Abstract
Population growth, increasing droughts, and high irrigation needs are all factors that create freshwater shortage problems on islands. The pressing needs of remote islands usually call for water transport from the mainland or other neighboring islands, at a high cost. This study evaluates the design and economic viability of an alternative, sustainable water supply network on the Mediterranean island of Skyros in Greece. The proposed water supply system provides the island with potable water from desalination units, as well as water for agricultural use from a wastewater treatment plant. The total investment cost of the project is found to be €9.8 million, accounting for the cost of transportation of the water between the different settlements (installation, operations, and maintenance), as well as for the required energy of the involved methods. It is found that 44% of the expenses are related to the transport of potable and residual water, and 52% of the cost corresponds to the production of the required desalinated water. As part of a sustainable water and energy network, all energy needs of water generation are assumed to be covered by a renewable power plant. The total cost of water generation on the island with the proposed system is estimated at 2.49 €/m3, constituting a competitive and more sustainable solution, when compared to current practices.
Highlights
Freshwater shortage is an important challenge that society will face in the near future
The energy requirements of most desalination plants are met with fossil fuels, while only around 1% of the water generation from desalination in the world is based on renewable energies [2]
The desalination technologies included in the analysis here were multi-stage flash distillation (MSF), multiple effect distillation (MED), thermal-vapor compression (TVC), and reverse osmosis (RO) [15]
Summary
Freshwater shortage is an important challenge that society will face in the near future This problem will be even more accentuated in remote areas (e.g., geographical islands), where already limited local water resources increase the cost of water [1]. In this kind of geographically isolated areas with increasing water demand, there are only a few existing alternatives for water management. The proposed sustainable water network in this work was designed to generate the full amount of future water demand on the island. In order to propose a water network, transferrable to other islands without local water resources, the proposed design of the new water supply for Skyros does not account for any existing water sources on the island
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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.
