Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities

This study benchmarks vermifiltration (VF) as secondary wastewater treatment in three nature-based decentralized treatment plants using life-cycle assessment. The comparison is justified by the comparatively easier and cheaper operation of VF when compared to more traditional technologies, including...

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Autores principales:	N. Lourenço, L. M. Nunes
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	IWA Publishing 2021
Materias:	activated sludge constructed wetlands lca slow rate filtration vermifiltration Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/2999bf16d7314aeeb68e50ff880c3cc2
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:2999bf16d7314aeeb68e50ff880c3cc22021-11-06T11:26:16ZLife-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities0273-12231996-973210.2166/wst.2021.379https://doaj.org/article/2999bf16d7314aeeb68e50ff880c3cc22021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttp://wst.iwaponline.com/content/84/8/1954https://doaj.org/toc/0273-1223https://doaj.org/toc/1996-9732This study benchmarks vermifiltration (VF) as secondary wastewater treatment in three nature-based decentralized treatment plants using life-cycle assessment. The comparison is justified by the comparatively easier and cheaper operation of VF when compared to more traditional technologies, including small rate infiltration (SRI), constructed wetlands (CW), and activated sludge (AS). Standard life cycle assessment was used and applied to three case studies located in southern Europe. Material intensity during construction was highest for VF, but impacts during operation were lower, compensating those of the other phases. Impacts during the construction phase far outweigh those of operation and dismantling for facilities using constructed wetlands and activated sludge, when the number of served inhabitants is small, and due to lack of economies of scale. VF used as secondary treatment was shown to contribute to reducing the environmental impacts, mainly in constructed wetlands and activated sludge. The replacement of CW by VF seems to bring important environmental benefits in most impact categories, in particular in the construction phase. The replacement by VF in facilities with SRI seems to result in the improvement of some of the impact categories, in particular in the operation phase. As for dismantling, no conclusive results were obtained. HIGHLIGHTS Vermifiltration is a promising technology.; An LCIA is needed to better understand vermifiltration.; The quantification of the environmental impacts will help researchers in future works.; Constrution, operation and dismantling phases are crucial to understand the life cycle in Wastewater Treatment Plants.; LCIA is an important tool to study the environmental impacts of wastewater treatment.;N. LourençoL. M. NunesIWA Publishingarticleactivated sludgeconstructed wetlandslcaslow rate filtrationvermifiltrationEnvironmental technology. Sanitary engineeringTD1-1066ENWater Science and Technology, Vol 84, Iss 8, Pp 1954-1968 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	activated sludge constructed wetlands lca slow rate filtration vermifiltration Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066
spellingShingle	activated sludge constructed wetlands lca slow rate filtration vermifiltration Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering TD1-1066 N. Lourenço L. M. Nunes Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities
description	This study benchmarks vermifiltration (VF) as secondary wastewater treatment in three nature-based decentralized treatment plants using life-cycle assessment. The comparison is justified by the comparatively easier and cheaper operation of VF when compared to more traditional technologies, including small rate infiltration (SRI), constructed wetlands (CW), and activated sludge (AS). Standard life cycle assessment was used and applied to three case studies located in southern Europe. Material intensity during construction was highest for VF, but impacts during operation were lower, compensating those of the other phases. Impacts during the construction phase far outweigh those of operation and dismantling for facilities using constructed wetlands and activated sludge, when the number of served inhabitants is small, and due to lack of economies of scale. VF used as secondary treatment was shown to contribute to reducing the environmental impacts, mainly in constructed wetlands and activated sludge. The replacement of CW by VF seems to bring important environmental benefits in most impact categories, in particular in the construction phase. The replacement by VF in facilities with SRI seems to result in the improvement of some of the impact categories, in particular in the operation phase. As for dismantling, no conclusive results were obtained. HIGHLIGHTS Vermifiltration is a promising technology.; An LCIA is needed to better understand vermifiltration.; The quantification of the environmental impacts will help researchers in future works.; Constrution, operation and dismantling phases are crucial to understand the life cycle in Wastewater Treatment Plants.; LCIA is an important tool to study the environmental impacts of wastewater treatment.;
format	article
author	N. Lourenço L. M. Nunes
author_facet	N. Lourenço L. M. Nunes
author_sort	N. Lourenço
title	Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities
title_short	Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities
title_full	Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities
title_fullStr	Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities
title_full_unstemmed	Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities
title_sort	life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities
publisher	IWA Publishing
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/2999bf16d7314aeeb68e50ff880c3cc2
work_keys_str_mv	AT nlourenco lifecycleassessmentofdecentralizedsolutionsforwastewatertreatmentinsmallcommunities AT lmnunes lifecycleassessmentofdecentralizedsolutionsforwastewatertreatmentinsmallcommunities
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Life-cycle assessment of decentralized solutions for wastewater treatment in small communities

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