Life Cycle Assessment of Wastewater Treatment Plant

Abstract

This chapter discusses a small part of the existing literature in which a lifecycle approach has been used to estimate the environmental impacts of Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTPs) using various Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Inventory analysis of any LCA study is the second step and takes the most time in the LCA analysis. It is basically the method of collection and analysis of the required data necessary for the LCA study. The inventory collection phase is usually managed and carried out by a combination of a real system database either obtained from an experimental method or from full scale operations. Generally, the presence of heavy metals and priority pollutants in wastewater causes higher impact category values associated with toxicity and ecotoxicity. LCA studies are emerging as very beneficial tool in the field of wastewater treatment technology selection, and it helps in the selection and design of treatment technologies by decision makers.