Real-world sustainability analysis of an innovative decentralized water system with rainwater harvesting and wastewater reclamation

Zang, Jian; Kumar, Manish; Werner, David

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111639

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…1 The chemicals usage varies from 1 to 13 g m −3 regarding the feeding management and real water quality (inlet status and outlet requirement) in a real wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). 2 However, machine learning (ML) instead of relying on workers' experience is claimed to save chemicals in water management. 3 The worldwide treatment wastewater market is expected to increase from 283.5 billion US dollars a year in 2021 to 465 in 2028, 4 thus, the financial benefits of chemical saving are significant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring potential dual-stage attention based recurrent neural network machine learning application for dosage prediction in intelligent municipal management

Fang

Zang

Zhai

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring potential dual-stage attention based recurrent neural network machine learning application for dosage prediction in intelligent municipal management

Fang

Zang

Zhai

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci.: Water Res. Technol.

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“…In this context, the conception and evaluation of water infrastructure has evolved from a technical focus to a more sociotechnical focus, taking into account contemporary changes in society, technology, and nature [7]. With this, there has been an increased interest in the sustainability of decentralised water and wastewater infrastructure systems, alongside advancements in treatment technology to protect environmental pollution [8][9][10][11]. Decentralised or on-site systems are of particular interest and value in rural environments [10,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With this, there has been an increased interest in the sustainability of decentralised water and wastewater infrastructure systems, alongside advancements in treatment technology to protect environmental pollution [8][9][10][11]. Decentralised or on-site systems are of particular interest and value in rural environments [10,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Life Cycle Environmental Performance of On-Site or Decentralised Wastewater Treatment Systems for Domestic Homes

Gallagher

Gill

2021

Water

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There is little knowledge regarding the environmental sustainability of domestic on-site or decentralised wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS). This study evaluated six unique life cycle environmental impacts for different DWTTS configurations of five conventional septic tank systems, four packaged treatment units, and a willow evapotranspiration system. Similar freshwater eutrophication (FE), dissipated water (DW), and mineral and metal (MM), burdens were noted between the packaged and conventional system configurations, with the packaged systems demonstrating significantly higher impacts of between 18% and 56% for climate change (CC), marine eutrophication (ME), and fossils (F). At a system level, higher impacts were observed in systems requiring (i) three vs. two engineered treatment stages, (ii) a larger soil percolation trench area, and (iii) pumping of effluent. The evapotranspiration system presented the smallest total environmental impacts (3.0–10.8 lower), with net benefits for FE, ME, and MM identified due to the biomass (wood) production offsetting these burdens. Further analysis highlighted the sensitivity of results to biomass yield, operational demands (desludging or pumping energy demands), and embodied materials, with less significant impacts for replacing mechanical components, i.e., pumps. The findings highlighted the variation in environmental performance of different DWTTS configurations and indicated opportunities for design improvements to reduce their life cycle impacts.

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“…Waste not, want not is an old adage, and yet, enormous amounts of potable water are continuously lost from supply networks and buildings because of leakages (Zang et al 2021, Zang et al 2022. The global volume of water lost by utilities around the world is an estimated 346 million cubic metres per day or 126 billion cubic metres per year (Liemberger et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smart metering and communication interventions reduce significant water leakage by faulty toilets in purpose-built student accommodation

Zang

Kumar

Werner

2023

Preprint

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Water efficiency is a global sustainability challenge encapsulated in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6), target 6.4. We used building level smart metering to investigate low endpoint water use efficiency in purpose-built student accommodation blocks, a rapidly growing residence type in the United Kingdom. Baseflow accounted for up to 42% of the annual water demand in three accommodation blocks housing 240 students at Newcastle University. Audits identified faulty, continuously running toilets as the main reason for these high baseflows. Each faulty toilet wasted between 4,800 to 12,000 litres per day of potable water, equivalent to the baseflow corrected water use of between 47 and 106 students. The median payback period for recovering the cost of toilet repairs via reduced water bills was 2.9 days, less than the median 6-day period of water wastage before a faulty toilet was identified and repaired. Management, maintenance and cleaning staff, and student occupant engagements reduced baseflows in Windsor Terrace from 4,577 cubic meters in the calendar year 2017 to 2,453 cubic meters in the calendar year 2019. These water savings amounted to an annual water bill saving of £4,023, five times higher than the £828 annual smart metering costs. We conclude that rapid identification and repair of faulty appliances supported by smart metering is a cost effective and sustainable water efficiency strategy. With timely repairs of faulty appliances, significant water savings can be achieved without up-front investment into additional infrastructures such as water storage tanks and pipes, which have embedded environmental impacts.

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Real-world sustainability analysis of an innovative decentralized water system with rainwater harvesting and wastewater reclamation

Cited by 22 publications

References 29 publications

Exploring potential dual-stage attention based recurrent neural network machine learning application for dosage prediction in intelligent municipal management

Exploring potential dual-stage attention based recurrent neural network machine learning application for dosage prediction in intelligent municipal management

The Life Cycle Environmental Performance of On-Site or Decentralised Wastewater Treatment Systems for Domestic Homes

Smart metering and communication interventions reduce significant water leakage by faulty toilets in purpose-built student accommodation

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