Contribution of the construction phase to environmental impacts of the wastewater treatment plant

Thi Kieu Loan Nguyen; Huu Hao Ngo; Wenshan Guo; Soon Woong Chang; Dinh Duc Nguyen; Tien Vinh Nguyen; Duc Long Nghiem

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140658

Contribution of the construction phase to environmental impacts of the wastewater treatment plant

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Nov 15:743:140658. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140658. Epub 2020 Jul 1.

Authors

Thi Kieu Loan Nguyen¹, Huu Hao Ngo², Wenshan Guo¹, Soon Woong Chang³, Dinh Duc Nguyen⁴, Tien Vinh Nguyen¹, Duc Long Nghiem¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia.
² Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NWS 2007, Australia. Electronic address: ngohuuhao121@gmail.com.
³ Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Kyonggi University, 442-760, Republic of Korea; Institution of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Viet Nam.

PMID: 32653711
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140658

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the environmental issues regarding the construction phase of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and explore the roles of different materials through their environmental impacts. Detailed inventories of the two WWTPs were conducted by involving materials and transportation for civil works undertaken. EPD 2018 and ReCiPe life cycle impact assessment methods were employed to measure all the impact categories. Five treatment processes - (1) pumping, (2) primary treatment, (3) secondary treatment, (4) sludge line, and (5) building landscape - were considered for the assessment. It was found that concrete and reinforcing steel played similarly vital roles in most of the EPD 2018 impacts. The significant score of reinforcing steel was found on human cancer toxicity, which contributed more than 90% of the impacts. The contribution of diesel on ozone formation was 5% higher than that of reinforcing steel. Glassfiber was responsible for 70% of the burdens on ozone depletion, showing much higher than the total share of concrete and reinforcing steel. Primary treatment units only contributed 9.5% of the construction impacts in the Girona WWTP but up to 43.8% in Mill Creek WWTP mainly because of the proportion of consumed materials. In short, the comprehensive data inventories were necessary when evaluating the total environmental impacts of the WWTP.

Keywords: Environmental impacts; Life cycle assessment; Wastewater treatment plant.