School of Water Resources & Environment, Hebei Province Key Laboratory of Sustained Utilization & Development of Water Recourse, Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang, 050031, China.
Hebei Ecological Environment Monitoring Center, Shijiazhuang, 050031, China.
J Environ Manage. 2024 Jun;362:121304. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121304. Epub 2024 Jun 3.
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and they are also one of the largest energy consumption industries in urban systems. With the progression of upgrading and standard-rising, WWTPs both directly and indirectly increase carbon emissions from the increased investments in facilities and usages in electricity as well as chemical agents. Here, we collected operational data from 15 WWTPs in the key control areas of the Ziya River Basin in North China and accounted for the changes in carbon performance at different technical upgrade methods. Results showed that the average carbon emission performance increased by 0.487 kg CO/m after the upgrade. Carbon emissions from electricity consumption, chemical usage, biochemical process and sludge treatment accounted for 42%, 17%, 24%, and 17% of the total improvement in carbon emission performance, respectively. Reducing energy consumption, regulating chemical use and sludge comprehensive utilization are the key to carbon emission reduction. It further proposes that the development of wastewater treatment discharge standards should fully consider the comprehensive utilization of water quality classification. Regions with favorable natural conditions should make full use of their advantages by adopting economically feasible, low-energy-consuming technologies such as constructed wetlands, which offer carbon sequestration and landscaping benefits. This study provides guidance on the selection of technological pathways for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation in the wastewater treatment industry and on achieving sustainable water resource utilization.
污水处理厂（WWTPs）是温室气体（GHG）排放的最大来源之一，也是城市系统中最大的能源消耗产业之一。随着升级和标准提高，WWTPs 直接和间接地增加了设施投资和电力以及化学药剂使用所产生的碳排放。在这里，我们从华北子流域重点控制区的 15 个 WWTP 收集了运行数据，并对不同技术升级方法的碳绩效变化进行了核算。结果表明，升级后平均碳排放绩效提高了 0.487kgCO/m。电力消耗、化学品使用、生化过程和污泥处理产生的碳排放量分别占碳排放绩效总提升的 42%、17%、24%和 17%。减少能源消耗、规范化学品使用和污泥综合利用是减排的关键。进一步提出，制定污水处理排放标准应充分考虑水质分类的综合利用。自然条件较好的地区应充分利用优势，采用经济可行、低能耗的技术，如人工湿地，实现碳封存和景观美化效益。本研究为污水处理行业减排和减碳的技术路径选择以及实现可持续水资源利用提供了指导。
