TY - JOUR
T1 - Environmental performance of wastewater treatment plants for small populations
AU - Gallego Schmid, Alejandro
AU - Hospido, Almudena
AU - Moreira, Maria Teresa
AU - Feijoo, Gumersindo
PY - 2008/4
Y1 - 2008/4
N2 - Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an environmental tool which allows the calculation of all the environmental loads related to a process/product/service. In the present work, LCA was applied to analyze the environmental impact of different technologies for wastewater treatment in small populations. In this study, 13 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of less than 20,000 population equivalent (p.e.) located in Galicia (NW Spain) were inventoried. The results of the evaluation of the environmental impact are expressed in terms of diverse impact categories. Normalization identified eutrophication, mainly as P-PO4 3-, N-NH4 + and organic load as chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the treated effluent, and terrestrial ecotoxicity, due to the heavy metals content in the sludge, as the most significant categories for all WWTPs. Electricity use plays an important role in five of seven impact categories and presents the highest importance in four of them. When comparing technologies, secondary treatment technologies such as biodenipho and aerobic-anoxic treatment resulted in a lesser environmental impact than extended aeration. The operation of the plants has large contribution on the impact, especially for those that make use of extended aeration.
AB - Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an environmental tool which allows the calculation of all the environmental loads related to a process/product/service. In the present work, LCA was applied to analyze the environmental impact of different technologies for wastewater treatment in small populations. In this study, 13 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of less than 20,000 population equivalent (p.e.) located in Galicia (NW Spain) were inventoried. The results of the evaluation of the environmental impact are expressed in terms of diverse impact categories. Normalization identified eutrophication, mainly as P-PO4 3-, N-NH4 + and organic load as chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the treated effluent, and terrestrial ecotoxicity, due to the heavy metals content in the sludge, as the most significant categories for all WWTPs. Electricity use plays an important role in five of seven impact categories and presents the highest importance in four of them. When comparing technologies, secondary treatment technologies such as biodenipho and aerobic-anoxic treatment resulted in a lesser environmental impact than extended aeration. The operation of the plants has large contribution on the impact, especially for those that make use of extended aeration.
KW - Electricity use
KW - Eutrophication
KW - LCA
KW - Life cycle assessment
KW - Terrestrial ecotoxicity
KW - Wastewater treatment plants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=41649092445&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.resconrec.2008.02.001
DO - 10.1016/j.resconrec.2008.02.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:41649092445
SN - 0921-3449
VL - 52
SP - 931
EP - 940
JO - Resources, Conservation and Recycling
JF - Resources, Conservation and Recycling
IS - 6
ER -
