Life cycle assessments of urban water systems: A comparative analysis of selected peer-reviewed literature

Loubet, Philippe; Roux, Philippe; Loiseau, Eléonore; Maurel, Véronique Bellon

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2014.08.048

Cited by 153 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Aligned with several previous LCA studies, a service-oriented functional unit was used in this study to reflect households' water and sanitation requirements [26]. The functional unit was one household's water and sanitation demands.…”

Section: Goal and Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, LCA studies have addressed specific aspects of conventional centralized drinking or wastewater systems, i.e., various options for drinking water supply systems [18][19][20][21], centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment [22][23][24], stormwater management strategies [25], or entire water and wastewater service systems [26]. Several recent review articles summarized the LCA developments in the water management area and emphasized the continuing research needs [24,26,27]. In particular, research needs include (1) a broader system boundary to include the entire water and wastewater services; (2) a transparent life cycle inventory for emerging treatment technologies including resource recovery and fit-for-purpose design options; and (3) a robust inventory assessment with variability and sensitivity analyses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the promotion of integrated water management, recent publications have investigated the life cycle impacts of the entire water and wastewater services [26]. However, the majority of these studies are focused on the centralized service options [24,27], which are not necessarily the most sustainable solutions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparing the Life Cycle Energy Consumption, Global Warming and Eutrophication Potentials of Several Water and Waste Service Options

Xue

Hawkins²,

Schoen³

et al. 2016

Water

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Abstract:Managing the water-energy-nutrient nexus for the built environment requires, in part, a full system analysis of energy consumption, global warming and eutrophication potentials of municipal water services. As an example, we evaluated the life cycle energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and aqueous nutrient releases of the whole anthropogenic municipal water cycle starting from raw water extraction to wastewater treatment and reuse/discharge for five municipal water and wastewater systems. The assessed options included conventional centralized services and four alternative options following the principles of source-separation and water fit-for-purpose. The comparative life cycle assessment identified that centralized drinking water supply coupled with blackwater energy recovery and on-site greywater treatment and reuse was the most energyand carbon-efficient water service system evaluated, while the conventional (drinking water and sewerage) centralized system ranked as the most energy-and carbon-intensive system. The electricity generated from blackwater and food residuals co-digestion was estimated to offset at least 40% of life cycle energy consumption for water/waste services. The dry composting toilet option demonstrated the lowest life cycle eutrophication potential. The nutrients in wastewater effluent are the dominating contributors for the eutrophication potential for the assessed system configurations. Among the parameters for which variability and sensitivity were evaluated, the carbon intensity of the local electricity grid and the efficiency of electricity production by the co-digestion with the energy recovery process were the most important for determining the relative global warming potential results.

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Section: Goal and Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparing the Life Cycle Energy Consumption, Global Warming and Eutrophication Potentials of Several Water and Waste Service Options

Xue

Hawkins²,

Schoen³

et al. 2016

Water

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“…However, most of the studies have been based on energy systems (e.g., because of the relative priority and importance of the impacts of energy production and usage) [10]. The energy requirement by water systems (i.e., energy for water) has been less studied [11] and the urban water systems are often managed separately [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water-energy nexus for urban water systems: A comparative review on energy intensity and environmental impacts in relation to global water risks

et al. 2017

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• This study quantifies the nexus as energy intensity and greenhouse gas potential.• Baseline water stress and return flow ratio are identified as water risks.• Source water accessibility significantly contributes to variations in the nexus.• Water risks have little impact on the nexus of wastewater systems.• Study on the nexus is suggested to be conducted at regional levels. A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C TThe importance of the interdependence between water and energy, also known as the water-energy nexus, is well recognized. The water-energy nexus is typically characterized in resource use efficiency terms such as energy intensity. This study aims to explore the quantitative results of the nexus in terms of energy intensity and environmental impacts (mainly greenhouse gas emissions) on existing water systems within urban water cycles. We also characterized the influence of water risks on the water-energy nexus, including baseline water stress (a water quantity indicator) and return flow ratio (a water quality indicator). For the 20 regions and 4 countries surveyed (including regions with low to extremely high water risks that are geographically located in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America), their energy intensities were positively related to the water risks. Regions with higher water risks were observed to have relatively higher energy and GHG intensities associated with their water supply systems. This mainly reflected the major influence of source water accessibility on the nexus, particularly for regions requiring energy-intensive imported or groundwater supplies, or desalination. Regions that use tertiary treatment (for water reclamation or environmental protection) for their wastewater treatment systems also had relatively higher energy and GHG emission intensities, but the intensities seemed to be independent from the water risks. On-site energy recovery (e.g., biogas or waste heat) in the wastewater treatment systems offered a great opportunity for reducing overall energy demand and its associated environmental impacts. Future policy making for the water and energy sectors should carefully consider the waterenergy nexus at the regional or local level to achieve maximum environmental and economic benefits. The results from this study can provide a better understanding of the water-energy nexus and informative recommendations for future policy directions for the effective management of water and energy.

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“…Much emphasis has been placed on the financial issues of the system implementation [2,11,15,16]. The financial viability of single RWH systems has been assessed using various approaches, including comparative analysis with other water supply strategies [17,18]. Methods based on the use of undersized tanks for low water demand conditions have also been explored to obtain an affordable payback period of the investments [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Saving and Cost Analysis of Large-Scale Implementation of Domestic Rain Water Harvesting in Minor Mediterranean Islands

Campisano

D’Amico

Modica

2017

Water

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This paper describes a novel methodology to evaluate the benefits of large-scale installation of domestic Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) systems in multi-story buildings. The methodology was specifically developed for application to small settlements of the minor Mediterranean islands characterized by sharp fluctuations in precipitation and water demands between winter and summer periods. The methodology is based on the combined use of regressive models for water saving evaluation and of geospatial analysis tools for semi-automatic collection of spatial information at the building/household level. An application to the old town of Lipari (Aeolian islands) showed potential for high yearly water savings (between 30% and 50%), with return on investment in less than 15 years for about 50% of the installed RWH systems.

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Life cycle assessments of urban water systems: A comparative analysis of selected peer-reviewed literature

Cited by 153 publications

References 53 publications

Comparing the Life Cycle Energy Consumption, Global Warming and Eutrophication Potentials of Several Water and Waste Service Options

Comparing the Life Cycle Energy Consumption, Global Warming and Eutrophication Potentials of Several Water and Waste Service Options

Water-energy nexus for urban water systems: A comparative review on energy intensity and environmental impacts in relation to global water risks

Water Saving and Cost Analysis of Large-Scale Implementation of Domestic Rain Water Harvesting in Minor Mediterranean Islands

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