Abstract
When a developing country is undergoing a rapid growth period, agricultural wastewater, domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater, and organic matter content in chemical oxygen demand (COD) usually increase in great amounts, causing environmental pollution. Thus, this paper proposes a summary of factors to assess the performance of wastewater discharge costs. Total fixed assets, population growth, and wastewater treatment expenses in various regions of China were used as input factors, while gross regional product, discharged wastewater, and discharged COD were used as output factors. We employed the directional distance function (DDF) method to compare 31 regions of China between 2011 and 2015. The results showed that areas with leading economic development and areas with a small population and vast natural land have good wastewater treatment efficiency. In the past five years, economic development and wastewater treatment expense efficiency in Chongqing have been improving, such that by the end of 2015, this region efficiency was approaching frontier efficiency. We also found that the efficiency of wastewater treatment expense in many areas often falls below 0.6, which is still very low. There is, thus, a large gap between the regions and the leading frontier regions, meaning that the efficiency of wastewater treatment expense needs to be improved.
Highlights
Most countries with a highly developed economy need to use a huge amount of energy for people’s daily life needs, such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, entertainment, etc
Panepinto et al [2] deem that energy consumption played an important role on the operative costs of a wastewater treatment plant
Cano et al [3] found that not all pretreatment technologies have the energy self-sufficiency required to be implemented at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)
Summary
Most countries with a highly developed economy need to use a huge amount of energy for people’s daily life needs, such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, entertainment, etc. The great consumption of energy causes severe pollution problems, especially in water pollution. Some researchers of Norway, Italy, Spain, and China have paid great attention to water pollution and study the cost analysis of water treatments. Consider that energy consumption in the operation and maintenance phase of the urban water and wastewater network is directly related to both the quantity and the desired quality of the supplied water/treated wastewater and contributes to lifecycle environmental impacts. Panepinto et al [2] deem that energy consumption played an important role on the operative costs of a wastewater treatment plant. Some researchers study the technology and the water quality regarding water pollution. Cano et al [3] found that not all pretreatment technologies have the energy self-sufficiency required to be implemented at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
