Method of Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Wastewater Treatment Plants

Abstract

Wastewater treatment operations focus on removing pollutants from wastewater to meet water quality standards for public health and environmental protection. However, in recent decades new sustainability targets for wastewater treatment plants have been postulated and implemented, which assume that energy is one of the key elements. Therefore, a transition from a negative energy balance (energy demand covered by external sources) to an energy-neutral or unevenly positive energy balance of wastewater treatment has been postulated. The carbon footprint (CF) is a new measure of sustainability in the wastewater sector for determining the overall impact of wastewater treatment plants on climate change. The following paper presents a method for estimating and assessing the carbon footprint of wastewater treatment plants.