An Assessment of Sustainable Airport Water Management: The Case of Osaka’s Kansai International Airport

Abstract

Airports are an essential infrastructure to facilitate aviation. The substantial growth of aviation has led to a significant increase in water usage by airports. Airports also generate large volumes of wastewater that may include contaminants. Hence, understanding sustainable water management practices is essential in the aviation industry. In this study, an exploratory research design was utilized in the examination of the sustainable water management strategies and systems at Kansai International Airport from 2002 to 2016. The qualitative data were examined using document analysis as part of a case study. The quantitative data were analyzed using regression analysis as part of a longitudinal study. The airport has been able to reduce the total water consumption, water consumption per passenger, and water consumption per aircraft movement, even with increased traffic in recent years. The airport sources water from the municipal authorities and reclaims water for non-potable water uses. The airport conducts regular water quality tests which measure the Chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, and total phosphates. The airport’s onsite wastewater processing centre processes all wastewaters, which discharges non-reclaimed water into Osaka Bay. With a decrease in water consumption, there has similarly been a decrease in the need to treat wastewater, while the reclaimed water ratio has increased over the period of the study.

An Assessment of Airport Sustainability: Part 3—Water Management at Copenhagen Airport

“…However, in contrast to the expected reduction in water consumption per unit of traffic (PAX or ATM), this has also remained steady (or increased in the case of ATM). Water management initiatives at other airports [85] have focused on the reduction of water consumption. However, the clear finding is that the initiatives at CPH are targeted at reducing the environmental impact of the airport in terms of the quality of the water discharged from the airport.…”

“…These wastewaters are sent off site for treatment before being discharged. This is in contrast to other airports, which utilise their own wastewater treatment plants on site [85]. There will be pros and cons to each approach, but clearly nearby off site water treatment plants are a valid option, as demonstrated by CPH.…”

“…That is, reducing the load on municipal water supplies by implementing second quality water, source directly, in as many applications as possible. At other airports, the primary sustainability initiative tends to be on either reduce or recycle [85]. Sustainable sourcing is an important strategy, that can be utilized in other airports, depending on the local ground water, in terms of availability and composition.…”

Examination of Sustainable Water Management at Norway’s Major Hub Airport: The Case of Oslo Airport Gardermoen

“…However, significant quantities of water are required to maintain the infrastructure for delivering such services [3][4][5], because of which water consumption is very large at the airports. In addition, wastewater is produced in large quantities at airports [6]. In view of the adverse impact these two could have on the environment, airports around the world are seeking to establish and implement sustainable water management strategies and policies [7,8].…”

“…As stated previously, airports consume substantial volumes of water to maintain their infrastructure and operations [3,4,6,8]. Airport operators, ground service providers, passengers, and staff require water for various purposes, such as drinking, catering, retail, cleaning, flushing toilets, system maintenance, and maintenance and landscaping of the airport grounds [10].…”