Life Cycle Impacts of Flexible-fiber Deep-bed Filter Compared to Sand-Filter including Coagulation and Sedimentation in Water Treatment Plant

Abstract

Recently a new technology called the flexible-fiber deep-bed filter (FDF) claimed to replace the conventional sand filter including coagulation and sedimentation filter (CSF) processes in the water treatment plant. Therefore the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach was applied for evaluating the life cycle impacts of FDF compared with those of CSF. The used LCA softwares were the Simapro 6 and PASS and their life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methodologies were the Eco-indicator 99 and the Korean Eco-indicator, respectively. The goal of this LCA was to identify environmental loads of CSF and FDF from raw material to disposal stages. The scopes of the systems have been determined based on the experiences of existing CSF and FDF. The function was to remove suspended solids by filtration and the functional unit was 1 m3/day. Both systems showed that most environmental impacts were occurred during the operation stage. To reduce the environmental impacts the coagulants and electricity consumptions need to be cut down. If the CSF was replaced with the FDF, the environmental impacts would be reduced in most of the impact categories. The LCA results of Korean Eco-indicator and Eco- indicator99 were quite different from each other due to the indwelling differences such as category indicators, impact categories, characterization factors, normalization values and weighting factors. This study showed that the life cycle assessment could be a valuable tool for evaluating the environmental impact of the new technology which was introduced in water treatment process.