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| Submitter's Name |
Adib Amini |
| Session Name |
Poster Session - Policy & Behavior Change |
| Poster Number |
19 |
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| Author(s) |
Adib Amini, University of South Florida (Presenting Author) |
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Karl Payne,
University of South Florida |
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Jie Zhang, University of South Florida |
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Treavor Boyer, University of Florida |
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Qiong Zhang, University of South Florida |
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A Tool for Optimization of the Environmental and Economic Sustainability of Ion Exchange Drinking Water Systems |
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Human population growth and economic development are increasing water demands across the globe while causing water resources to become increasingly scarce. This places increased responsibility on potable water systems to provide environmentally and economically sustainable water treatment. Often the implications of design choices on effects at full-scale implementation are poorly understood or evaluated. Furthermore, the means of evaluation must center at the nexus of holistic goals, such as technology improvement, energy usage, climate and environmental impact, costs, and water treatment efficacy.
Micro-economic and technical considerations have traditionally been paramount in the design of water treatment systems and the traditional approach involves use of design guides, practical experience, process modeling, and cost analysis. However, improved methods are needed to better consider environmental and economic considerations in water treatment design.
This study dynamically links a mathematical process model with both Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing to provide for optimization of decision variables. Although process modeling results have been tied to environmental indicators to allow for optimization, there has never been a tight integration of process modeling with LCA and LCC. This allows for direct estimation or environmental impacts and costs based on design choices, instead of by proxy indicators. Furthermore, it allows for avoidance of the shifting of burdens and impacts across the life cycle.
The design improvement tool is then applied in a case study of ion exchange (IX) drinking water treatment for removal of organics. IX is a robust technology that can be used to remove various types of contaminants in drinking water and has shown increased adoption in Florida for applications such as disinfection byproduct precursor removal. This study also expands the knowledge base on the sustainability of IX technology, for which there are few previous studies.
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