Urban water metabolism efficiency assessment: Integrated analysis of available and virtual water

Huang, Chu-Long; Vause, Jonathan; Ma, Hwong‐Wen; Yu, Chang‐Ping

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.02.044

Cited by 41 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…83 Some researchers apply a broad interpretation of urban metabolism, considering both the direct 84 and indirect metabolism of resources (Daniels 2002, Pincetl et al 2012). In the case of water, this 85 means direct (real) flows of water from surrounding regions ('local metabolism'), but also to 86 indirect (virtual) water embodied in the goods and services produced using water from elsewhere 87 ('global metabolism') (Huang et al 2013). We apply a tighter interpretation of urban metabolism, 88 after Baynes and Weidmann (2012), which focuses on direct resource exchanges.…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

A metabolism perspective on alternative urban water servicing options using water mass balance

2016

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Please cite this article as: Farooqui, T.A., Renouf, M.A., Kenway, S.J., A metabolism perspective on alternative urban water servicing options using water mass balance, Water Research (2016Research ( ), doi: 10.1016Research ( /j.watres.2016 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Urban areas will need to pursue new water servicing options to ensure local supply security. 18Decisions about how best to employ them are not straightforward due to multiple considerations 19 and the potential for problem shifting among them. We hypothesise that urban water metabolism 20 evaluation based a water mass balance can contribute to this, and explore the utility of this 21 perspective and the new insights it provides about water servicing options. Using a water mass 22 M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTbalance evaluation framework, which considers direct urban water flows (both 'natural' 23 hydrological and 'anthropogenic' flows), as well as water-related energy, we evaluated how use 24 of alternative water sources (stormwater / rainwater harvesting, wastewater / greywater recycling) 25 at different scales influences the 'local water metabolism' of a case study urban development. 26New indicators were devised to represent the water-related 'resource efficiency' and 27 'hydrological performance' of the urban area. The new insights gained were the extent to which 28 alternative water supplies influence the water efficiency and hydrological performance of the 29 urban area, and the potential energy trade-offs. The novel contribution is the development of new 30 indicators of urban water resource performance that bring together considerations of both the 31 'anthropogenic' and 'natural' water cycles, and the interactions between them. These are used for 32 the first time to test alternative water servicing scenarios, and to provide a new perspective to 33 complement broader sustainability assessments of urban water. 34

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Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

A metabolism perspective on alternative urban water servicing options using water mass balance

2016

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“…through an urban boundary, including waste-related flows [24,160]. The aim of UM is often to identify and characterize trends and patterns in these material flows to formulate and design more efficient urban systems as well as to better integrate social and environmental concerns into urban planning [161]. UM was brought into popularity by Wolman [162], an educator and water resources and sanitary engineer.…”

Section: Urban Metabolism and Water Footprint Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of sheer mass and cost of delivery, water is typically the largest flow through the urban boundary out of the various flows in UM studies [161,166]. Water flow in the UM framework has primarily been tracked in terms of direct use and waste flows passing the urban boundary [161,166].…”

Section: Urban Metabolism and Water Footprint Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Water flow in the UM framework has primarily been tracked in terms of direct use and waste flows passing the urban boundary [161,166]. Huang et al [161] indicate that an urban water metabolism efficiency indicator system is needed and should be extended to account for both virtual and physical water flows. They suggest the need to incorporate the so-called 'social water cycle' that is relevant within the urban boundary.…”

Section: Urban Metabolism and Water Footprint Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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Water Footprint of Cities: A Review and Suggestions for Future Research

et al. 2015

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Cities are hotspots of commodity consumption, with implications for both local and systemic water resources. Water flows "virtually" into and out of cities through the extensive cross-boundary exchange of goods and services. Both virtual and real water flows are affected by water supply investments and urban planning decisions, which influence residential, commercial, and industrial development. This form of water "teleconnection" is being increasingly recognized as an important aspect of water decision-making. The role of trade and virtual water flows as an alternative to expanding a city's "real" water supply is rarely acknowledged, with an emphasis placed instead on monotonic expansion of engineering potable water supplies. We perform a literature review of water footprint studies to evaluate OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 8462 the potential and importance of taking virtual flows into account in urban planning and policy. We compare and contrast current methods to assess virtual water flows. We also identify and discuss priorities for future research in urban water footprint analysis.

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“…One is the perspective of the water supply, mainly to discuss water supply management [8][9][10][11][12] and unconventional water resource utilization [13][14][15][16]. The other is the perspective of urban water demand, which mainly focuses on water conservation [17][18][19][20] and water use efficiency improvement [21][22][23][24][25]. In addition, there are some studies [26][27][28] on urban water management exploration from the perspectives of both supply and demand.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water Use Efficiency Improvement against a Backdrop of Expanding City Agglomeration in Developing Countries—A Case Study on Industrial and Agricultural Water Use in the Bohai Bay Region of China

Bai

Zhou

Zhao

et al. 2017

Water

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Most city agglomerations of developing countries face water shortages and pollution due to population growth and industrial aggregation. To meet such water security challenges, policy makers need to evaluate water use efficiency at the regional or basin level because the prosperity of city agglomerations is indispensable to the sustainable development of the region or basin. To solve the issue, this paper adopts a non-directional distance function within the framework of environmental production technology to measure water use efficiency. Based on the distance between actual water use efficiency and the ideal efficiency, it calculates the potential reduction space of water input and pollutants by slack adjustment. Added to the Malmquist index, it forms a non-radial Malmquist water use performance index, which can be divided into technological change and technical efficiency change, to measure dynamic water use efficiency. Further, water use efficiency change is analyzed from the perspectives of technological improvement and institutional construction. Bohai Bay city agglomeration, a typical water-deficient city agglomeration in China, is taken as a case study, and data on water resource, environment, and economy from 2011 to 2014 have been used. In conclusion, there is much space for water use efficiency improvement on the whole. However, even having considered potential reduction space of water input and pollutant discharge under current environmental production technology, it is still not enough to support the city agglomeration's sustainable development. To relieve current potential water safety hazards, not only technical improvement but also institution innovation for highly efficient water use should be kept accelerating in Bohai Bay region. In terms of urban water management in developing countries, the research conclusion is of theoretical and practical significance.

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Urban water metabolism efficiency assessment: Integrated analysis of available and virtual water

Cited by 41 publications

References 52 publications

A metabolism perspective on alternative urban water servicing options using water mass balance

A metabolism perspective on alternative urban water servicing options using water mass balance

Water Footprint of Cities: A Review and Suggestions for Future Research

Water Use Efficiency Improvement against a Backdrop of Expanding City Agglomeration in Developing Countries—A Case Study on Industrial and Agricultural Water Use in the Bohai Bay Region of China

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