Modelling the impacts of water efficient technologies on energy intensive water systems in remote and isolated communities

Abstract

Essential service providers face unique challenges that are specific delivering a secure and safe water and energy supply to remote communities such as islands and isolated mainland townships. Many remote communities rely on energy intensive water supply systems which are inherently costly to operate. Water demand management programs such as retrofitting households with water-efficient devices and appliances are one way of reducing the water-energy costs in these communities. This paper presents modelling results from a comparison between business as usual and a scenario where water efficient strategies were retrofitted in households in three remote communities in Northern Australia. The modelling demonstrated considerable savings to both the water and energy average daily consumption and associated economic costs though reduced reliance on desalination plants and bore pumping. The retrofit scenario was shown to reduce water demand by between 14 and 39 ML/y and total energy demand in off-grid communities by between 83 and 208 MWh/y. Cost reductions for delivering treated water to households ranged between around AUD$11,000 and AUD$70,000 per year, depending on uptake rates of the retrofit program by each community. This paper forms part of Stage 1 of the Remote and Isolated Communities Essential Services (RICES) project. Stage 2 will confirm many of the assumptions underlying the modelling and build on the smart metering datasets and community engagement process currently underway in Stage 1. The overall outcome of the RICES project is to ensure that such strategies are practical to implement on a broader scale to ultimately achieve more sustainable water and energy efficient off-grid communities.

Collaborating for Sustainable Water and Energy Management: Assessment and Categorisation of Indigenous Involvement in Remote Australian Communities

“…This qualitative research aims to gather and analyse water and energy management initiatives in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities to determine the extent that collaboration and partnership principles between service providers and Indigenous communities are being employed and with a view to understanding how the water and energy sectors can more effectively contribute to building sustainable Indigenous communities. The research presented here is part of a three-year collaborative research project: Remote and Isolated Communities Essential Services (RICES) project, a partnership led by Griffith University researchers in conjunction with local and state government, water and energy utility, university and an Indigenous development organisation partners, which aims to identify evidence-based, community-led strategies for sustainable water and water-related energy management in remote Indigenous Australia (see [15,18]).…”

“…When compared with more centralised settlements, living in small and remote communities can provide increased opportunity for Indigenous residents to access traditional food sources, sharing language and customs across generations and improving sense of well-being [14]. However, access to economic development opportunities and essential services including drinking water and housing can be poor, with overcrowding in housing contributing to living conditions similar to those in developing countries and further exacerbating health and sanitation issues [7,15,16]. The need for improvements to sustainability of essential service supply and use in Indigenous communities is well acknowledged [17].…”

“…Managing remote community water and electricity services is challenging. In remote Australia, dispersed populations and harsh physical environments, unreliable and seasonal rainfall and groundwater recharge [8] and high per capita demand [15,16,[18][19][20][21][22][23] constrain efficiencies. Energy is predominantly generated by off-grid diesel generation [24] which is costly and polluting.…”

Feasibility Study of Standalone Hybrid Wind-PV-Battery Microgrid Operation

“…While planning a site for installation of RES based generation, factors needed to be considered includes meteorological data, optimal sizing of conversion equipment, load forecast, and optimization techniques [22,23]. Literature includes application of hybrid wind-PV for electrification of off-grid community [24], rural areas [25], island [26], etc. and minimization of life cycle cost of involved conversion components [27].…”

A holistic approach to sustainable development of energy, water and environment systems

“…Groundwater extraction from the public water supply source was investigated by Polom ci c et al (2015) who analyzed the impact of industrial activity on the regime of water supply, and the radius of influence of these activities on the groundwater source over a period of 200 days. Water demand management programs, such as retrofitting households with water-efficient devices and appliances, in remote communities on islands and in isolated mainland townships, was investigated by Beal et al (2016). Better matching between water supply and demand was studied from a holistic perspective by Anzaldi (2014) who showed that near real-time knowledge on water supply and demand, from sources to users, across geographic and organizational scales, ensures maximum usability of water.…”