alberta onsite wastewater management association 16th ......alberta onsite wastewater management...

Alberta Onsite Wastewater Management Association

16th Annual Convention, Calgary, March 6 – 9, 2014.

Margaret Catley Carlson UN Secretary General Advisory Board –Water

Suez Environment – Advisory Board Canadian Water Network – Vice Chair

Patron, former Chair of GWP Davos – Founding Chair Water Agenda Council

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Margaret Catley-Carlson, Wastewater Mgnt Alberta

Where we go today

• The world of water

• Why wastewater – or why waste water?

– Is key to the solving the major water issues

– Holds keys to agriculture

– Important in energy.

• Exciting developments

• Big blockages


Alberta.

• The water world in microcosm – Boreal forest

– First nations

– Oil and gas

– Industry

– Cities

– Irrigation – and agriculture – really 87 cows/p.c?

– Pendulums in Government

– Ideal opportunity for exporting Alberta’s skills

– Expertise – YOU!


H20 today = H20 for the dinosaurs


Margaret Catley-Carlson,

Wastewater Mgnt Alberta

How much more water for cereals? 1 calorie =1 litre About 75% global use


Webinar, October 2013

Food demand doubles over the next 50 because of diet and population

Water Needs (ET) will double – without water productivity gains

7

An Energy/Water Loop



What is the common element?


How do we manage it? – badly. OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050

• water quality to deteriorate globally to 2050. • significant progress in OECD countries • wastewater treatment plants and reducing chemical use,

• improvements in freshwater quality are not easy to discern, except for organic pollution

• Still not good: Pollution loads from diffuse agricultural and urban sources • fertilisers and pesticides, run-off from sealed surfaces and roads, and

pharmaceuticals in animal and human waste) are continuing challenges.

• Nutrient water pollution from farming has risen • absolute levels of industrial and urban pollution down

• absolute levels of nutrient and pesticide pollution remain significant in many OECD countries and regions.

• In nearly half of OECD countries, nutrient and pesticide concentrations in surface and groundwater in agricultural areas exceed national recommended limits for drinking water standards.


• Much worse in the Global South

• (World Water Forum 2012) are stark and reflect the magnitude of environmental pollution.

• In Asia, 90% of the wastewater is untreated • In South-East Asia, the volume of untreated wastewater that is discharged

into fresh and coastal waters is estimated to be 80% and 89%, respectively.

• The waters of both the Ganges and the Yellow River are unusable for agriculture for more than half of their length

• 50 of the 412 rivers in the Philippines are classified as dead • In China it is estimated that only 56% of municipal wastewater is treated,

and often not to acceptable standards. • In South Africa, 55% of treatment plants are estimated to be out of

operation. • In Latin America, only 6% of the generated wastewater receives secondary

treatment before being discharged into surface waters


Some THREATS from

bad wastewater management:

• Irreparable damage to the world’s ecosystems

• Increased damage to health

• Severely polluted water limits agriculture

• Severe damage to livelihoods and economies

• Inability to establish world water security

• Very poor and unpleasant urban living conditions


Why? Money – Political Priority and “out of sight, out of mind”

• priority on toilet facilities, • waste streams not adequately collected and treated. • aging, absent or inadequate sewerage infrastructures, • poor operation and maintenance of the existing facilities. • majority of wastewaters (including septage and faecal sludge) are

discharged into the environment without any form of treatment.

• two million tons of waste, estimated to equal two or more billion tons of wastewater are discharged daily into rivers and seas

• urban populations are projected to nearly double in 40 years, from current 3.4 billion to over six billion people (UNEP/UN-Habitat 2010)”.


A huge resource waste?

• Nine action ideas.

• Mostly it is the WATER going to waste

– Need to talk the realities of re-use.

• Ideas to prompt action.


(1) It’s the Economy, stupid. Economic benefits from improved wastewater management

• Reduced pre-treatment costs downstream (for drinking water and industrial/energy purposes)

• Protection of commercial fish stocks and aquaculture

• Improved living conditions and human well-being (especially in urban areas)

• Increase property and land values for riparian owners

• Enhanced tourism and leisure activities

• Increased water supply for irrigation and drinking water

• Saving of fertilisers through use of sludge


(2) Make Better Incentive systems

• We wait for the Public Treasury – general allergy to private sector

• Epcor – incentive was private sector structure.

• Brazil - PRODES – does not finance works or equipment

– does it make any payment before the start of treatment.

– incentive payment to utilities that invest in the construction, enlargement or improvement of wastewater treatment plants.


(3) Harvest Energy Benefits • Can be inked to the treatment of local biodegradable wastes

and food wastes.

• Reduction in energy consumption and GHG emissions at WWTPs

• Saving in operational expenses – reduction in the need for inorganic fertilisers and reduction in nutrient run-off

to watercourses

• Better quality effluents from intensive energy processes.


Water reuse is less energy intensive than desal …

Compared energy requirements

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Waste water

reclamation (tertiary)

Waste water

reclamation

(quaternary)

Seawater desalination

RO

Seawater desal RO1 +

RO2

kWh/m3

Potentially small

• Nepal 50,000

• China some number between 8 and 30 million!!

• can be household.


Potentially big

• In USA and UK,

– 3% to 4% of the national energy production is used for water and wastewater services

– largest proportion = treatment of wastewaters

• Japan-goal of 100% energy independence of WWTPs

– improved efficiencies and energy savings

– maximizing energy recovery from wastewater sludge and other local organic wastes.

• UK Avonmouth plant currently imports large quantities of biodegradable wastes for co-digestion, is almost 100% self-sufficient for most of the year and sells excess energy to the National Grid at other times.


Pot…….Potentially surprising

• Cows to Kilowatts: Anaerobic Bio-digestion of Abattoir Waste Generates Zero Emission and Creates Sustainable Bio-Energy and Bio-Fertiliser in Africa

•

• Rotterdam powers buses with waste water energy recapture.

– Sweden and Germany - ambitious directives to recycle up to 60% of wastewater phosphorus,

– ½ returned to farms

– rest to pastures or forest plantations.

– France – this year – break even point.

Margaret Catley-Carlson, Wastewater Mgnt

Alberta

Queensland Australia – Luggage Point

• Queensland Govnment Completed June 2011 CH2M HILL

• Full alliance partner for design, procurement, installation, commissioning and operation

• Treats wastewater to provide a reliable source of water for power production, and to augment drinking water supplies and to return water to environment

• Incorporates innovative treatment technologies

• The Luggage Point plant is a major component of the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project, undertaken to address acute water

shortages and continued population growth.

The Atotonilco Wastewater Treatment Plant

• largest of its kind on the planet and one of the largest-ever Mexican works.

• provide wastewater treatment for 10.5 million inhabitants.

• Treated effluent will flow into irrigation channels for local farmers to use free of charge. • More than 90 percent of Mexico City’s wastewater

is currently piped north to Hidalgo state to be used untreated for alfalfa irrigation, which poses serious health and environmental problems.

The Atotonilco WWTP will provide a safe, reliable supply of irrigation water, conserving freshwater resources

GIPPSLAND WATER, VICTORIA AUSTRALIA

• community awareness about water conservation and sustainable water management\

• industrial and municipal effluent disposal in the Latrobe Valley region

• New 35 ML/day Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) wastewater treatment plant to treat effluent from Australian Paper municipal effluent from three communities

– Provide high quality reclaimed water for use within Australian Paper’s Maryvale plant, enabling plant expansion

– Upgrade of the Dutson Downs wastewater treatment facility to permit reuse of effluent

– Cogeneration and hydropower facilities to reduce the greenhouse gas impact of the project energy consumption

(4) Make the link with Agriculture

-

ANSWER the question:

• New WHO standards –

• Jordan – 90% of urban

waste water recycled for

agriculture.


Answers to the ‘danger? are being produced


(5) Decentralize

• Go to small scale: those of you who work with septic systems know about these. But now:

– Biodigesters – 10,000 operating and producing methane in Asia

– Apartment residences: greywater or wastewater

– Biodigesters: any biological wastes – even abbatoirs.

– Shopping centers, airports, new housing developments – why not water treatment on site?

– Why not black/grey separation? Why not grey reuse?

Margaret Catley-Carlson, Wastewater Mgnt

Alberta

(6) Charge more for Water • If we value it more, we will pay to clean it up. • We will use different water for different

purposes: – After cleaning, capture, guarding, piping etc etc USA

uses 37% of water for flushing. – You pay, you think.

• Canadian water use - A wretched excess? Some sobering facts about Canadian water use:

• Residential indoor water use in Canada is as follows: toilet, 30%; bathing and showering, 35%; laundry, 20%; drinking and cooking, 10%; cleaning, 5%.

• Canadians consumed an estimated 643 million litres of bottled water in 1997.

• On average, 14% of municipal piped water is lost in pipeline leaks — up to 30% in some communities.


Pay more for water

• Promotes greywater use

• Makes us follow Romans – difference water for different uses

• US – captures, stores, cleans and uses most on lawns

• Canada: - A wretched excess? Some sobering facts about Canadian water use:

• Canadian water use - A wretched excess? Some sobering facts about Canadian water use:

• Residential indoor water use in Canada is as follows: toilet, 30%; bathing and showering, 35%; laundry, 20%; drinking and cooking, 10%; cleaning, 5%.

• Canadians consumed an estimated 643 million litres of bottled water in 1997.

• On average, 14% of municipal piped water is lost in pipeline leaks — up to 30% in some communities.


(7) Take greywater more seriously

• Gold Coast: Australia first regulations for use of cleaned grey water in residences

• Battery Park New York very large buildings have basement wastewater treatment plants using membrane bioreactors and disinfection and where the recovered water is used as flush water through the buildings and for irrigation.


Margaret Catley-Carlson, Accounting Assets UVI February 2013

(9) Seize Awareness / policy attention; The Global 40% gap:

– For a long time, only the Water Sector – changing

– 8th Global Risks report for the Davos meeting

– 50 global risks from five categories – economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological

• 2012 water - fifth top global risk in terms of likelihood in 2012

• 2013 report - rated at the fourth spot

• However, in terms of impact, the report puts water supply crises as the second top risk during 2012 and 2013.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/World_Economic_Forum_logo.svg

Waste Water Treatment and Harvesting

• Namibia, the world pioneer, Singapore leader

• parts of China and even the USA, starting in San Diego

• Rotterdam powers buses with waste water energy recapture.

– Sweden and Germany - ambitious directives to recycle up to 60% of wastewater phosphorus,

–½ returned to farms

– rest to pastures or forest plantations.

– France – this year – break even point.

Regulatory Framework

• Total importance – increasing corporate demand.

• New approaches – – Community monitoring

– Data transparency

– Corporate association best practices • Forestry

• BCSD

• Annual reports

• Part of Triple Bottom line.

.


We’ve been at it for 100 years.

• 2014 will mark the centenary of seminal paper on activated sludge basis to treat sewage by biological means (Ardern and Lockett 1914).

• Let’s get better

EVERYWHERE!


alberta onsite wastewater management association 16th ......alberta onsite wastewater management...

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