Sustainability Analysis of a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant through Emergy Evaluation

Ramona Ciobanu, Carmen Teodosiu, Cecilia M. V. B. Almeida, Feni Agostinho and Biagio Fernando Giannetti
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Ramona Ciobanu: Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, “Cristofor Simionescu” Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași, 73 D. Mangeron Street, 700050 Iași, Romania
Carmen Teodosiu: Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, “Cristofor Simionescu” Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Protection, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iași, 73 D. Mangeron Street, 700050 Iași, Romania
Cecilia M. V. B. Almeida: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção, Universidade Paulista, R. Dr. Bacelar, 1212, São Paulo 04026-002, Brazil
Feni Agostinho: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção, Universidade Paulista, R. Dr. Bacelar, 1212, São Paulo 04026-002, Brazil
Biagio Fernando Giannetti: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção, Universidade Paulista, R. Dr. Bacelar, 1212, São Paulo 04026-002, Brazil

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Water and wastewater treatment plants are essential for the supply of drinking water for consumption and the treatment of effluents produced by human/industrial activities. However, few studies deal with the investments and sustainability of these services, which consider both the contribution of nature and society. This study uses the emergy approach to evaluate a wastewater treatment plant located in the northeastern part of Romania, in Iași city. An assessment of the environmental costs of natural fluxes required for the treatment processes was performed, considering that the treated effluent is, still, loaded with contaminants that have to be absorbed by the receiving water natural system. The work done by nature to assimilate this load, generally considered free, is esteemed as a further cost in the total emergy budget of the wastewater treatment processes. The sustainability perspective was approached by calculating and analyzing the emergy yield ratio (EYR), environmental load rate (ELR), and emergy sustainability development index (ESI). The use of local renewable natural resources in Iași municipal wastewater treatment plants is negligible (1.71% of the total plant emergy budget), as compared to that of the purchased resources (98.29% of the total plant emergy budget) mainly processed with the support of fossil fuels’ generated energy. The unit emegy value was, also, calculated and compared to other studies relevant for wastewater treatment plants. The analysis suggests that the large amount of emergy that wastewater contains is proportional to the number of resources employed for wastewater treatment and the extensive effects on surrounding ecosystems, where wastewater is discharged.

Keywords: wastewater treatment system; emergy analysis; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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