Over recent years Portuguese water and waste water utilities have faced a enormous challenge, mainly due to economic crises but also through the transition between a period of significant investment in infrastructure and a most recent period which has been more focused on optimization, resource recovery, the circular economy towards an economy less dependent on fossil energy, developing the potential to produce energy from renewable sources, maximizing processes efficiency and reducing GHG emissions.
Resource Type: Case studies
Case study: Arrudas Waste Water Treatment Plant Biogas Recovery
The Arrudas biogas project offers a valuable example of a well-functioning energy recovery project that embraces the principals of low-carbon sustainability within municipal wastewater treatment operations. Since the project came on-line in 2011 it has avoided over 6,000 tons of CO2e, emissions that would have otherwise been emitted directly to the atmosphere.
Case Study: Aguas de Cartagena, Colombia – An Example of a Water Utility Transformation to a Low Carbon Low Energy Future
In Colombia, with the new SDG agenda, utilities are starting to understand the importance to become more efficient in their operation, not only because of the costs, but also due to the impact that their systems have in the environment. The example of Aguas de Cartagena showcased the effort of a water utility to increase its efficiency, with the optimization of the pumping system it was possible to reduce the energy consumption (and energy costs) in the water supply system, and consequently a reduce the GHG emissions.
A potential solution to reduce the pharmaceutical contamination of surface water with the ultimate objective of GHGs emission reduction
The removal or degradation of pharmaceutical compounds present in the urine or other real wastewater matrices mixed or contaminated with urine is a foremost necessity due to the frequent notifications of various multi-drug resistance based disease outbreaks in whole biosphere. Thus, these compounds are subsequently required to be removed from the urine matrix before their dissolution into the bulk or sewage wastewater streams. Therefore, urine collection at source followed by in-situ or separate ex-situ treatment has been proposed to effectively treat a limited volume of concentrated pharmaceutical compounds present in a small batch. The additional benefit of this source separated urine treatment is the possibility of efficiently recovering nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium based nutrients.
Sewer sludge cleaning and subsequent sludge sediments recycling reuse: A case study in PR China
The treatment and disposal of sludge sediments come from sewer cleaning process is the key for carbon neutrality of the whole system. This means that the sludge sediments should be recycled and beneficial reused rather than directly incineration, landfill or even laissez-faire. nevertheless, besides the environmental impacts of carbon footprint mitigation, relevant co-conflicting issues may include engineering cost, public perception, socio-economic, rules/regulations, and managerial aspects of cleaning process. They all receive excessive consideration from government authorities and stakeholders.
Estudio de Caso – Perú
Planificación local, impacto global – Como las Empresas de Agua y Saneamiento del Perú enfrentan el Cambio Climático
¿Cómo asegurar la prestación de los servicios de agua y saneamiento en un contexto de cambio climático? Los Planes de Mitigación y Adaptación al Cambio Climático (PMACC) son una herramienta para abordar este desafío. Permiten identificar las principales fuentes de emisiones de carbono y los mayores riesgos asociados al clima a lo largo del ciclo urbano del agua; así como las oportunidades de las empresas prestadoras de servicios de agua y saneamiento (EPS) para impulsar un cambio positivo hacia la neutralidad y adaptación climática. Siguiendo una metodología estandarizada y con la ayuda de herramientas virtuales, el proceso de planificación es más rápido y genera un reporte para informar a los tomadores de decisión. Gracias a esta buena planificación, algunas empresas del Perú han empezado a buscar soluciones prácticas para reducir sus emisiones de carbono, como es el caso de las empresas de agua de Cusco y Ayacucho. La iniciativa PMACC fue desarrollada e implementada en colaboración entre WaCCliM (responsable de la parte de mitigación) y PROAGUA II.
Case Study – Peru
Planning locally, impacting globally – How Water and Wastewater Utilities in Peru are Facing Climate Change
How to ensure water and sanitation services delivery under a climate change context? The climate change mitigation and adaptation plans (PMACC; Planes de Mitigación y Adaptación al Cambio Climático) are tools to address this challenge. PMACC identify main carbon emissions sources and higher climate risks throughout the urban water cycle, along with water utilities’ opportunities to boost a positive change towards climate neutrality and adaptation. Following a standardised methodology and supported by web-based tools, the planning process becomes quicker and generates a report to informing decision-makers. This planning approach enabled some water utilities in Peru to start searching for practical carbon emissions reduction solutions, such as water utilities in Cusco and Ayacucho. The PMACC initiative was developed and implemented collaboratively between WaCCliM (responsible for mitigation) and PROAGUA II.
How Guanajuato’s Water and Wastewater Utilities are tackling Climate Change through Efficiency Optimization and Renewable Energy Production
In San Francisco del Rincón, two utility companies, SITRATA (Servicio de Tratamiento
y Deposición de Aguas Residuales) and SAPAF (Sistema de Agua Potable y
Alcantarillado de San Francisco), are collaborating on projects to improve their
services and lower their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. SITRATA manages
wastewater, while SAPAF is responsible for drinking water and sewage. With
guidance from the WaCCliM project, both utilities have undertaken a strategizing and
implementation process similar to that proposed in the “WaCCliM Roadmap to a Low-
Carbon Urban Water Utility”.
As a result, SAPAF have increased wastewater treatment coverage from 48% to 81%
and improved the energy efficiency of their pumping stations. The magnitude of the
increase in treatment coverage was by far the biggest achievement in GHG reduction.
How Madaba’s Water and Wastewater Utility is finding innovative Solutions to operational Burdens while reducing Carbon Emissions
In Madaba, the Miyahuna Water Company conducted a study to determine and
address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operations. Miyahuna operates
both water and wastewater systems in the city. The GHG assessment was conducted
using the Energy Performance and Carbon Emissions Assessment and Monitoring
(ECAM) Tool. This highlighted that 90% of energy consumption is linked to the
extraction of drinking water.
In order to decrease the utility’s carbon footprint, several GHG reduction measures
were evaluated. However, some are difficult to implement due to financial constraints.
The most feasible option was the improvement of the pumping system. This would
reduce annual electricity consumption by 35–50%.
How Chiang Mai’s Wastewater Utility is building Capacity on sustainable and innovative Solutions to reduce its Carbon Footprint
In the city of Chiang Mai, the WaCCliM project supports the Wastewater Management
Authority (WMA) in assessing opportunities to reduce its carbon footprint. A baseline
study identified the leaks of untreated wastewater, caused by fractured pipes in the
wastewater collection system, as the main source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
in Chiang Mai. A large amount of untreated wastewater is flowing directly into the
public canal. Because of this, the city is producing significant amounts of methane
(CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), both gases with a larger global warming potential than
carbon dioxide (CO2). The emissions from direct discharge of untreated wastewater
account for 579,900 kg CO2 per year in the city.
The cooperation between WaCCliM and the WMA in Thailand has raised the
local awareness for the challenges in the wastewater sector and the need for
improvements in the urban water management in order to achieve resilient water
utilities. Therefore, knowledge transfer and capacity building are necessary for longterm
success and continuous progress.