Life cycle assessment of urban wastewater treatment plants: a critical analysis and guideline proposal

Abstract

In its 30 years of existence, there are still many improvement possibilities in studies performing the life cycle assessment (LCA) of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Hence, this paper aims to start a guideline development for LCA of urban WWTPs based on the information available in the scientific literature on the topic. The authors used the ProKnow-C systematic review methodology for paper selection and 111 studies were analyzed. The most significant points that can be improved are caused by missing essential information (e.g. functional unity and input data). Other important methodological aspects are covered: allocation process, functional unit choice, sensitivity analysis, and important fluxes to be considered. Many opportunities within the LCA of WWTPs were identified, such as optimization of WWTP operational aspects and resource recovery. Furthermore, LCA should be combined with other methodologies such as big data, data envelopment analysis, life cycle cost assessment, and social life cycle assessment. To achieve this potential, it is clear that the scientific and technical community needs to converge on a new protocol to ensure that LCA application becomes more reliable and transparent.

CO2e footprint and eco‐impact of ultralow phosphorus removal by hydrous ferric oxide reactive filtration: A municipal wastewater LCA case study

“…There is a debate among the researchers on the inclusion of construction within the system boundaries of an LCA. The most recent and comprehensive study on the application of LCA in wastewater studies recommends including construction inventories in wastewater LCA studies (Corominas et al, 2020; Rebello et al, 2021). We used a design life of 20 years for the LCI calculations to allocate the construction burden across the number of functional units provided by the facility (Rahman et al, 2016; Renou et al, 2008; University of Michigan, 2021).…”

Life cycle assessment of paper mill wastewater: a case study in Viet Nam

“…The daily average influent flow at the WWTP is 7,500 m 3 /d; therefore, the functional unit can also be converted to 1 m 3 of wastewater treated by a scaling factor of 1/7,500 (Rebello et al 2021).…”

Digitalization in Urban Water Governance: Case Study of Bengaluru and Singapore

“…As discussed earlier, urban water asset management is an important function and various AI techniques could be used as DSS for urban water distribution networks for maintenance prioritization based on readily available information, for instance, about pipe-breakage history, pipe material and age (Christodoulou et al, 2009;Christodoulou and Deligianni 2010). Similar digital tools and techniques such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), AI and Big Data could be used for providing wastewater services which includes operation and maintenance of wastewater infrastructure-sewers and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their life cycle assessment (Sousa et al, 2014;Du et al, 2019;Rebello et al, 2021). Digital technology comes very handy even when it comes to water demand management or analysing and improving public perception for using recycled water (Jayarathna et al, 2017;Fu et al, 2018).…”