APPLICATION OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) IN WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study applies the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method to a water treatment system, aiming to quantify the primary potential environmental impacts arising from energy and chemical consumption during the operational phase. The SimaPro software and the ReCiPe (H) V1.09 method were utilized to evaluate impact categories at both the midpoint and endpoint levels. The results of the study indicate that electricity consumption and the chemical polyaluminium chloride (PAC) are the two largest contributors to environmental impact. Specifically, electricity is the main driver of global warming and fossil depletion (contributing 57.5%-77.3% to the respective categories), which reflects the high emission factor of the national electricity grid. Meanwhile, the PAC chemical dominates impacts related to carcinogenic toxicity (78.4%) and mineral resource depletion (99.7%), attributed to its energy and resource-intensive production process. The system's total endpoint damage was calculated at 9.97 mPt, with 9.19 mPt relating to human health. The research proposed and evaluated a scenario for aluminium recovery from PAC-containing sludge to mitigate the environmental burden associated with the chemical. The results show that this scenario achieved significant environmental improvements, with the total midpoint impact indicators decreasing by 5%-65% and the total endpoint damage decreasing by 23% (from 9.97 mPt to 7.69 mPt). Although the use of sulfuric acid for aluminium recovery partially reduces the environmental benefits achieved, this outcome affirms the potential of integrating water treatment with a resource circularity strategy to move toward higher sustainability in the water supply sector.
Keywords
life cycle assessment, LCA, water treatment plant, water treatment system, environmental impact, recovery of alum coagulant
Article Details
References
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