School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Oct 1;637-638:1466-1470. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.124. Epub 2018 May 22.
China is increasing its use of non-conventional water sources - seawater desalination, surface water transfer and wastewater reuse - to meet demand. Getting and treating water from these sources generally requires more energy than is needed for local freshwater sources. This increases the cost and greenhouse gas emissions associated with water supply. It also leads us to the question: are alternative water sources necessary and, if so, which source should be preferred? Here we argue that reclaiming and reusing wastewater is often the least energy-intensive alternative source for water-scarce areas of China, particularly when energy present in wastewater is recovered during the process.
中国正加大对非常规水源（海水淡化、地表水调水和污水再利用）的利用，以满足需求。从这些水源获取和处理水通常比从当地淡水资源获取和处理水需要更多的能源。这增加了供水的成本和温室气体排放。这也让我们提出一个问题：替代水源是否有必要，如果有必要，应该优先选择哪种水源？在这里，我们认为，对于中国水资源短缺地区来说，回收和再利用污水通常是能源密集度最低的替代水源，尤其是在污水中的能源在处理过程中得到回收利用的情况下。
