IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i10p3546-d173513.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of Nutrient Removal and Resource Recovery on Life Cycle Cost and Environmental Impacts of a Small Scale Water Resource Recovery Facility

Author

Listed:
  • Ben Morelli

    (Eastern Research Group, 110 Hartwell Ave., Lexington, MA 02421, USA)

  • Sarah Cashman

    (Eastern Research Group, 110 Hartwell Ave., Lexington, MA 02421, USA)

  • Xin (Cissy) Ma

    (United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

  • Jay Garland

    (United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

  • Jason Turgeon

    (United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, OEP 5-2, Boston, MA 02109, USA)

  • Lauren Fillmore

    (Water Research Foundation, 1199 N Fairfax Street, Suite 900, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA)

  • Diana Bless

    (United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

  • Michael Nye

    (United States Environmental Protection Agency, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 26 West Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA)

Abstract

To limit effluent impacts on eutrophication in receiving waterbodies, a small community water resource recovery facility (WRRF) upgraded its conventional activated sludge treatment process for biological nutrient removal, and considered enhanced primary settling and anaerobic digestion (AD) with co-digestion of high strength organic waste (HSOW). The community initiated the resource recovery hub concept with the intention of converting an energy-consuming wastewater treatment plant into a facility that generates energy and nutrients and reuses water. We applied life cycle assessment and life cycle cost assessment to evaluate the net impact of the potential conversion. The upgraded WRRF reduced eutrophication impacts by 40% compared to the legacy system. Other environmental impacts such as global climate change potential (GCCP) and cumulative energy demand (CED) were strongly affected by AD and composting assumptions. The scenario analysis showed that HSOW co-digestion with energy recovery can lead to reductions in GCCP and CED of 7% and 108%, respectively, for the upgraded WRRF (high feedstock-base AD performance scenarios) relative to the legacy system. The cost analysis showed that using the full digester capacity and achieving high digester performance can reduce the life cycle cost of WRRF upgrades by 15% over a 30-year period.

Suggested Citation

  • Ben Morelli & Sarah Cashman & Xin (Cissy) Ma & Jay Garland & Jason Turgeon & Lauren Fillmore & Diana Bless & Michael Nye, 2018. "Effect of Nutrient Removal and Resource Recovery on Life Cycle Cost and Environmental Impacts of a Small Scale Water Resource Recovery Facility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3546-:d:173513
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3546/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/10/3546/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xin (Cissy) Ma & Xiaobo Xue & Alejandra González-Mejía & Jay Garland & Jennifer Cashdollar, 2015. "Sustainable Water Systems for the City of Tomorrow—A Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-35, September.
    2. Markus Berger & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2010. "Water Footprinting: How to Address Water Use in Life Cycle Assessment?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-26, April.
    3. Jane C. Bare, 2002. "Traci: The Tool for the Reduction and Assessment of Chemical and Other Environmental Impacts," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 6(3‐4), pages 49-78, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jake A. K. Elliott & Andrew S. Ball, 2021. "Selection of Industrial Trade Waste Resource Recovery Technologies—A Systematic Review," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Rosalie van Zelm & Raquel de Paiva Seroa da Motta & Wan Yee Lam & Wilbert Menkveld & Eddie Broeders, 2020. "Life cycle assessment of side stream removal and recovery of nitrogen from wastewater treatment plants," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(4), pages 913-922, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alessandro Concari & Gerjo Kok & Pim Martens, 2020. "A Systematic Literature Review of Concepts and Factors Related to Pro-Environmental Consumer Behaviour in Relation to Waste Management Through an Interdisciplinary Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-50, May.
    2. Jun Nakatani & Tamon Maruyama & Kosuke Fukuchi & Yuichi Moriguchi, 2015. "A Practical Approach to Screening Potential Environmental Hotspots of Different Impact Categories in Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Diego Bairrão & João Soares & José Almeida & John F. Franco & Zita Vale, 2023. "Green Hydrogen and Energy Transition: Current State and Prospects in Portugal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-23, January.
    4. Yiwen Chiu & Yi Yang & Cody Morse, 2022. "Quantifying carbon footprint for ecological river restoration," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 952-970, January.
    5. Ming Tang & Huchang Liao & Zhengjun Wan & Enrique Herrera-Viedma & Marc A. Rosen, 2018. "Ten Years of Sustainability (2009 to 2018): A Bibliometric Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    6. Yu Li & Ji Zheng & Fei Li & Xueting Jin & Chen Xu, 2017. "Assessment of municipal infrastructure development and its critical influencing factors in urban China: A FA and STIRPAT approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-14, August.
    7. Dwivedi, Puneet & Bailis, Robert & Stainback, Andrew & Carter, Douglas R., 2012. "Impact of payments for carbon sequestered in wood products and avoided carbon emissions on the profitability of NIPF landowners in the US South," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 63-69.
    8. Sam Arden & Ben Morelli & Mary Schoen & Sarah Cashman & Michael Jahne & Xin (Cissy) Ma & Jay Garland, 2020. "Human Health, Economic and Environmental Assessment of Onsite Non-Potable Water Reuse Systems for a Large, Mixed-Use Urban Building," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-16, July.
    9. Baral, Anil & Bakshi, Bhavik R., 2010. "Emergy analysis using US economic input–output models with applications to life cycles of gasoline and corn ethanol," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(15), pages 1807-1818.
    10. Philipp Kehrein & Mark van Loosdrecht & Patricia Osseweijer & John Posada & Jo Dewulf, 2020. "The SPPD-WRF Framework: A Novel and Holistic Methodology for Strategical Planning and Process Design of Water Resource Factories," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-31, May.
    11. Wang, Linlin & Li, Lingling & Xie, Junhong & Luo, Zhuzhu & Sumera, Anwar & Zechariah, Effah & Fudjoe, Setor Kwami & Palta, Jairo A. & Chen, Yinglong, 2022. "Does plastic mulching reduce water footprint in field crops in China? A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    12. Qing Gu & Ke Wang & Jiadan Li & Ligang Ma & Jinsong Deng & Kefeng Zheng & Xiaobin Zhang & Li Sheng, 2015. "Spatio-Temporal Trends and Identification of Correlated Variables with Water Quality for Drinking-Water Reservoirs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-16, October.
    13. Jinhui Zhou & Laura Scherer & Peter M. van Bodegom & Arthur Beusen & José M. Mogollón, 2022. "Regionalized nitrogen fate in freshwater systems on a global scale," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 907-922, June.
    14. Vázquez-Rowe, Ian & Reyna, Janet L. & García-Torres, Samy & Kahhat, Ramzy, 2015. "Is climate change-centrism an optimal policy making strategy to set national electricity mixes?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 108-116.
    15. Ding, Tao & Liang, Liang & Zhou, Kaile & Yang, Min & Wei, Yuqi, 2020. "Water-energy nexus: The origin, development and prospect," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 419(C).
    16. Shakira R. Hobbs & Tyler M. Harris & William J. Barr & Amy E. Landis, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of Bioplastics and Food Waste Disposal Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-14, June.
    17. David E. Meyer & Sarah Cashman & Anthony Gaglione, 2021. "Improving the reliability of chemical manufacturing life cycle inventory constructed using secondary data," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 20-35, February.
    18. Nahlik, Matthew J. & Chester, Mikhail V., 2014. "Transit-oriented smart growth can reduce life-cycle environmental impacts and household costs in Los Angeles," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 21-30.
    19. Schornagel, Joost & Niele, Frank & Worrell, Ernst & Böggemann, Maike, 2012. "Water accounting for (agro)industrial operations and its application to energy pathways," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-15.
    20. Zonderland-Thomassen, M.A. & Ledgard, S.F., 2012. "Water footprinting – A comparison of methods using New Zealand dairy farming as a case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 30-40.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:10:p:3546-:d:173513. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.