Opportunities for public water utilities in the market of energy from water

2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 2909-2915 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. M. Mol ◽  
J. M. Kornman ◽  
A. J. Kerpershoek ◽  
A. W. C. van der Helm
Keyword(s):  
Energy Source ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
The Public ◽  
Water Flows

An inventory is made of the possibilities to recover sustainable energy from the water cycle by identifying different water flows in a municipal environment as a sustainable energy source. It is discussed what role public water utilities should play in the market of energy from water. This is done for Waternet, the public water utility of Amsterdam, by describing experiences on two practical applications for aquifer thermal energy storage and energy recovery from drinking water. The main conclusion is that public water utilities can substantially contribute to the production of sustainable energy, especially by making use of heat and cold from the water cycle. Public water utilities have the opportunity to both regulate and enter the market for energy from water.

scholarly journals How Perceptions of Trust, Risk, Tap Water Quality, and Salience Characterize Drinking Water Choices

Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Madeline A. Grupper ◽  
Madeline E. Schreiber ◽  
Michael G. Sorice
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Water Behavior

Provision of safe drinking water by water utilities is challenged by disturbances to water quality that have become increasingly frequent due to global changes and anthropogenic impacts. Many water utilities are turning to adaptable and flexible strategies to allow for resilient management of drinking water supplies. The success of resilience-based management depends on, and is enabled by, positive relationships with the public. To understand how relationships between managers and communities spill over to in-home drinking water behavior, we examined the role of trust, risk perceptions, salience of drinking water, and water quality evaluations in the choice of in-home drinking water sources for a population in Roanoke Virginia. Using survey data, our study characterized patterns of in-home drinking water behavior and explored related perceptions to determine if residents’ perceptions of their water and the municipal water utility could be intuited from this behavior. We characterized drinking water behavior using a hierarchical cluster analysis and highlighted the importance of studying a range of drinking water patterns. Through analyses of variance, we found that people who drink more tap water have higher trust in their water managers, evaluate water quality more favorably, have lower risk perceptions, and pay less attention to changes in their tap water. Utility managers may gauge information about aspects of their relationships with communities by examining drinking water behavior, which can be used to inform their future interactions with the public, with the goal of increasing resilience and adaptability to external water supply threats.

Socio economic influences on the restoration and maintenance of the water environment

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Peter Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Water Environment ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Water Services ◽  
Economic Issue ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Political Thinking ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Influences ◽  
Mind Set

Protection of the water environment has become a modern socio economic issue in which the sociological pressures for a healthy water environment must be balanced with affordability. Reconciliation of these aspects requires clear political thinking and rigorous methodologies. It also requires a shift in mind-set which considers members of the public as customers. Water utilities are the major users of the water environment and potentially its greatest threat – so good delivery of water services is very important. The presentation addresses the topic through the experience of Anglian Water, a privatised water utility serving Eastern England.

Energy from the water cycle: a promising combination to operate climate neutral

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. van der Hoek
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Green House Gas ◽  
And Control

Waternet, the first water cycle company in the Netherlands, is responsible for drinking water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, and watersystem management and control in and around Amsterdam. Waternet has the ambition to operate climate neutral in 2020. To realise this ambition, measures are required to compensate for the emission of 53,000 ton CO2-eq/year. Energy recovery from the water cycle looks very promising. From wastewater, ground water, surface water and drinking water, all elements of the water cycle, renewable energy can be recoverd. This can be thermal energy and chemical energy. First calculations reveal that energy recovery from the water cycle in and around Amsterdam can contribute to a total reduction in green house gas emissions up to 148,000 ton CO2-eq/year. The challenge for the coming years is to choose robust combinations of all the possibilities to fulfil the energy demand at any time. Only then the use of fossil fuel can be abandoned and the target of operating climate neutral in 2020 can be reached.

scholarly journals Shower heat exchanger: reuse of energy from heated drinking water for CO2 reduction

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-141
Author(s):  
Z. Deng ◽  
S. Mol ◽  
J. P. van der Hoek
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Heat Exchanger ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Co2 Reduction ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Recovery Efficiency ◽  
Total Energy Consumption ◽  
Co2 Emission Reduction ◽  
Water Utility

Abstract. The heating of drinking water in households contributes for a significant amount to the emission of greenhouse gases. As a water utility aiming to operate climate neutral by 2020, Waternet needs to reduce its CO2 emission by 53 kton yr−1. To contribute to this ambition, a pilot project was carried out in Uilenstede, Amstelveen, the Netherlands, to recover the shower heat energy with a shower heat exchanger from Dutch Solar Systems. An experimental set up was built in the Waternet laboratory to compare field conditions and lab conditions. The energy recovery efficiency observed in the lab was 61–64 % under winter conditions and 58–62 % under summer conditions, while the energy recovery efficiency observed in Uilenstede was 57 % in December 2014. Based on the observations, 4 % of the total energy consumption of households in Amsterdam (electricity and gas) can be recovered with a shower heat exchanger installed in all households in Amsterdam, which also means a 54 kton yr−1 CO2 emission reduction.

scholarly journals Shower heat exchanger: reuse of energy from heated drinking water for CO2 reduction

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Deng ◽  
S. Mol ◽  
J. P. van der Hoek
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Heat Exchanger ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Co2 Reduction ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Recovery Efficiency ◽  
Total Energy Consumption ◽  
Co2 Emission Reduction ◽  
Water Utility

Abstract. The heating of drinking water in households contributes significantly to the emission of greenhouse gases. As a water utility aiming to operate at a climate neutral level by 2020, Waternet needs to reduce its CO2 emission by 53 kton yr−1. To contribute to this ambition, a pilot project was carried out in Uilenstede, Amstelveen, the Netherlands, to recover the shower heat energy with a shower heat exchanger from Dutch Solar Systems. An experimental setup was built in the Waternet laboratory to evaluate the claimed efficiencies. The energy recovery efficiency observed in the lab was 61–64 % under winter conditions and 57–62 % under summer conditions, while the energy recovery efficiency observed in Uilenstede was 57 % in December 2014. Based on the observations, 4 % of the total energy consumption of households in Amsterdam (electricity and gas) can be recovered with a shower heat exchanger installed in all households in Amsterdam, which also means a 54 kton year−1 CO2 emission reduction can be achieved.

Key decisions for sustainable utility energy management

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 721-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve A. Conrad ◽  
Murray Hall ◽  
Stephen Cook ◽  
Jack Geisenhoff
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support System ◽  
Energy Management ◽  
Support System ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Water Research ◽  
Cooperative Project ◽  
Management Workshop

This paper summarizes the outcomes of the international sustainable energy management workshop as part of the Water Research Foundation project “Decision Support System for Sustainable Energy Management.” This paper provides a review of key decisions and barriers to water utility energy management. This paper also provides a discussion of a decision framework to address sustainable energy management in the water/wastewater industry. This work represents a 17 utility, international cooperative project, aimed at creating a Decision Support System (DSS). When concluded, the assembled tool is expected to help identify energy, greenhouse, and cost-saving approaches that will be of wide practical benefit to water utilities.

scholarly journals Energy recovery from the water cycle: Thermal energy from drinking water

Energy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 162 ◽  
pp. 977-987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Peter van der Hoek ◽  
Stefan Mol ◽  
Sara Giorgi ◽  
Jawairia Imtiaz Ahmad ◽  
Gang Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Water Cycle

The most efficient clusters of Brazilian water companies

Water Policy ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 902-917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Carvalho ◽  
Isabel Pedro ◽  
Rui Cunha Marques
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Parametric Method ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Natural Monopoly ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Private Participation ◽  
Water And Wastewater ◽  
Water Companies ◽  
Non Parametric

Usually water utilities provide their services under natural monopoly, with few incentives to become efficient, therefore affecting customers in the form of expensive tariffs. Hence, it is extremely important to find out the sources of inefficiency. The present study aims to identify the most efficient water utility groups in Brazil. For this purpose, a robust non-parametric method was applied. The results show that the utilities that provide both drinking water and wastewater services, the local utilities, and the utilities with private participation are more efficient. Furthermore, this study proved that the utilities were more efficient before the regulatory framework had been implemented.

scholarly journals Enhancement of the free residual chlorine concentration at the ends of the water supply network: Case study of Souk Ahras city – Algeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed A. Bensoltane ◽  
Lotfi Zeghadnia ◽  
Lakhdar Djemili ◽  
Abdalhak Gheid ◽  
Yassine Djebbar
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Distribution Systems ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Residual Chlorine ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
The Public ◽  
Point Of Use ◽  
Free Residual Chlorine

AbstractThe drinking-water supply sector has mostly targeted the water-borne transmission of pathogens. The most common method employed is the chlorination of drinking-water at treatment plants and in the distribution systems. In Algeria, the use of chlorine in drinking water treatment is a widespread practice. To enhance the concentration of the residual chlorine in the public water-supply system of a part of Souk Ahras city (Faubourg) (Algeria) known by its low concentration of the free residual chlorine (according to the water utility – Algérienne des Eaux: ADE investigation) especially at the point of use, practical steps were carried out. The method is a combination between numerical simulation using EPANET2 software and field measurements. Using statistical analysis the hydraulic model was calibrated and the observed values were very closer to the simulated results. The concentration was improved throughout the network after the injection of the appropriate dose.

Towards a climate neutral water cycle

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Peter van der Hoek
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Water Surface ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Water System ◽  
Drinking Water Treatment ◽  
System Management ◽  
And Control

Waternet, the first water cycle company in the Netherlands, is responsible for drinking water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, and water system management and control in and around Amsterdam. Waternet has the ambition to become climate neutral in 2020. To realise this ambition, measures are required to compensate for the emission of 53,000 t CO2-eq/year. Energy recovery from the water cycle looks very promising. From wastewater, ground water, surface water and drinking water, all elements of the water cycle, renewable energy can be recovered. This can be thermal energy and chemical energy. First calculations reveal that energy recovery from the water cycle in and around Amsterdam can contribute to a total reduction in greenhouse gas emissions up to 74,900 t CO2-eq/year. The challenge for the coming years is to choose robust combinations of all the possibilities to fulfil the energy demand at any time. Only then can the use of fossil fuel be abandoned and the target of becoming climate neutral in 2020 be reached.

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