Comparative Life-Cycle Assessment of Bottled Versus Tap Water Systems

Life-cycle Assessment Methodology;Bottled Water;Tap Water;Natural Resources and Environment

Dettore, ChristopherBulkley, Jonathan ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Life-cycle Assessment Methodology;    Bottled Water;    Tap Water;    Natural Resources and Environment;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/64482/Dettore_thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

This study uses life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to quantify life-cycle energy use, greenhousegas emissions, solid waste generation and water use for delivering drinking water to consumer householdsin the United States. Three systems were considered in this analysis: 1) single-use disposable bottledwater (500ml) sold in 24-packs, 2) Home and office delivery bottled water, 3) municipal tap water. Forboth the HOD and municipal tap systems, drinking water is served in a reusable drinking vessel (bottle orcup) that is periodically washed in a residential dishwasher. Variants of each system were constructed torepresent a range of possible real-world scenarios using factors such as bottle type (virgin PET, rPET),water type (natural source, municipal source), distribution (regional, national, overseas), end-of-lifetreatment (landfill disposal, recycling), type of reusable drinking vessel (steel bottle, glass cup) andfrequency of washing the reusable vessel.With respect to life-cycle energy, solid waste, greenhouse gas emission and water use, the municipal tapsystems outperform both HOD and single-use bottled systems. Single-use bottled systems consume 11-31times more energy than tap systems. Production of plastic bottles is responsible for over 70% of theenergy use of regional bottled systems, while with national and overseas distribution, transportationbegins to dominate. Tap and HOD system energy use is dominated by residential washing of the reusabledrinking vessel. Greenhouse gas emissions generally correlate with energy use. HOD systems consume8-18% of energy relative to single-use systems, while municipal tap systems use 35-55% of HOD lifecycleenergy. For solid waste, single-use systems perform the worst, followed by the HOD and municipaltap systems respectively. End-of-life treatment of bottles dictates single-use systems solid waste profile.From an environmental perspective, municipal tap water is the preferred drinking water system.Strategies to reduce the impact of bottled water may include bans at the organizational level (citygovernments, universities, and restaurants), education and outreach to encourage consumers to choose tapwater and the expansion of state bottle bills to improve recovery of empty bottles. Results of this studycan be used to inform consumers and legislators of the impacts of their choices with regard to drinkingwater.