The comprehensive findings from Colorado State University were highlighted in Nature Communications Earth & Environment in a first-of-its-kind study. The work from the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering explores the potential economic tradeoffs of switching to green infrastructure and technology solutions that go beyond existing gray-water treatment practices. Built off data collected at over 22,000 facilities, the report provides comprehensive baseline metrics and explores the relationship among emissions, costs and treatment capabilities for utility operators and decision-makers. Braden Limb is the first author on the paper and a Ph.D. student in the Department of Systems Engineering. He also serves as a research associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He said the findings are a key initial step to categorize and understand potential green solutions for wastewater. "These findings draw a line in the sand that shows what the potential for adopting green approaches in this space is—both in terms of money saved and total emissions reduced," he said. "It is a starting point to understand what routes are available to us now and how financing strategies can elevate water treatment from a somewhat local issue into something that is addressed globally through market incentives." Traditional point-source water treatment facilities such as sewage plants remove problem nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus before releasing water back into circulation. This gray-infrastructure system—as it is known—is monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency. However, regulation standards may tighten in the future, and facilities would need more power, and in turn more emissions, to reach newly allowable thresholds. Existing facilities already account for 2% of all energy use in the U.S. and 45 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, said Limb. Another significant source of freshwater contamination in the... |