Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of full-scale ozonation for micropollutants removal from wastewater. Case study in the Netherlands

Abstract

Wastewater management is one of the main factors that affect drinking water quality. Therefore, the removal of micropollutant from urban wastewaters is receiving an increased attention. This study conducts a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing of a full-scale ozonation advanced wastewater treatment for micropollutant removal to identify the main impact contributors. The study includes the whole life cycle of the plant, which has been divided into three stages: (1) construction, (2) use and maintenance, and (3) decommissioning. The functional unit is the treatment of 400 m³/h of effluent with ozone, for the removal of 70 % of the micro-pollutants initially present in the effluent. The Environmental Footprint 3.0 was used to assess the environmental impacts based on the collected data. Results showed that ozone generation was the primary contributor to both, environmental impacts as well as operational costs, followed by the construction of the plant. End of life was the lowest contributor, with processes like material recovery and energy generation partially offsetting these impacts. Scenario analyses were performed to identify potential areas of optimization, and results indicated that reusing materials and utilizing renewable energy could significantly reduce environmental burdens. The LCA results provide valuable insights for the design, construction and future advancements in full-scale advanced wastewater treatment installation.