Protecting rivers by integrating supply-wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisions
Placing water quality in rivers at the centre of water infrastructure planning and management is an important objective. In response there has been a range of ‘whole system’ analyses. Few studies, however, consider both abstraction (water removed from rivers) and discharge (water returned) to inform...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb050 |
| _version_ | 1797747790285111296 |
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| author | Barnaby Dobson Ana Mijic |
| author_facet | Barnaby Dobson Ana Mijic |
| author_sort | Barnaby Dobson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Placing water quality in rivers at the centre of water infrastructure planning and management is an important objective. In response there has been a range of ‘whole system’ analyses. Few studies, however, consider both abstraction (water removed from rivers) and discharge (water returned) to inform the future planning of water systems. In this work we present a systems approach to analysing future water planning options where system development prioritises the water quality of the receiving river. We provide a theoretical demonstration by integrating water supply and wastewater infrastructure, and downstream river water quality, on an open-source, stylised, systems model for London, UK, at a citywide scale. We show that models which consider either supply or wastewater separately will underestimate impacts of effluent on the water quality, in some cases by amounts that would require £1 billion worth of infrastructure equivalent to mitigate. We highlight the utility of the systems approach in evaluating integrated water infrastructure planning using both socio-economic and environmental indicators. Through this approach we find unintended impacts from planning options on downstream river quality; including benefits from water demand management and rainwater harvesting, and costs from wastewater reuse. Finally, we present a novel management planning option between supply and wastewater, which we refer to as Abstraction-Effluent Dilution (AED), that is, to reduce river abstractions during high precipitation events to dilute untreated sewer spills. The AED option is found to provide up to £200 million worth of equivalent infrastructure in river quality improvements and has minimal impact on the reliability of water supply while requiring only a change in operational decision making. This proof-of-concept study highlights that seeing our water systems differently with this holistic approach could fundamentally change the way we think about future water infrastructure planning so that it works both for people and the environment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:55:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-55a79dbd87404c7f8a9aaba6d5f5ed15 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:55:39Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-55a79dbd87404c7f8a9aaba6d5f5ed152023-08-09T14:55:57ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-01151111402510.1088/1748-9326/abb050Protecting rivers by integrating supply-wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisionsBarnaby Dobson0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0149-4124Ana Mijic1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7096-9405Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London , London, United Kingdom; Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford , Oxford, United KingdomDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London , London, United KingdomPlacing water quality in rivers at the centre of water infrastructure planning and management is an important objective. In response there has been a range of ‘whole system’ analyses. Few studies, however, consider both abstraction (water removed from rivers) and discharge (water returned) to inform the future planning of water systems. In this work we present a systems approach to analysing future water planning options where system development prioritises the water quality of the receiving river. We provide a theoretical demonstration by integrating water supply and wastewater infrastructure, and downstream river water quality, on an open-source, stylised, systems model for London, UK, at a citywide scale. We show that models which consider either supply or wastewater separately will underestimate impacts of effluent on the water quality, in some cases by amounts that would require £1 billion worth of infrastructure equivalent to mitigate. We highlight the utility of the systems approach in evaluating integrated water infrastructure planning using both socio-economic and environmental indicators. Through this approach we find unintended impacts from planning options on downstream river quality; including benefits from water demand management and rainwater harvesting, and costs from wastewater reuse. Finally, we present a novel management planning option between supply and wastewater, which we refer to as Abstraction-Effluent Dilution (AED), that is, to reduce river abstractions during high precipitation events to dilute untreated sewer spills. The AED option is found to provide up to £200 million worth of equivalent infrastructure in river quality improvements and has minimal impact on the reliability of water supply while requiring only a change in operational decision making. This proof-of-concept study highlights that seeing our water systems differently with this holistic approach could fundamentally change the way we think about future water infrastructure planning so that it works both for people and the environment.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb050integrated water managementsystems analysiswater system boundariesurban water cyclewater quality and pollution controlwater resource system modelling |
| spellingShingle | Barnaby Dobson Ana Mijic Protecting rivers by integrating supply-wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisions Environmental Research Letters integrated water management systems analysis water system boundaries urban water cycle water quality and pollution control water resource system modelling |
| title | Protecting rivers by integrating supply-wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisions |
| title_full | Protecting rivers by integrating supply-wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisions |
| title_fullStr | Protecting rivers by integrating supply-wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Protecting rivers by integrating supply-wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisions |
| title_short | Protecting rivers by integrating supply-wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisions |
| title_sort | protecting rivers by integrating supply wastewater infrastructure planning and coordinating operational decisions |
| topic | integrated water management systems analysis water system boundaries urban water cycle water quality and pollution control water resource system modelling |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abb050 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT barnabydobson protectingriversbyintegratingsupplywastewaterinfrastructureplanningandcoordinatingoperationaldecisions AT anamijic protectingriversbyintegratingsupplywastewaterinfrastructureplanningandcoordinatingoperationaldecisions |