Assessment of Energy Efficiency and Its Determinants for Drinking Water Treatment Plants Using A Double-Bootstrap Approach

María Molinos-Senante,Ramón Sala-Garrido

doi:10.3390/en12040765

Abstract

To achieve energy and climate goals, the energy performance of current and future drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) must be improved. A few studies have evaluated the energy efficiency of these facilities using data envelopment analysis (DEA), however, they have ignored the deterministic nature of the DEA method. To overcome this limitation, a double-bootstrap DEA approach was used in this study to estimate the energy efficiency of DWTPs. For a sample of Chilean DWTPs, bias-corrected energy efficiency scores were computed with consideration of data variability, and the determinants of DWTP energy efficiency were explored. Most DWTPs in the sample had much room for the improvement of energy efficiency. In the second stage of analysis, facility age, the volume of water treated, and the technology used for treatment were found to influence DWTP energy efficiency. These findings demonstrate the importance of using a reliable and robust method to evaluate the energy efficiency of DWTPs, which is essential to support decision making and to benchmark these facilities’ energy performance.

Highlights

In the context of climate change, energy demand for urban water supplies has emerged as a relevant issue [1]
The achievement of this goal will require the construction of many more drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), which will increase the amount of energy required for drinking water supplies worldwide
The energy efficiency of each DWTP was estimated following the methodological approach described in Section 2.1., i.e., by employing Equation (1)

Summary

Introduction

In the context of climate change, energy demand for urban water supplies has emerged as a relevant issue [1]. Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 involves the achievement of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030 The achievement of this goal will require the construction of many more drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), which will increase the amount of energy required for drinking water supplies worldwide. Other studies have involved a more detailed analysis of individual drinking-water supply stages and quantification of the energy required to treat raw water, i.e., the energy used by DWTPs [4]. The aim of these studies was to quantify and compare the energy

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Conclusion