Multicompartment Depletion Factors for Water Consumption on a Global Scale.

Balancing human communities' and ecosystems' need for freshwater is one of the major challenges of the 21 century as population growth and improved living conditions put increasing pressure on freshwater resources. While frameworks to assess the environmental impacts of freshwater consumption have been proposed at the regional scale, an operational method to evaluate the consequences of consumption on different compartments of the water system and account for their interdependence is missing at the global scale. Here, we develop depletion factors that simultaneously quantify the effects of water consumption on streamflow, groundwater storage, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration globally.

Advancing water footprint assessments: Combining the impacts of water pollution and scarcity.

Several water footprint indicators have been developed to curb freshwater stress. Volumetric footprints support water allocation decisions and strive to increase water productivity in all sectors. In contrast, impact-oriented footprints are used to minimize the impacts of water use on human health, ecosystems, and freshwater resources.

Life Cycle Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Technologies in Water Resource Recovery Facilities: The Case of Sludge Pyrolysis.

In Europe, sewage sludge is mostly used in agriculture (49%) or incinerated (25%). Technologies for sludge management that can support the transformation of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) are emerging. Sludge pyrolysis is one of them.

Heat recovery and water reuse in micro-distilleries improves eco-efficiency of alcohol production.

The number of micro-scale spirit distilleries worldwide has grown considerably over the past decade. With an onus on the distillery sector to reduce its environmental impact, such as carbon emissions, opportunities for increasing energy efficiency need to be implemented. This study explores the potential environmental benefits and financial gains achievable through heat recovery from different process and by-product streams, exemplified for a Scotch whisky distillery, but transferrable to micro-distilleries worldwide.

Challenges in carbon footprint evaluations of state-of-the-art municipal wastewater resource recovery facilities.

Wastewater treatment is an important source of direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which some wastewater operators report and account for CO-eq impacts through carbon footprint evaluations. We investigated the challenges with GHG emissions' accounting of three state-of-the-art energy-efficient wastewater resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) and reviewed their CO accounting reports. Our study aimed to highlight the major contributors and factors to estimate emissions, including direct NO and CH emissions and propose recommendations for public reporting of CO accounting of WRRFs.

From wastewater treatment to water resource recovery: Environmental and economic impacts of full-scale implementation.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote resource recovery, many wastewater treatment operators are retrofitting existing plants to implement new technologies for energy, nutrient and carbon recovery. In literature, there is a lack of studies that can unfold the potential environmental and economic impacts of the transition that wastewater utilities are undertaking to transform their treatment plants to water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). When existing, literature studies are mostly based on simulations rather than real plant data and pilot-scale results.

Evaluation and comparison of centralized drinking water softening technologies: Effects on water quality indicators.

Drinking water softening is often implemented to increase consumer convenience e.g. by reducing lime scaling and soap use.

Life cycle assessment of point source emissions and infrastructure impacts of four types of urban stormwater systems.

The implementation, operation and decommissioning of stormwater management systems causes environmental damage, while at the same time reducing pollutant loads in receiving waters by treating stormwater. The focus in research has been either on assessing impacts caused by stormwater infrastructure, or risks associated with stormwater discharges, but rarely have these two sources of environmental impacts been combined to allow a comprehensive environmental evaluation of stormwater management. We assess the environmental sustainability of four different generic stormwater management systems for a catchment of 260ha by a) modelling the flow of pollutants in stormwater, and resulting point source emissions to freshwater, and b) quantifying emissions and resources for all relevant processes associated with the life cycle of the infrastructure.

Pollution levels of stormwater discharges and resulting environmental impacts.

Stormwater carries pollutants that potentially cause negative environmental impacts to receiving water bodies, which can be quantified using life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). We compiled a list of 20 metals, almost 300 organic compounds, and nutrients potentially present in stormwater, and measured concentrations reported in literature. We calculated mean pollutant concentrations, which we then translated to generic impacts per litre of stormwater discharged, using existing LCIA characterisation factors.

Definitions of event magnitudes, spatial scales, and goals for climate change adaptation and their importance for innovation and implementation.

We examine how core professional and institutional actors in the innovation system conceptualize climate change adaptation in regards to pluvial flooding-and how this influences innovation. We do this through a qualitative case study in Copenhagen with interconnected research rounds, including 32 semi-structured interviews, to strengthen the interpretation and analysis of qualitative data. We find that the term "climate change adaptation" currently has no clearly agreed definition in Copenhagen; instead, different actors use different conceptualizations of climate change adaptation according to the characteristics of their specific innovation and implementation projects.

Life cycle assessment of stormwater management in the context of climate change adaptation.

Expected increases in pluvial flooding, due to climatic changes, require large investments in the retrofitting of cities to keep damage at an acceptable level. Many cities have investigated the possibility of implementing stormwater management (SWM) systems which are multi-functional and consist of different elements interacting to achieve desired safety levels. Typically, an economic assessment is carried out in the planning phase, while environmental sustainability is given little or no attention.

Life cycle assessment as development and decision support tool for wastewater resource recovery technology.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been increasingly used in the field of wastewater treatment where the focus has been to identify environmental trade-offs of current technologies. In a novel approach, we use LCA to support early stage research and development of a biochemical system for wastewater resource recovery. The freshwater and nutrient content of wastewater are recognized as potential valuable resources that can be recovered for beneficial reuse.

Increasing urban water self-sufficiency: new era, new challenges.

Urban water supplies are traditionally based on limited freshwater resources located outside the cities. However, a range of concepts and techniques to exploit alternative water resources has gained ground as water demands begin to exceed the freshwater available to cities. Based on 113 cases and 15 in-depth case studies, solutions used to increase water self-sufficiency in urban areas are analyzed.

The valuation of water quality: effects of mixing different drinking water qualities.

As water supplies increasingly turn to use desalination technologies it becomes relevant to consider the options for remineralization and blending with mineral rich water resources. We present a method for analyzing economic consequences due to changes in drinking water mineral content. Included impacts are cardiovascular diseases, dental caries, atopic eczema, lifetime of dish and clothes washing machines, heat exchangers, distribution systems, bottled water consumption and soap usage.