Developing a sustainable energy strategy for a water utility. Part II: A review of potential technologies and approaches

Environmental legislation is increasing the amounts of bought-in electricity required for sewage treatment, and generating larger volumes of sewage sludge to be treated and disposed of. Concurrently, concerns over global warming and food safety from sewage sludge recycling on agricultural land is augmenting the costs of conventional sewage and sludge treatment technologies and practices. This paper reviews some emerging technologies and practices that may assist in mitigating these problems in the future. In addition, a number of potential renewable energy technologies available to water companies are reviewed. Results suggest that through the take-up of new technologies, current and future water quality standards could be delivered in a more sustainable way. However, this series of papers also highlights that institutional and political conflicts may have inadvertently failed to recognise the wider effects of improving water quality and lessened the financial support necessary for their widespread take-up. It is also suggested that through the use of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) approach, stakeholders could gain a better understanding of the broader environmental effects of achieving certain water quality standards and develop policy and long-term investment strategies accordingly. However, to fulfill the information requirements of an SEA, an appropriate appraisal tool that considers many of these factors in unison is required, and a possible technique is suggested.     

污水深度处理及回收利用的可行性分析

大庆炼化公司从单一化工污水深度处理及回收利用发展为炼油、化工、生活污水统一处理和回用于循环水,既充分利用了现有污水处理场的处理余量,同时由于生活污水中含有比例适当的微生物需要的营养物质,对炼油和化工污水起到补充和稀释作用。这种处理方法既降低了工业污水对污水处理场的冲击,又起到了稳定水质的作用。     

Potential for electricity savings by reducing potable water consumption in a city scale

Nowadays, it is very important that water and energy resources are used appropriately as this is a challenge to promote sustainable development. In some sectors, such as water and sewerage utilities, energy consumption depends on water consumption. The main objective of this work is to estimate the potential for electricity savings in a water and sewerage utility by reducing potable water consumption in the residential, commercial and public sectors in the city of Florianópolis, southern Brazil. These three sectors account for 98.9% of the total water consumption in the city. By using data related to energy consumption and costs that apply to the local water utility for water and sewage treatment, and also the potential for potable water savings over the three sectors, it is possible to estimate the potential for energy savings by reducing potable water consumption and sewage treatment. Potable water savings were estimated by using data available in the literature about water end-uses for different types of buildings located in Florianópolis. Three options were considered: installing dual-flush toilets, reusing greywater and using rainwater. The average potential for potable water savings were 30.0%, 53.4% and 60.3%, respectively, for the residential, commercial and public sectors. Thus, the average potable water savings amount to about 10,153,835 m³/year, and the electricity savings amount to 4.4 GW h/year, which would be enough to supply 1217 houses or flats in Florianópolis, with an average energy consumption of 300 kW h/month.     

炼化污水“零排放”技术现状与发展趋势

在节能降耗、节水减排已成为国策的背景下,炼化污水集中处理达标排放的末端治理已经不能满足炼化行业发展,炼化污水"零排放"的实施将是大势所趋。在实施炼化污水"零排放"过程中,应深化开展水系统优化、技术创新集成等工作,将节能、节水、减排有机结合,突破制约污水"零排放"的技术瓶颈,并将技术成熟化、管理制度化,形成完整的炼化污水"零排放"技术体系,促进我国炼化企业的可持续发展。     

Closing the water cycle for industrial laundries: An operational performance and techno-economic evaluation of a full-scale membrane bioreactor system

To reduce the consumption of freshwater in the laundry industry, a new trend of closing the water cycle has resulted in the reuse/recycling of water. In this study, the performance of a full-scale submerged aerobic membrane bioreactor (9 m³) used to treat/reuse industrial laundry wastewater was examined over a period of 288 days. The turbidity and total solids (TS) were reduced by 99%, and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) effluent removal efficiencies were between 70% and 99%. The levels of COD removed by the membrane were significantly greater than the levels of biodegraded COD. This enabled the bioreactor to sustain COD levels that were below 100 mg/L, even during periods of low wastewater biodegradation due to bioreactor sludge. An economic evaluation of the membrane bioreactor (MBR) system showed a savings of 1.13 € per 1 m³ of water. The payback period for this system is approximately 6 years. The energy and maintenance costs represent only 5% of the total cost of the MBR system.     

我国油田产出水再利用技术现状及展望

随着我国油气田勘探开发力度加大和新环保法的实施,油田开采过程中耗水量大和污水处理问题是我国油气田企业面临的共同难题。从污水余热回收、污水回注、压裂液重复利用、钻井废水再利用四个方面,介绍了国内油田产出水再利用技术研究进展与应用现状,指出目前存在的污水余热再利用应用范围不广、回注污水利用不合理、化工原料未回收利用等主要问题。并通过文献调研,展望了油田污水再利用技术的发展方向,指出需从污染源头防控入手,研发更加经济环保的液体配方,并深入研究从污水中取热、取水及取化工原料的循环再利用技术,因地制宜制定相应的水质及污水配伍性实验评价标准,实现从源头至末端治理相结合的油田污水清洁生产。     

Contribution of Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents to Nutrient Dynamics in Aquatic Systems: A Review

Excessive nutrient loading (considering nitrogen and phosphorus) is a major ongoing threat to water quality and here we review the impact of nutrient discharges from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to United States (U.S.) freshwater systems. While urban and agricultural land uses are significant nonpoint nutrient contributors, effluent from point sources such as WWTPs can overwhelm receiving waters, effectively dominating hydrological characteristics and regulating instream nutrient processes. Population growth, increased wastewater volumes, and sustainability of critical water resources have all been key factors influencing the extent of wastewater treatment. Reducing nutrient concentrations in wastewater is an important aspect of water quality management because excessive nutrient concentrations often prevent water bodies from meeting designated uses. WWTPs employ numerous physical, chemical, and biological methods to improve effluent water quality but nutrient removal requires advanced treatment and infrastructure that may be economically prohibitive. Therefore, effluent nutrient concentrations vary depending on the particular processes used to treat influent wastewater. Increasingly stringent regulations regarding nutrient concentrations in discharged effluent, along with greater freshwater demand in populous areas, have led to the development of extensive water recycling programs within many U.S. regions. Reuse programs provide an opportunity to reduce or eliminate direct nutrient discharges to receiving waters while allowing for the beneficial use of reclaimed water. However, nutrients in reclaimed water can still be a concern for reuse applications, such as agricultural and landscape irrigation.     

POTENTIALS FOR REUSE OF WASTEWATER IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS1

ABSTRACT There are several possible ways in which wastewater from municipalities may be reclaimed and reused so as to minimize the need for imported water in North Central Texas. The rationale for reuse is enhanced by the fact that new water quality requirements in the Trinity River system will necessitate a very high degree of treatment at municipal sewage plants, just for discharge to surface streams. The largest potential market for municipal effluent is the steam-electric power industry. Within the next decade the generating capacity for electric power in North Central Texas will have to be more than doubled to meet increasing demand. Adequate supplies of condenser cooling water for such expansion will be difficult to obtain and assure. New large power stations might advantageously be located adjacent to municipal wastewater treatment plants, to utilize effluent as make-up water for cooling towers. Experience elsewhere has shown that well-treated wastewater can be used for cooling tower make-up with a minimum of trouble, with a considerable saving in overall cost, and with conservation of pristine water for other uses.     

微生物管式膜污水处理工艺试验与应用

某油田污水处理站设计处理规模1500 m³/d,实际处理量630 m³/d,处理工艺为“微生物接触氧化+加药絮凝沉淀+二级过滤”,在运行过程中投加的混凝剂等药剂成本高,且二级过滤器使用年限过长,其处理后出水无法达到Q/SYTH 0082—2020《油田注水水质规定》中油小于5 mg/L、悬浮物含量小于3 mg/L、粒径中值小于2μm的注水水质要求。该油田污水处理站开展了“特种微生物+低能耗管式膜”污水处理技术研究,并完成现场中试试验,处理后膜出水的悬浮物含量基本稳定在1 mg/L,出水水质达标,表明此工艺处理油田污水是可行和可靠的,为该油田污水处理工艺优化提供了可靠依据。     

DBO模式在污水处理行业的应用研究

DBO模式是PPP模式之一,在国家大力推进PPP模式之际,尝试开展DBO模式在污水处理行业的应用研究,分析污水处理行业发展趋势与问题,DBO模式在污水处理行业应用的适用领域与适用条件、优点,提出DBO模式在污水处理行业的推行路径,希望通过DBO模式解决污水处理行业的问题,促进行业健康发展。本文认为,城镇、乡镇与村庄生活污水处理、工业企业废水治理等领域具有项目设计与建设非标准化、项目需求明确、责任边界清晰、项目运营服务质量和成本容易监测等特点,应用DBO模式具有可行性。这些领域内的项目若有可靠的建设资金来源、稳定的运行费用保障机制、急于改善的区域水环境质量及严格的环保设施运行需求,适合采用DBO模式。DBO模式可以提高这些项目的建设质量和运营质量,节约成本,缩短建设周期,提高抗风险能力。同时,在行业层面,能够解决这些领域面临的项目设计不合理、建设质量不高、运行费用高、运行管理不善、闲置等诸多问题,可以促进先进实用技术和管理经验的应用,提高行业技术和运营管理水平的整体进步。因此,建议政府从开展实施试点、制定行业规范、加大宣传和推广、颁布政策文件等方面大力推进DBO模式在污水处理行业的应用。     

IMPROVING URBAN WATERWAYS IN EMERGING COUNTRIES: AN ACTION PLAN FOR MADRAS1

ABSTRACT: Typically, infrastructure agencies build massive water projects to serve expanding populations in emerging country cities, but collect and treat only a fraction of the resulting wastewater. This effluent often overwhelms existing sewerage systems and fouls waterways. Cleaning urban waterways requires large investments over long terms and the political will to make and sustain them. This challenge - difficult in advanced countries - becomes daunting with the scarce resources and weak institutions typical of emerging countries. This paper presents a framework to structure such a strategy, and applies it to Madras, India. It consists of three parts: (1) setting a vision through a participatory process; (2) macro investments mainly in wastewater treatment that use least-cost methods; and (3) micro investments in small projects that involve local people and galvanize public support. The macro investment, $350 million for Madras, appears very large, but averages out to $66 per capita, far below the $1,000-$2,000 typical of advanced country cities. Micro projects to be undertaken by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) included an independent wastewater monitoring program, sanitary upgrading of slums along waterways banks, a cattle waste demonstration project, and an industrial pollution survey. Together, a macro/micro strategy promises the funding and political will to achieve a balanced vision of waterways quality.     

一种高效复合絮凝剂对多种废水的处理效果

用聚合氯化铝（PAC）和聚丙烯酰胺（PAM）复配成复合絮凝剂（PAC＋PAM）应用于污染河水、生活污水、工业废水和餐饮废水等6种废水的处理，结果表明。PAC、PAM、PAC＋PAM对污染河水的CODc。SS、浊度有显著降低作用，PAC＋PAM的净水效果明显优于PAC和PAM；PAC＋PAM对6种废水中COD的去除率为81．5％～90．4％，平均84．6％。对SS的去除率为81．9％～96．5％，平均88．9％，对浊度的去除率为91．3％-98．0％，平均95．1％；处理后悬浮物基本被絮凝沉降，水体变得较清澈透明，异味或臭味消除。说明本PAC＋PAM复合絮凝剂对各种废水均有良好的净水效果，具有重要的应用价值。     

Water quality changes in a polluted stream over a twenty-five-year period

The Deckers Creek watershed in northern West Virginia (USA), containing a land area of 166 km2 (63 mi2), has a long history of industrial development and attendant environmental abuses from both land and water pollution practices. The water in Deckers Creek was sampled in 1974 at 29 locations along the main stem and resampled in 1999-2000 to determine water quality changes over this 25-year period. Water samples were analyzed for pH, acidity, alkalinity, iron, and calcium at both times, while aluminum, manganese, zinc, and fecal coliform (FC) bacteria densities were added in 1999-2000. Water at almost all sampling points showed lower acidity and metal contents in 1999-2000 compared with 1974. Water pH increased at the mouth from 5.4 in 1974 to 6.0 in 1999-2000. Acidity and iron concentrations were decreased an average of 70% in the upper stretches of the creek. However, one major untreated point source of water from an abandoned underground mining complex continues to degrade the quality of the creek in its lower stretches. In the upper section, the water quality in Deckers Creek has improved due to decreased surface and underground coal mining activities, reclamation of abandoned and recently permitted surface mined lands, and natural healing of past land use scars from timbering and mining over time. The decrease in mineral extraction activities and the reclamation of disturbed lands has occurred due to the passage and enforcement of water quality and land reclamation laws and regulations. More time and additional reclamation projects will continue to enhance the water quality in the creek. Improved water chemistry in the majority of the creek, however, shows the previously unnoticeable biological contamination from sewage inputs.     

整装沙漠油田废水零排放的研究探索

文章介绍了陆梁油田通过对采出水处理工艺进行优化,并将其应用于油田水处理厂罐内喷淋除气技术等工艺;污水回收工艺作业废液处理采用二段式自然除油沉降原理进行预处理;利用反应吸附技术进行废液二次处理,生活污水一元化处理等工艺,对油田废水进行处理回注。年节约费用671.8万元,实现废水零排放,达到了环境保护和经济效益双赢的目的,为沙漠油田污水处理提供借鉴。     

新疆油田采出水处理技术

近几年新疆油田研究成功对采出水的处理技术,根据油田采出水水质特点、水处理药剂的反应机理、水处理药剂与原水的混合机理、絮体长大的机理及絮体沉淀的机理,采用了稠油污水微涡旋处理技术,高效水质净化与稳定技术等,处理后的污水又用于回注,降低了运行成本,减少了环境污染。     

Applying the baldrige quality criteria to environmental performance: Lessons from leading organizations

Over the last thirty years, we have seen a dramatic shift in values that people and corporations place on environmental responsibility. People have become more aware of how the earth's limited resources are being rapidly depleted. High levels of consumption have resulted in increasing manufacturing and transportation needs which in turn lead to greater energy use, higher usage of hazardous and toxic substances, and decreased air and water quality. Leadership for environmental protection has shifted from vocal environmental advocacy groups to corporate executives. Driven by shifting customer requirements, competitive pressures, and resource conservation technologies, environmental issues are becoming embedded in the fundamental business strategies. In this article we will describe the application of the Malcolm Baldrige quality award criteria to environmental management and show how the focus on quality principles and tools can improve profitability. Examples from the Xerox Corporation and other companies will be provided to illustrate the breadth of environmental improvement initiatives that are being implemented.     

COST COMPARISON BETWEEN CESSPOOL AND SANITARY SEWERAGE SYSTEMS IN SAUDI URBAN AREAS1

ABSTRACT: Extensive use is made of on-site wastewater disposal systems of cesspools due to the absence of a sanitary sewerage system in Saudi urban areas. This system has caused the groundwater table to rise to a public nuisance level. A health risk has also evolved. There are several infrastructural, environmental, and social impacts from this, resulting in great financial losses. Examples are: surface water flooding, damage to foundations of buildings and asphalt street pavements, flooded basements and added construction costs required for excavation, dewatering, insulation materials, and special cements. Most of these costs are indirectly being paid by the private and public sectors. This study compares the estimated costs of damage and losses with the estimated costs of building, operating, and maintaining sanitary sewerage systems in the cesspool-served areas. The annual cost of the cesspool system, depending on the severity of the adverse impacts, ranges from 2.2 to 4.4 times the annual cost of the sanitary sewerage system. Remedies for these impacts are very expensive, and delays in the implementation of the sanitary sewerage facility will make the damage recovery more expensive, and in some cases, impossible. Thus, it is recommended that highest priority to be given to the sanitary sewerage systems in Saudi urban areas.     

脉冲喷流复合厌氧污泥床技术及应用

介绍了脉冲喷流复合厌氧污泥床技术用于低浓度有机废水处理的实验室及中试效果,以及在农村生活污水处理项目中的应用,结果表明:以该技术为核心的生活污水生物处理系统,在HRT为6～10h,即有机物容积负荷为0.93～0.52kgCOD/m3.d时,COD去除率可稳定达到35%以上,氨氮和总磷去除率可达到17%～25%,具有优化处理系统、强化处理效果、降低后续好氧段能耗及占地面积的特点。     

塔里木油田克拉作业区利用人工湿地处理生活污水

利用土地处理系统进行油田生活污水的净化及应用技术,目前在国内尚未推广使用。结合塔里木油田克拉作业区的实际情况,从废水的资源化、生态建设意义和减缓风蚀等角度出发,阐明了人工湿地建设在干旱区的重要作用;从土壤和地下水环境质量及其变化趋势的角度,分析了利用人工湿地处理生活废水的可行性;并对其进行了相应的效益分析。经分析论证,人工湿地可以用于克拉作业区生活污水的深度处理,并在干旱荒漠区进行推广。     

COSTS AND EFFECTS OF A WATER PROGRAM FOR A SMALL STRIPPING COMPANY-SOUTHEASTERN OHIO1

The purpose of the study was to use economic analysis in determining the ability of a small strip mining company to incure the financial burden of carrying out various alternative mine drainage abatement programs. The quantity and quality of water with which the company has to deal were determined and treatment and diversion programs were costed out. The company's market area and the market structure were analyzed. It was found that pricing policies were determined by a dominant firm, so the target company had no control over its price per ton of coal. The costs and revenue of the firm were analyzed for the period 1960-1970 and, even without a water quality program, losses were incurred in six out of eleven years. Analysis of the average cost curve indicates that the per unit cost could have been reduced by increasing output thereby increasing efficiency. The conclusions of the study were that the small company could not unilaterally implement mine drainage programs because the added costs would seriously worsen its already precarious financial position. Even uniformly enforced legislation might reduce the small firms competitive position because of economies of scale associated with the large treatment facilities used by big mining companies.