Sydney Water Corporation
Parramatta, Sydney (Australia)
Environmental constraints on urban growth led the Sydney Water Corporation (Sydney Water) to
implement an integrated water servicing strategy that included the piped supply of recycled water
to 36,000 new residential homes. Key lessons from introducing recycled water to residential
homes on such a scale are presented in the areas of managing public health risk, system design,
water conservation and community acceptance. The experience of developing Australia’s largest
residential recycling scheme informs consideration of dual reticulation as an option in integrated
water resource management.
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Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: >1M, Stormwater, Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Community Acceptance, Cost Savings, Environmental Impact, Improved Public Health, Optimized Water Resource Planning, Plant Sustainability, Reduced Carbon Footprint, Reduced Drinking Water Consumption, Water Conservation | No Comments »
Fort Wayne City Utilities
Fort Wayne, Indiana
The City of Fort Wayne set out to develop a rain garden demonstration and incentive program to
ensure the success of their campaign. An aggressive marketing and public information effort
helped the community begin to recognize, support, and adopt the program as their own.
However, the rain garden program is just the first step in their “Green Infrastructure Initiative”.
They are hopeful this program will be a springboard to look at the overall sustainability
component of their wet weather control and conveyance infrastructure, and start a broader
marketing effort within the community for cleaner and safer water. The goal is that their rain
garden program will quickly become the basis for future green infrastructure, and be the leading
example for other sustainable programs.
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Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Filed under: 100K-500K, Sanitary Sewer, Stormwater, Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Environmental Impact, Green Infrastructure, Improved Customer Relations, Improved Neighbor Relations, Plant Sustainability, Provide Cleaner Water, Rain Gardens, Reduced Carbon Footprint, Water Conservation, Wet Weather Control | No Comments »
Joint Effort by California Department of Water Resources and California Energy Commission
Sacramento, California
In 2005, California, led by the California Energy Commission, began a serious look at the waterenergy-greenhouse gas relationship in the state. Saving water saves energy. Saving energy saves water, both where there are cooling towers on buildings and at thermal power plants which use water for cooling. You save more in Southern California than in Northern California because of the energy attached to imported water. Saving water used outdoors is good (pumping, treatment and delivery), saving water used indoors is better (no waste removal, treatment and discharge) and saving hot water is still better (no energy to heat the water too). This paper will build on the work done by the California Energy Commission by presenting information on both sides of the connection: energy for water and water for energy. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings
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Posted: August 27th, 2010 | Filed under: Electric, Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Energy Savings, Environmental Impact, Plant Sustainability, Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Smaller Carbon Footprint, Water Conservation | No Comments »
Stormwater runoff from urban and suburban areas can damage the environmental health of
receiving streams from increased flow rates during rain events, reduced base flow, and increased
loading of pollutants associated with the runoff. Low-impact or green infrastructure techniques
that are decentralized or dispersed throughout the watershed can mitigate these impacts. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Sustainable
Environments Branch (EPA) developed a field research project to measure the effects of green
practices on stream hydrology and quality on a watershed scale.
The suburban watershed selected for this study includes both single-family residential land use
and a forested park. The hydrology and water quality of Shepherd Creek have been monitored by
EPA and some reaches were found to be affected by urbanization. The use of dispersed Best
Management Practices (BMPs) that infiltrate or detain runoff were planned and implemented for
this area, with continued monitoring during and after the implementation to measure the effects
on Shepherd Creek.
In 2007, Tetra Tech, as contractor to EPA, implemented a reverse auction to solicit participation
by area residents and then installed 50 rain gardens and 100 rain barrels on the selected
residential sites. This presentation summarizes the methods and results of both the site selection
and construction activities to date.
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Posted: August 24th, 2010 | Filed under: Stormwater | Tags: Environmental Impact, Reduced Carbon Footprint, Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Sustainable Infrastructure, Water Conservation | No Comments »
Santa Clara Valley Water District
San Jose, California
The Santa Clara Valley Water District (District), the primary water agency for Santa Clara
County, which encompasses the southern part of the San Francisco Bay, provides water supplies
for an expanding urban population containing 1.8 million resident, hosting 200,000 commuters,
and harboring Silicon Valley, a major economic driver for California.
To help meet increasing water demands, the District has developed a comprehensive suite of water
conservation and water recycling programs that have resulted in cumulative savings of 427,000
acre-feet (AF) of new water supplies between fiscal year (FY) 92-93 and FY 06-07. In addition to
saving water, water conservation and water recycling programs save energy and reduce air
pollutant emissions due to the significant quantities of energy required (and air pollutants
generated by energy production) for the water supply chain: 1) Water conveyance; 2) Water
treatment; 3) Distribution; 4) End use; and 5) Wastewater treatment.
Air pollutants generated include (depending on energy source) the following: reactive organic
gases, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and carbon dioxide. The latter is a greenhouse
gas that contributes to global warming.
The climate changes and other impacts that occur as a result of global warming present challenges
for water agencies. Sea level rise (including saltwater intrusion into the freshwater San Francisco
Bay-San Joaquin Delta levee system), a decrease in snow pack in the Sierra Nevada mountain
range (which supplies water for much of the state), and increased drought are all possible outcomes
of global climate change. The District is committed to responding to these challenges through
adaptation (preparing for future changes) and mitigation (reducing the District’s role in global
warming through more efficient use of resources).
With regard to the mitigation of global climate change, the District recently completed an analysis
of the energy saved by its water conservation and water recycling programs, which have been in
operation since FY 92-93. For FY 92-93 through FY 06-07, the District has saved approximately 1.62
billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy, which represents a financial savings of approximately $208
million and is equivalent to the annual electricity required for 236,000 households. Through saving
energy, the emissions of approximately 381 million kg of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, were
eliminated, which is the equivalent of removing 82,000 passenger cars from the roads for one year.
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Posted: August 24th, 2010 | Filed under: >1M, Waste Water Treatment, Water Treatment | Tags: Cost Savings, Energy Savings, Increased Plant Efficiency, Reduced Air Pollutants, Reduced Carbon Footprint, Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Water Conservation, Water Recycling | No Comments »