You are here:
Transforming Urban Water Systems Towards A More Sustainable Future - Bellevue, WA
Citation:
Ma, Cissy. Transforming Urban Water Systems Towards A More Sustainable Future - Bellevue, WA. Presented at IEEE IRI'23, Bellevue, WA, August 04 - 06, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
System-based accounting tools for such system-wide evaluations are showcased and provide in-depth analyses of the economic trade-offs, environmental impacts and system performances. The detailed holistic evaluation helps the decision-makers design more robust, effective and sustainable water systems.
Description:
Urban water systems are not self-contained units, economically or ecologically. They rely on larger biophysical supports from natural capital. The behavior of such systems as a whole and the interactions between subcomponents can be observed. The optimization at system level to achieve overall system efficiency will not only avoid burden shifting and inform more efficient subsystem design, but also provide sustainability and resiliency for the systems. Complex, dynamic human-environment coupled water systems require a paradigm shift from the traditional “siloed” (drinking water, wastewater, stormwater etc.) management approach and a move towards more holistic approaches to address the multiple issues facing municipal water systems. The concepts of fit-for-purpose, resource recovery and decentralization to maximize resource use (energy, nutrients, materials, and water) have been considered to provide more sustainable solutions to satisfy various water services. Here we present a design of an urban water system for cities of the future to emphasize how different water system services can be organized in an organic entirety, and how such paradigm shift designs are substantially more efficient than existing centralized water systems. A unique thermodynamically-based accounting tool and life cycle assessment are used to showcase the quantification of the energy distribution of the systems, and the associated environmental impacts and cost. It provides in-depth analyses of the economic trade-offs, environmental impacts and system performances. The detailed holistic evaluation helps decision-makers design more robust, effective and sustainable urban water systems.