Life cycle assessment of variants of water treatment technological processes in Pilsen (Czech Republic)

ABSTRACT The purpose of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) is to produce water of adequate quality. However, used technology, chemicals, and energy generate increased environmental impacts. This study evaluates drinking water production in Pilsen City, identifies the arising impacts, and determines ways to reduce them by the life cycle assessment (LCA). The current technology is based on three stages of separation, including the following schemes: coagulation, sedimentation, pH adjustment, rapid sand filtration, ozonation, granular activated carbon filtration, disinfection, and stabilization. The results obtained using the EF 3.0 method revealed that consumption of electricity and aluminum sulfate coagulant had the largest impact in most categories. The results of the LCA showed that the reconstruction of the technology reduced overall environmental impacts by 19.3%. The treatment process with the dosing of the alternative coagulant was assessed using a model approach. A comparison of the results showed that DWTP using iron sulfate has lower environmental impacts. In the end, the impacts of the current DWTP with electricity from the electricity grid were evaluated and compared with alternative sources for electricity production. The environmental impact of DWTP could be reduced using a larger share of renewable sources for electricity production.