Quantifying the energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions of changing wastewater quality standards, Water Science and Technology

Abstract

Regulations to ensure adequate wastewater treatment are becoming more stringent as the negative effects of different pollutants on human health and the environment are understood. However, treatment of wastewater to remove pollutants is energy intensive, so has added significantly to the operation costs of wastewater treatment plants. Analysis from six of the largest wastewater treatment works in South East England reveals that the energy consumption of these treatment works has doubled in the last five years due to expansions to meet increasingly stringent effluent standards and population growth. This study quantifies the relationship between energy use for wastewater treatment and four measures of pollution in effluents from UK wastewater treatment works (biochemical oxygen demand, ammoniacal nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand and suspended solids). The linear regression results show that indicators of these pollutants in effluents, together with the extension of plants to improve wastewater treatment, can predict over 95% of energy consumption. Secondly, using scenarios, the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of effluent quality standards are estimated. The study finds that tightening effluent standards to increase water quality could result in a doubling of electricity consumption and an increase of between 1.29 and 2.30 additional MTCO2 per year from treating wastewater in large works in the UK.

Iliana Cardenes

Honorary Research Associate

Iliana is Head of Climate Resilience Evidence and UN engagement at the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.

Jim Hall

Professor of Climate and Environmental Risk

Prof. Jim Hall FREng is Professor of Climate and Environmental Risks in the University of Oxford and Director of Research in the School of Geography and the Environment.

Aman Majid

Research Associate

Aman Majid is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Energy and Water Systems at the Oxford Martin School and the Environmental Change Institute