1 research outputs found
Assessing Urban Wastewater System Upgrades Using Integrated Modeling, Life Cycle Analysis, and Shadow Pricing
This study assesses the environmental
impacts of four measures
proposed for upgrading of the urban wastewater system of Eindhoven
and the Dommel River in The Netherlands, against the base case, “do-nothing”
option. The measures aim to reduce the overall environmental impact
of the Eindhoven urban wastewater system (UWS) by targeting river
dissolved oxygen depletion and ammonia peaks, reducing combined sewer
overflows, and enhancing nutrient removal. The measures are evaluated
using a life cycle analysis with the boundaries including the receiving
river section by means of an integrated model of the UWS. An uncertainty
analysis of the estimated impacts has been performed to support the
outcomes. The study also uses the economic concept of shadow prices
to assign relative weights of socio-economic importance to the estimated
life cycle impacts. This novel integration of tools complements the
assessments of this UWS with the inclusion of long-term global environmental
impacts and the investigation of trade-offs between different environmental
impacts through a single monetary unit. The results support the selection
of deeper clarifiers as the most environmentally beneficial measure
for upgrade