The carbon footprint of water treatment as well as sewer and sanitation utilities of Pamplona in Colombia

摘要

At a global level, it has been scientifically reported that the processes of water purification, management and disposal of wastewater, and solid waste generate environmental impacts, especially they contribute to global warming potential (GWP), which, in turn, is caused by the greenhouse gases emissions (GHGs). In this context, the main objective of the present research has been to assess the GWP of the water treatment, sewer and sanitation services of the city of Pamplona (Colombia) with a population of 50.000 inhabitants through Life Cycle Assessment but focusing only on the global warming potential impact. The results show that the operation of the three services emitted 1.07E+01 kg CO2-eq per inhabitant and per year, which emissions of GWP produced in water treatment is the most influential utility, accounting for 66% of the entire GWP, while the CO2 emitted from the sewer accounts for 20%, and the sanitation count for 14% of the total. Finally, strategies leading to the mitigation of the adverse GHGs currently produced by these public utilities are proposed.