The increasing scarcity of water coupled with escalating cost of fresh water and its treatment hasprompted industry and municipalities to think of water conservation, reuse, and recycling.Incorporating advanced technologies such as reverse osmosis, enhanced biological nutrientremoval for phosphorus and nitrogen, membrane bioreactor, nanofiltration, ion exchange, and soon, would result in reclamation and reuse of water and less environmental damage, but to whatdegree, and with what trade-offs? To answer these questions, this paper will present a number oflife cycle assessments (LCA) on industrial and municipal wastewater systems, with a focus onshort-term and/or long-term effects and/or benefits of reusing and recycling waters on economics(life cycle cost), energy and materials recovery using the Pinch Analysis, public health,environmental protection, clean water act, water quality standards, and water-ecology.This presentation will also highlight some of the recent advanced treatment technologies included(1) enhanced biological nutrient removal for phosphorus and nitrogen, and (2) chemical additionwith filtration for phosphorus removal. These technologies appeared to remove some 30pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCP) chemicals (analytes) from wastewater, due toextended biological contact time, nutrient conversion and removal, and using advanced or tertiaryfiltration methods and additional disinfection of secondary effluent produce high quality reclaimedwater which is used in some part of US for irrigation and direct groundwater recharge. A numberof stream-lined LCA case studies will be presented on water reuse/recycling practices inpharmaceutical, food processing, pulp and paper, power generating industries, ultravioletdisinfection for wastewater reuse, agricultural and land applications of reclaimed water, directrecharge into the groundwater, and water augmentation to creeks and rivers during summer lowflow.
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