater treatment plant applying Life Cycle Assessment

The environmental footprint of a membrane bioreactor treatment process through Life Cycle Analysis

Environmental and economic assessment of a pilot stormwater infiltration system for flood prevention in Brazil

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