Life cycle assessment of domestic wastewater treatment systems
Student name: Ms Neha Kaushik
Guide: Dr Lakshmi Raghupathy
Year of completion: 2017
Host Organisation: National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr V. C. Goyal
Abstract: In India the treatment of wastewater is a major issue faced by people. Water problems can be
observed worldwide in today’s time, the only option we are left with is treatment of the used water
in order to meet our demand. During the treatment of wastewater, the treatment plants contribute a
noticeable impact to global environmental problems, hence there is need to adopt more of
environmental friendly techniques to fulfill the need. In order to adapt the better for sewage
treatment, technology assessment may be carried out based on their environmental impacts, which
are quantified using Life Cycle Assessment. The main impact of the sewage treatment facilities can
be observed in the Operation and Maintenance phase. The technology which has lesser
environmental impacts during O&M phase itself can be considered more suitable in environmental
aspects. The method used for qualitatively and quantitatively checking out environmental weight of
activities in its life cycle is termed as life cycle analysis. By carrying out life cycle analysis, the
better technology can be adopted for sustainable treatment plants. The latest changes made to
ISO:14001 have formed life cycle analysis as an essential part of Environmental Management
System (EMS) of industries. There were four wastewater treatment plants considered for this study.
This study tries to explain the life cycle perspective of selected wastewater treatment technologies
by looking at their environmental impacts, assessing energy, “Global Warming Potential,
Eutrophication Potential, Acidification Potential and GHG inventory†across Operation and
Maintenance phase, in order to put a label on areas with higher impacts.
In this study we primarily focused only on five parameters namely, Energy Consumption, GHG
Emission, Acidification Potential, Eutrophication Potential, and Global Warming Potential. The
methodology adopted for the study was ISO 14040 frame work, for which the data was collected
from the site selected for the study. The conclusion of the study carried out was that among all the
four technologies taken into consideration Constructed Wetland was found to be most eco-friendly.
Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment, Energy, Global Warming Potential, Acidification Potential,
GHG, Eutrophication Potential, inventory, ISO14001
