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Life cycle assessment of wastewater treatment plants in Ireland

McNamara, Greg orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-1150-5111, Fitzsimons, Lorna orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-8783-3755, Horrigan, Matthew, Phelan, Thomas, Delauré, Yan orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-7151-9278, Corcoran, Brian, Doherty, Edelle and Clifford, Eoghan orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-6283-1246 (2016) Life cycle assessment of wastewater treatment plants in Ireland. Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, 4 (3). pp. 216-233. ISSN 1848-9257

Abstract
The Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC introduced a series of measures for the purpose of protecting the environment from the adverse effects of effluent discharge from wastewater treatment plants. There are environmental costs associated with attaining the required level of water quality set out in the directive such as greenhouse gas emissions due to energy production, and ecotoxicity from sludge application to land. The goal of this study is to assess the environmental costs in an Irish context, focusing specifically on the effects of variation in scale and discharge limitation. Life cycle assessment is the analytical tool used to evaluate the environmental impact. The life cycle impact assessment methodology developed by the Centre of Environmental Science, Leiden University (2010) has been adopted and implemented using GaBi 6.0 life cycle assessment software. Two plants of varying size and location were chosen for the study. The study found that energy consumption and sludge application to land are the largest contributors to the overall environmental impact associated with the treatment process at both plants. Economies of scale were observed in energy usage during secondary aeration.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Wastewater treatment; Life cycle assessment; Energy; Sludge disposal; Anaerobic digestion; Discharge limitations.
Subjects:Engineering > Mechanical engineering
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Engineering and Computing > School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
Research Initiatives and Centres > Water Institute
Publisher:Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems
Official URL:https://dx.doi.org/10.13044/j.sdewes.2016.04.0018
Copyright Information:© 2016 The Authors (CC BY 4.0)
Funders:Environmental Protection Agency
ID Code:25782
Deposited On:21 Apr 2021 12:12 by Greg Mcnamara . Last Modified 01 Mar 2022 14:43
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