Abstract
In recent years, water utilities have been under pressure to increase the efficiency of their processes, mainly due to the decrease in water availability and the need to increase environmental sustainability in their processes. Leak reduction is clearly an important part of sustainable management in the water industry, and its impacts should be assessed with a broader environmental protection objective. This study aimed to present an environmental and energy assessment of the water supply system (WSS) in Caruaru City, northeast of Brazil, for different levels of water loss. This research is one of the first to assess the environmental impacts of a WSS in Latin America. Primary data adopted for preparing the inventory were provided by the water utility, and modeling and analysis were performed with the SimaPro 8.0® program. Cumulative energy demand (CED) was used to track the energy consumption of the system’s life cycle. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were calculated through the IPCC GWP 100a method with emissions expressed as CO2-Eq. The data sets from life-cycle inventories were used from the Ecoinvent 3.1 database. Four scenarios with different levels of water loss were analyzed. Scenario S0 was represented with the real conditions of the system, whereas the others considered hypothetical indices. The percentages proposed for Scenarios S1, S2, and S3 were based on indices that indicate good loss rate in the distribution network for the Brazilian reality (25%), reduction by half of loss rates, and excellent loss rates for the water pipeline system (5%) and distribution network (10%). The analysis of the processes’ contributions showed that the electricity consumption of the pumping systems of water mains represented the greatest environmental impact in all scenarios. The most efficient scenario would result in a 52% reduction in the emission of GHGs, demonstrating that the increase in the hydraulic efficiency of the distribution networks represents a significant opportunity to reduce the environmental impacts of the processes.
Highlights
Water, energy, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are interconnected and have complex interactions (Nair et al, 2014; Thiede et al, 2016; Chhipi-Shrestha et al, 2017)
Water supply in Caruaru City is provided by Companhia Pernambucana de Saneamento (Compesa), which is a Brazilian company that holds the concession of basic sanitation services in Pernambuco State
In view of the hydrological conditions in which the northeast of Brazil is inserted, this region needs an even more effective position to combat the reduction of loss in water supply system (WSS)
Summary
Energy, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are interconnected and have complex interactions (Nair et al, 2014; Thiede et al, 2016; Chhipi-Shrestha et al, 2017). The integration of water and energy interdependence processes in water systems improves the understanding of the trade-offs between these resources in management and politics (Escriva-Bou et al, 2018). Current water and energy resource crises are expected to increase progressively because of population growth and future climate change. Energy efficiency interventions can contribute considerably to reducing water use, reducing GHG emissions, and meeting climate-related mitigation goals. Understanding and modeling the complex nature of the interconnections between water and energy is essential for the efficient use of these resources (Basheer and Elagib, 2018). The energy use and GHG emissions associated with water management are poorly understood and have only partially been considered in water management and planning (Rothausen and Conway, 2011)
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