Life Cycle Assessment for Drinking Water Treatment Plant: Impact of Energy on Environment

Salman Wahab, TAMUAdamaris Cruz, UNLVStephon Wilder, NDSU

Fiorentina Richelle Asun, UTP

Mentor: Dr. Yeek Chia Ho, UTPCo-Mentor: Dr. Eakalak Khan, UNLVGraduate Mentors: Sayeda Masrura, UNLV Leong Wai Hong, UTP

Outline of the presentation● Objective and Scope of the Study● Background● Steps of Water Treatment● Water Quality and Parameters● Life Cycle Assessment● Application of LCA● Methods ● Results● Conclusion and Recommendations● Acknowledgements

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Objective(s)❖ To develop a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA of a drinking

water treatment plant by utilizing GaBi software

❖ To evaluate the environmental impact of drinking water treatment process by collecting and analyzing data from an operating drinking water treatment plant

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Scope of the Study❖ Scope of the study includes cradle-to-grave approach

life cycle assessment for drinking water treatment process in Malaysia.

❖ Environmental impact & energy usage

❖ Does not include solid handling process

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Background - A drinking water treatment plant’s primary goal is to

provide clean drinking water for the community- Depending on the water source, more or less chemicals

can be added to ensure safety- Some processes could be applied for specific

contaminants present in the water- Every country has different drinking water standards

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Process flow diagram for drinking water treatment plant

6Bukhary, S., Batista, J., & Ahmad, S. (2020). Design Aspects, Energy Consumption Evaluation, and Offset for Drinking Water Treatment Operation. Water, 12(6), 1772.

Steps to Water Treatment 1. Screening and Straining

7https://seftgroup.com/en/manual-bar-screen-customized-mechanical-equipment-sewage-wastewater-treatment-plants

Steps to Water Treatment2. Pretreatment

- Pre Lime, Pre Chlorine, Activated Carbon- Balance pH levels, prevent corrosion, and odor reduction

3. Coagulation and Flocculation- Coagulant: Alum - Flocculant: Polyelectrolyte - Reduces turbidity

4. Sedimentation- Floc (clumped together particles) is removed as sludge

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Steps to Water Treatment5. Filtration6. Disinfection

- Chlorine

7. Additional chemicals- Lime (Not in U.S.), Fluoride(Not common in U.S.)

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Water Quality and Parameters● Physical Contaminants:

sediments or organic material● Biological Contaminants:

bacteria, viruses, and parasites● Chemical Contaminants: natural

or man-made processes such as bleach or metals

● Most common biological contaminants: Salmonella, Hepatitis A, and E. coli

Heydari, M. M., Abbasi, A., ROHANI, S. M., & HOSSEINI, S. M. A. (2020, July 6). Table 3

Comparison of drinking water quality with drinking water standards.

What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA?

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● Tool to assess environmental

impacts of a product, process,

or activity from cradle-to-grave

● International standards set by

the International Organization

for Standardization (ISO

● ISO 1404014044 for LCA

specifically

LCA Framework

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Impact Assessment

Inventory Analysis

Goal and Scope

Interpretation

LCA Example: Automotive Factory● Functional unit:

100,000 vehicles annually over 30 years

● Goal: determine impacts on environment

● Inventory Analysis: system boundary shown in figure

M. Gebler, J. F. Cerdas, S. Thiede and C. Herrmann, J. Clean. Prod., 2020, 270, 122330.

LCA in Water Treatment Process● Functional unit: 1

m3 of water● Goal: provide safe

drinking water with minimal env. Impact; minimal energy use

● Inventory Analysis: shown in table

Stages Elements Unit Amount

Inputs Water

Treatment

Electricity kWh m-3 0.48

Coagulant (Aluminum Sulfate) kg m-3 2.90E-02

Activated Carbon Replacement kg m-3 1.30E-03

Chlorine kg m-3 7.00E-03

Ozone kg m-3 4.80E-03

Outputs Waste Sludge kg m-3 4.70E-02

Activated Carbon kg m-3 2.40E-02

Methods - GaBi

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CML 2001 Uses an excel file that is consistently updated

ReCiPeCombines Eco-Indicator 99 and CML 2001 as

an updated version

TRACIMethodologies developed specifically for the

United States

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Water Treatment Process

GaBi Plan

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GaBi Plan

Processes Inputs

Coagulation

Filtration

Disinfection / Clear Water Tank

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Results: Global Warming Potential

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Results: Eutrophication

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Results: Ozone Depletion

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Results: Human Health Particulate Air

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Results: Human Toxicity, Cancer

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Conclusion

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● Inputs used in GaBi Software in Malaysian context

● Energy has the greatest impact on environment

● Water consumption is growing● Inputs have to change ● Impact from electricity used

and how it was produced

Recommendations● Pump efficiency

● Alum supplier

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Acknowledgements❖ This work is supported by the National Science

Foundation Grant (Grant # OISE 1952497, Collaborative Research: IRES Track 1 International Research Experience for Students in Big Data Applications in Energy and Related Infrastructure. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations presented are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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THANK YOU

Questions