Sustainability metrics for assessing water resource recovery facilities of the future

Pablo K Cornejo; Jennifer Becker; Krishna Pagilla; Weiwei Mo; Qiong Zhang; James R Mihelcic; Kartik Chandran; Belinda Sturm; Daniel Yeh; Diego Rosso

doi:10.2175/106143017X15131012187980

Sustainability metrics for assessing water resource recovery facilities of the future

Water Environ Res. 2019 Jan;91(1):45-53. doi: 10.2175/106143017X15131012187980.

Authors

Pablo K Cornejo¹, Jennifer Becker², Krishna Pagilla³, Weiwei Mo⁴, Qiong Zhang⁵, James R Mihelcic⁵, Kartik Chandran⁶, Belinda Sturm⁷, Daniel Yeh⁵, Diego Rosso⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, California State University, Chico, California.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada.
⁴ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire.
⁵ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.
⁶ Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York.
⁷ Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
⁸ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, California.

PMID: 30045783
DOI: 10.2175/106143017X15131012187980

Abstract

The recovery of water, energy, and nutrients from water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) is needed to address significant global challenges, such as increasing water demand and decreasing availability of nonrenewable resources. To meet these challenges, innovative technological developments must lead to increased adoption of water and resource recovery processes, while addressing stakeholder needs (e.g., innovators, practitioners, regulators). A test bed network of over 90 partner facilities within the United States and abroad will help accelerate innovation and widespread adoption of novel processes through multiscale testing and demonstration of technologies. In this paper, we define a common set of environmental, economic, technical, and social performance metrics for innovative technologies, that will meet the needs of multiple stakeholders in the decision-making process. These triple bottom line performance metrics can be used to track the sustainability of technologies in a consistent and transparent manner, while aiding the decision-making process for WRRFs. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The Facilities Accelerating Science and Technology (FAST) Water Network includes over 90 test bed facilities dedicated to accelerating innovation and adoption of water energy, and nutrient recovery systems. A common set of environmental, economic, technical, and social performance metrics should be measured and reported when a new technology is evaluated in the FAST Water Network. Performance metrics can aid sustainable decision-making at WRRF, while meeting the needs of multiple stakeholders.

Keywords: asset management; decision support; life cycle assessment; life cycle cost analysis; metrics; resource recovery; sustainability; triple bottom line; water reuse.

Abstract

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