A wholelife cost and carbon perspective of alternatives to septic tanks utilising nature-based solutions
dc.contributor.author | Brown, Gareth C. | |
dc.contributor.author | MacAdam, Jitka | |
dc.contributor.author | Dotro, Gabriela | |
dc.contributor.author | Jefferson, Bruce | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2023-08-15T11:11:39Z | |
dc.date.available | 2023-08-15T11:11:39Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2023-06-24 | |
dc.description.abstract | Septic tank systems (STSs) are widely utilised flowsheets for decentralised wastewater treatment in the UK. With a growing consensus that STSs have a sizeable detrimental impact on the environment, there is a need for rural flowsheets with improved treatment capabilities. This study examines the lifetime cost and carbon emissions of using an enhanced septic tank nature-based solution (EST-NBS) to improve STS compared to a package treatment system (submerged aerated filter (SAF)). The wholelife cost (WLC) of the flowsheets and Scope 2 cradle-to-grave lifetime carbon emissions (LCEs) of the flowsheets were assessed. The EST-NBS flowsheets represent a lower cost improved treatment system than SAFs at population equivalents (PEs) from 5 to 1,000. An STS averages an LCE of over 4,000 kg CO2eq PE−1, with all other considered flowsheets having lower emissions. The EST-NBS flowsheets had lower carbon emissions than SAFs. Even at low populations upgrading from an STS to an EST-NBS is a competitive abatement strategy, with costs of £260 tCO2eq−1 emissions avoided, at 1,000 PE an NBS flowsheet has an abatement cost of –£17 tCO2eq−1. This shows the potential of using NBS flowsheets in rural wastewater treatment providing both a carbon and cost incentive against traditional designs. | en_UK |
dc.identifier.citation | Brown GC, MacAdam J, Dotro G, Jefferson B. (2023) A wholelife cost and carbon perspective of alternatives to septic tanks utilising nature-based solutions. H2Open Journal, Volume 6, Issue 3, September 2023, pp. 361-372 | en_UK |
dc.identifier.issn | 2616-6518 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.2166/h2oj.2023.002 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/20088 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_UK |
dc.publisher | IWA Publishing | en_UK |
dc.rights | Attribution 4.0 International | * |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | * |
dc.subject | LCA | en_UK |
dc.subject | nature-based solutions | en_UK |
dc.subject | septic tanks | en_UK |
dc.subject | WLC | en_UK |
dc.title | A wholelife cost and carbon perspective of alternatives to septic tanks utilising nature-based solutions | en_UK |
dc.type | Article | en_UK |
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