The Water-Energy Nexus of Urban Services in a Tourism City: The Case of Pattaya City

Urban services, such as water and energy resources, are usually consumed more in a tourism city, than in other city types. The water-energy nexus also contributes to the CO2 emissions from urban areas. The purpose of this research is to investigate the link between water distribution systems, electricity consumption, and energy-related CO2 emissions from water networks in Pattaya city, Thailand. These networks operate under the Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA). The water distribution system was modeled in EPANET software, to simulate and examine the water supply capacity in the service pipes, to ensure that it meets the requirement set by PWA. Data were collected from PWA, in terms of the pressure and flow rate of the water supply and the amount of electricity consumption. The current water distribution system consists of 18 junctions, a with flow rate of 1,000 m3/hour and pressure at 45 m. The electricity consumption is 720 kWh/day and energy-related CO2 emissions are 419.11 kgCO2eq/day. The water distribution system was modeled and analyzed to find the optimum flow rate and pressure for the least electricity consumption. The results show that the optimum solution is the flow rate of 1,500 m3/hour and a pressure at 50 m. Consequently, the electricity consumption is 300 kWh/day, while CO2 emissions are reduced to 174.63 kgCO2eq/day. The findings from this study would benefit the PWA by reducing the electricity consumption and CO2 emissions equivalent to 109 MWh/year and 63.73 tCO2eq, respectively.