Energy Benchmarking of Water and Wastewater Treatment, Distribution and Collection: A Case Study of Austin Water Utility

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill B. Kjellsson ◽  
David Greene ◽  
Raj Bhattarai ◽  
Michael E. Webber
Keyword(s):  
Water Distribution ◽  
Energy Intensity ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Water And Wastewater

Nationally, 4% of electricity usage goes towards moving and treating water and wastewater. The energy intensity of the water and wastewater utility sector is affected by many factors including water source, water quality, and the distance and elevation that water must be transported. Furthermore, energy accounts for 10% or more of a utility’s total operating cost, suggesting that energy savings can account for significant cost savings. Better knowledge of where and when energy is used could support strategic energy interventions and reveal opportunities for efficiency. Accordingly, this investigation quantifies energy intensity by process and type, including electricity and natural gas, and explores the time-varying nature of electric energy consumption for potable water distribution using the Austin Water Utility (AWU) in Austin, Texas as a case study. This research found that most of energy consumed by the AWU is for pumping throughout the distribution network (57%) and at lift stations (10%) while potable water treatment accounts for the least (5%). Though the focus is site specific, the methodology shown herein can be applied to other utilities with sufficient data.

Energy Intensity of Water: Literature Suggests Increasing Interest Despite Limited and Inconsistent Data

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen C. Hallett
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Intensity ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Water Source ◽  
Treatment Technology ◽  
Water And Wastewater ◽  
Reducing Energy

Water agencies use energy to pump, treat, and distribute potable water. Wastewater treatment plants use energy to collect, treat, and discharge wastewater. The energy intensity of water—the energy embedded in a unit of water delivered—varies considerably depending on the water source, the location and size of the agency’s service area, and the treatment technology employed. The frequency at which agencies collect energy use data also varies, as does the degree to which those data are available. Available estimates of the energy intensity of water also vary greatly. There is a growing recognition within the water and energy communities that new water supplies will likely be increasingly energy intensive and that water conservation efforts will thus result in energy savings. As a result, there is increasing interest in understanding baseline energy use, projected energy use, and opportunities for reducing energy consumption by water and wastewater agencies. The collection of additional, more consistent and more granular data is essential to gaining this understanding.”

scholarly journals Energy and Cost Savings through Pumping Stations Rehabilitation. Case Study in Bucharest

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 593
Author(s):  
Sorin Perju ◽  
Alexandru Aldea
Keyword(s):  
Water Distribution ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Distribution Network ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Water Distribution Network ◽  
Water Network ◽  
Water Losses ◽  
Pumping Stations ◽  
Technical Solutions

This paper presents the results recorded by upgrading and rehabilitating the pumping stations for an urban water network with a primary goal of diminishing the operation and maintenance costs and a secondary goal of reducing the water losses in the water distribution network. The adopted technical solutions within the structural and functional modifications of the pumping stations have led to both the improvement of hydraulic parameters of the pumping stations and also the improvement of registered energy consumption. The undertaken modifications and transformations within the pumping stations led to significant energy savings and at the same time to important water losses reductions within the distribution network.

scholarly journals Pipe replacement by age only, how misleading could it be?

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 846-854 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Pardo ◽  
J. Valdes-Abellan
Keyword(s):  
Water Distribution ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Water Distribution Networks ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Efficient Management ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
Pipe Replacement ◽  
Energy Audits ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Traditional methods for prioritizing the renewal of water are based on heuristic models, such as the number of breaks per length, rule-of-thumb, and records held by the water utility companies. Efficient management of water distribution networks involves factoring in water and energy losses as the key criteria for planning pipe renewal. Prioritizing the replacement of a pipe according to the highest value of unit headloss due to ageing does not consider the impact on water and energy consumption for the whole network. Thus, this paper proposes a methodology to prioritize pipe replacement according to water and energy savings per monetary unit invested – economic prioritization. This renewal plan shows different results if comparing with replacing pipelines with regard to age and it requires calculating water and energy audits of the water distribution networks. Moreover, the required time to recover the investment performed needs to be calculated. The methodology proposed in this work is compared with the unit headloss criterion used in a real water-pressurized network. The results demonstrate that using the unit headloss criterion neither water, energy nor the investment is optimized. Significant water and energy savings are not fully exploited.

Coagulation-Flocculation Technology in Water and Wastewater Treatment

2020 ◽  
pp. 432-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeek-Chia Ho ◽  
Siong-Chin Chua ◽  
Fai-Kait Chong
Keyword(s):  
Water Treatment ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Suspended Solid ◽  
Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Coagulation And Flocculation ◽  
Inorganic Matter ◽  
Water And Wastewater ◽  
Potable Water Treatment

Coagulation and flocculation processes are widely used in potable water treatment due to its high efficiency in turbidity removal. Egyptians discovered this method in 1500 BC by using alum to settle the suspended solids in the water. Today, the coagulation and flocculation processes are implemented with the purpose of agglomerate colloids and fine particles in water into larger particles, which is also known as floc. Therefore, reduction of turbidity and pollutants e.g. organic matter, inorganic matter, suspended solid, etc. can be achieved. This chapter covers the principle of coagulation and flocculation process which includes the charge neutralization and various binding mechanisms e.g. interparticle bridging, sweeping coagulation, and absorption. Besides, various types of coagulants and flocculants that have been discovered and their respective effectiveness in potable water treatment are discussed as well in this chapter. Polymer modifications to synthesize new coagulant/flocculant i.e. grafting and crosslinking are also included.

scholarly journals Strategies for achieving energy neutrality in biological nutrient removal systems – a case study of the Slupsk WWTP (northern Poland)

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 727-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Zaborowska ◽  
Krzysztof Czerwionka ◽  
Jacek Makinia
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Removal ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Energy Deficit ◽  
Biological Nutrient Removal ◽  
Reject Water ◽  
Northern Poland ◽  
The City

The paper presents a model-based evaluation of technological upgrades on the energy and cost balance in a large biological nutrient removal (BNR) wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the city of Slupsk (northern Poland). The proposed upgrades include chemically enhanced primary sludge removal and reduction of the nitrogen load in the deammonification process employed for reject water treatment. Simulations enabled to estimate the increased biogas generation and decreased energy consumption for aeration. The proposed upgrades may lead the studied WWTP from the energy deficit to energy neutrality and positive cost balance, while still maintaining the required effluent standards for nitrogen. The operating cost balance depends on the type of applied coagulants/flocculants and specific costs of electric energy. The choice of the coagulant/flocculent was found as the main factor determining a positive cost balance.

scholarly journals Estimating water and wastewater pipe failure consequences and the most detrimental failure modes

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 901-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuija Laakso ◽  
Suvi Ahopelto ◽  
Tiia Lampola ◽  
Teemu Kokkonen ◽  
Riku Vahala
Keyword(s):  
Asset Management ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Pipe Failure ◽  
Network Maintenance ◽  
Water And Wastewater ◽  
Large Water

Abstract Failures of water and wastewater networks can lead to severe consequences for the human, natural and built environments. This paper presents how data on networks and their immediate environment together with graph analysis can be used to estimate the severity of pipe failure consequences. A case study concerning a large water and wastewater utility revealed that ca. 14% of the water distribution pipes and ca. 25% of the sewers had potentially severe failure consequences with regard to at least one factor considered. The most detrimental failure modes connected to these pipes were identified. An assessment of the most important information needs revealed that a number of crucial source data sets were missing. The results can be used to support asset management decisions aiming at risk alleviation, e.g. when estimating the resources needed for network maintenance, condition inspections or renovations and when planning excavation works.

scholarly journals Electrodialytic Processes: Market Overview, Membrane Phenomena, Recent Developments and Sustainable Strategies

Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Bazinet ◽  
Thibaud R. Geoffroy
Keyword(s):  
Electric Fields ◽  
Potable Water ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Research Trends ◽  
Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Life Cycle Assessments ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Water And Wastewater

In the context of preserving and improving human health, electrodialytic processes are very promising perspectives. Indeed, they allow the treatment of water, preservation of food products, production of bioactive compounds, extraction of organic acids, and recovery of energy from natural and wastewaters without major environmental impact. Hence, the aim of the present review is to give a global portrait of the most recent developments in electrodialytic membrane phenomena and their uses in sustainable strategies. It has appeared that new knowledge on pulsed electric fields, electroconvective vortices, overlimiting conditions and reversal modes as well as recent demonstrations of their applications are currently boosting the interest for electrodialytic processes. However, the hurdles are still high when dealing with scale-ups and real-life conditions. Furthermore, looking at the recent research trends, potable water and wastewater treatment as well as the production of value-added bioactive products in a circular economy will probably be the main applications to be developed and improved. All these processes, taking into account their principles and specificities, can be used for specific eco-efficient applications. However, to prove the sustainability of such process strategies, more life cycle assessments will be necessary to convince people of the merits of coupling these technologies.

scholarly journals Quantifying the Computational Efficiency of Compressive Sensing in Smart Water Network Infrastructures

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 3299 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Tzagkarakis ◽  
Pavlos Charalampidis ◽  
Stylianos Roubakis ◽  
Antonis Makrogiannakis ◽  
Panagiotis Tsakalides
Keyword(s):  
Compressive Sensing ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Distribution Networks ◽  
Sensor Nodes ◽  
Smart Meters ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Control Center ◽  
Smart Water ◽  
Network Infrastructures

Monitoring contemporary water distribution networks (WDN) relies increasingly on smart metering technologies and wireless sensor network infrastructures. Smart meters and sensor nodes are deployed to capture and transfer information from the WDN to a control center for further analysis. Due to difficulties in accessing the water assets, many water utility companies employ battery-powered nodes, which restricts the use of high sampling rates, thus limiting the knowledge we can extract from the recorder data. To mitigate this issue, compressive sensing (CS) has been introduced as a powerful framework for reducing dramatically the required bandwidth and storage resources, without diminishing the meaningful information content. Despite its well-established and mathematically rigorous foundations, most of the focus is given on the algorithmic perspective, while the real benefits of CS in practical scenarios are still underexplored. To address this problem, this work investigates the advantages of a CS-based implementation on real sensing devices utilized in smart water networks, in terms of execution speedup and reduced ener experimental evaluation revealed that a CS-based scheme can reduce compression execution times around 50 % , while achieving significant energy savings compared to lossless compression, by selecting a high compression ratio, without compromising reconstruction fidelity. Most importantly, the above significant savings are achieved by simultaneously enabling a weak encryption of the recorded data without the need for additional encryption hardware or software components.

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