Carbon footprint of drinking water softening as determined by life cycle assessment

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

卷:278

Article

Beeftink, Mart¹  Hofs, Bas²  Kramer, Onno^3,5,6,7  Odegard, Ingrid¹  van der Wal, Albert^2,4 

[1] CE Delft, Oude Delft 180, NL-2611 HH Delft, Netherlands

[2] Evides Water Co, Dept Technol & Source Protect, POB 4472, NL-3006 AL Rotterdam, Netherlands

[3] Waternet, POB 94370, NL-1090 GJ Amsterdam, Netherlands

[4] Wageningen Univ, Dept Environm Technol, Bornse Weilanden, NL-6708 WG Wageningen, Netherlands

[5] Delft Univ Technol, Fac Civil Engn & Geosci, Dept Water Management, POB 5048, NL-2600 GA Delft, Netherlands

[6] Delft Univ Technol, Fac Mech Maritime & Mat Engn, Dept Proc & Energy, Leeghwaterstr 39, NL-2628 CB Delft, Netherlands

[7] HU Univ Appl Sci Utrecht, Inst Life Sci & Chem, POB 12011, NL-3501 AA Utrecht, Netherlands

关键词: Attributional life cycle assessment;    Softening;    Carbon footprint;    Drinking water;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123925

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

In the Netherlands, central softening of drinking water is widely applied for reasons of public health, client comfort, economic and environmental benefits. Currently, the detrimental contributions of softening, in particular the use of chemicals and energy, are taken into account in the carbon footprint of the Dutch drinking water companies. The beneficial contributions have, however, until now not been included in the carbon footprint. Here, we present an attributional life cycle assessment (LCA) for the softening of drinking water, including effects at the household level and several sensitivity analyses. Five central softening methods were included (pellet reactor (PR), water storage reservoir (WSR), reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF) and ion exchange (IEX)). Domestic softening by IEX is represented as well. Central softening, except RO, is shown to reduce the carbon footprint when effects at the household level are included. The main detrimental contributions are caused by the consumption of chemicals and energy in the softening process. The main beneficial contributions of softened water with respect to the carbon footprint are at the household level. Decreases in water hardness result in reduced scaling and give rise to a prolonged lifespan of appliances in which water is heated, reduced energy use of those appliances and less required cleaning agents. For PR and WSR a new beneficial effect was identified; carbon capture in the crystallized calcite and dissolution of CO2 into the softened water. We show that for the Dutch water companies Evides and Waternet approximately 20% and 60%, respectively, of their total carbon footprint is compensated by the net carbon benefit of softening. The net total carbon footprint of drinking water softening in the Netherlands is estimated to be -0.11 Mtonne CO2 eq./yr. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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