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Designing water supplies: Optimizing drinking water composition for maximum economic benefit
1DTU Environment, Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Miljoevej, Building 113, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark. mryg@env.dtu.dk
Water Research
|May 14, 2011
Summary
Optimizing drinking water composition using desalination and remineralization offers net economic benefits. This approach balances water quality impacts, public health, and environmental costs for sustainable water management.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Water Resource Management
- Public Health
Background:
- Drinking water quality significantly impacts public health, material longevity, and consumer product usage.
- Current water treatment methods may not fully optimize water composition for these diverse impacts.
- Economic and environmental considerations are crucial for sustainable water supply planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a method for optimizing drinking water composition through membrane desalination and remineralization.
- To evaluate the holistic economic benefits of optimized drinking water, considering production costs, environmental impact, and societal benefits.
- To propose optimum water quality criteria for water supply management.
Main Methods:
- Modeling of various water quality blends.
- Evaluation of corrosion indices to assess material impacts.
- Application of concentration-response relationships to value public health and consumer impacts.
- Holistic economic assessment integrating water production costs, abstraction, and CO2 emissions.
Main Results:
- Optimized desalination post-treatment can yield net economic benefits of €0.3 ± 0.2 per m³ in Perth and €0.4 ± 0.2 per m³ in Copenhagen.
- The costs associated with remineralization and greenhouse gas emission mitigation are relatively minor compared to the potential benefits.
- The study demonstrates the feasibility of achieving net economic advantages through strategic water composition design.
Conclusions:
- Carefully designed desalination post-treatment and remineralization present a viable strategy for optimizing drinking water composition.
- Holistic economic assessment is essential for water supply planning, integrating environmental and societal factors.
- The proposed optimum water quality criteria can guide future water supply management decisions.
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