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Water is crucial for life on earth and water sector is one of the major energy intensive sectors globally. In developing countries like India , water sector and its energy expenditure are separately monitored by designated bodies, while they are very much linked with one another, this isolation acts as a barrier to effective management of urban water systems. An integrated approach where the water and energy nexus are acknowledged is required to address the present gaps in the system. The study focuses on the current scenario of urban water system and its energy requirements of India with Delhi as study area, for that the study maps the cradle to grave flow of water from source to end use, wastewater treatment and the energy interventions in each operational stage of urban water services.
“For water extraction and pumping in the distribution; pump volume, power consumption of pumps and operational hours were considered. Monthly Electricity bills of water treatment plants and wastewater treatment facilities were collected. Through mapping of the water flow and energy interventions in the urban water system a detailed analysis has been done for Delhi City. QGIS was used for analyzing the growth in population, Water availability trends.”
In Indian context, the urban water sector was found to be highly energy- intensive overall. The net energy cost of entire water system of Delhi excluding wastewater is estimated to 6465 MWh/d. Out of this direct energy use is 70.4% rest is from embodied energy from the materials used in the facilities and other water system infrastructures and chemical energy from the chemicals used during the treatment. Through the results it was concluded that understanding the nexus of energy and water acts as the first step to a sustainable tomorrow by achieving possible lowering of energy expenditure in the water sector all while reducing the harmful impacts on environment and meeting the growing demand by adopting efficient systems in urban water sector infrastructures.
KEYWORDS: Urban Water System, Energy Efficiency, Water demand, Energy Crisis, Demand Side Management.
