TY - JOUR
T1 - Principles for scaling of distributed direct potable water reuse systems
T2 - A modeling study
AU - Guo, Tianjiao
AU - Englehardt, James D.
N1 - Funding Information:
The partial support of the US National Science Foundation (Award No. 1038527 ) for this work is gratefully acknowledged. Also, Mr. Ken Groce, Cherokee Consulting, Inc. and Dr. Dave MacNavin, Tetra Tech, Inc. are thanked for providing information regarding building code provisions for water and wastewater works; Mr. Jon Baldessari is thanked for providing essential information needed for the case study; and Mr. Todd Ellenburg and colleagues are thanked for their assistance in reproducing the university map.
PY - 2015/5/5
Y1 - 2015/5/5
N2 - Scaling of direct potable water reuse (DPR) systems involves tradeoffs of treatment facility economy-of-scale, versus cost and energy of conveyance including energy for upgradient distribution of treated water, and retention of wastewater thermal energy. In this study, a generalized model of the cost of DPR as a function of treatment plant scale, assuming futuristic, optimized conveyance networks, was constructed for purposes of developing design principles. Fractal landscapes representing flat, hilly, and mountainous topographies were simulated, with urban, suburban, and rural housing distributions placed by modified preferential growth algorithm. Treatment plants were allocated by agglomerative hierarchical clustering, networked to buildings by minimum spanning tree. Simulations assume advanced oxidation-based DPR system design, with 20-year design life and capability to mineralize chemical oxygen demand below normal detection limits, allowing implementation in regions where disposal of concentrate containing hormones and antiscalants is not practical. Results indicate that total DPR capital and O&M costs in rural areas, where systems that return nutrients to the land may be more appropriate, are high. However, costs in urban/suburban areas are competitive with current water/wastewater service costs at scales of ca. one plant per 10,000 residences. This size is relatively small, and costs do not increase significantly until plant service areas fall below 100 to 1000 homes. Based on these results, distributed DPR systems are recommended for consideration for urban/suburban water and wastewater system capacity expansion projects.
AB - Scaling of direct potable water reuse (DPR) systems involves tradeoffs of treatment facility economy-of-scale, versus cost and energy of conveyance including energy for upgradient distribution of treated water, and retention of wastewater thermal energy. In this study, a generalized model of the cost of DPR as a function of treatment plant scale, assuming futuristic, optimized conveyance networks, was constructed for purposes of developing design principles. Fractal landscapes representing flat, hilly, and mountainous topographies were simulated, with urban, suburban, and rural housing distributions placed by modified preferential growth algorithm. Treatment plants were allocated by agglomerative hierarchical clustering, networked to buildings by minimum spanning tree. Simulations assume advanced oxidation-based DPR system design, with 20-year design life and capability to mineralize chemical oxygen demand below normal detection limits, allowing implementation in regions where disposal of concentrate containing hormones and antiscalants is not practical. Results indicate that total DPR capital and O&M costs in rural areas, where systems that return nutrients to the land may be more appropriate, are high. However, costs in urban/suburban areas are competitive with current water/wastewater service costs at scales of ca. one plant per 10,000 residences. This size is relatively small, and costs do not increase significantly until plant service areas fall below 100 to 1000 homes. Based on these results, distributed DPR systems are recommended for consideration for urban/suburban water and wastewater system capacity expansion projects.
KW - Direct potable water reuse
KW - Hierarchical clustering
KW - Minimum spanning tree
KW - Water
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U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2015.02.033
DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2015.02.033
M3 - Article
C2 - 25768987
AN - SCOPUS:84924534188
VL - 75
SP - 146
EP - 163
JO - Water Research
JF - Water Research
SN - 0043-1354
ER -