Abstract
Water users can reduce their impact on scarce freshwater resources by using more abundant regional brackish or saline groundwater resources. Decentralized water supply networks (WSN) can connect these regional groundwater resources with water users. Here, we present WaterROUTE (Water Route Optimization Utility Tool & Evaluation), a model which optimizes water supply network configurations based on infrastructure investment costs while considering the water quality (salinity) requirements of the user. We present an example simulation in which we determine the optimal WSN for different values of the maximum allowed salinity at the demand location while supplying 2.5 million m3 year-1 with regional groundwater. The example simulation is based on data from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the Netherlands. The optimal WSN configurations for the years 2030, 2045 and 2110 are generated based on the simulated salinity of the regional groundwater resources. The simulation results show that small changes in the maximum salinity at the demand location have significant effects on the WSN configuration and therefore on regional planning. For the example simulation, the WSN costs can differ by up to 68% based on the required salinity at the demand site. WaterROUTE can be used to design water supply networks which incorporate alternative water supply sources such as local brackish groundwater (this study), effluent, or rainwater.
Highlights
Global water consumption has increased more than fivefold in the 20th century and is expected to keep growing in the 21st century (Gleick, 2003; Shiklomanov, 1998)
WaterROUTE is a valuable tool for planning and design of water supply networks using local alternative water sources
The model is used in an example simulation to show how the dynamics of groundwater resources can be connected to the regional design and planning of water supply networks
Summary
Global water consumption has increased more than fivefold in the 20th century and is expected to keep growing in the 21st century (Gleick, 2003; Shiklomanov, 1998). Industrial activities constitute a small fraction of the global water footprint (4.4%) (Hoekstra and Mekonnen, 2012) but have a high local water use intensity. The use of alternative local water re sources can reduce the environmental impact of industrial water supply and requires a transition to decentralized water supply systems. Decentralized systems can alleviate environmental impacts while reducing costs (investment, operational, network maintenance) and provide greater supply security (Domenech, 2011; Leflaive, 2009; Piratla and Goverdhanam, 2015). The use of several supply sources creates the possibility for delivering water -after mixing- at the desired quality (Leflaive, 2009) and can lower costs by using local water supply sources to reduce total transport distance. This study focuses on delivering the desired quality when mixing groundwater with different salinities
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