Energy Production & Efficiency

Jun 1, 2020

Energy is usually the second-highest cost item of a water utility’s operating budget. Many opportunities exist for the design and operational optimization of electricity use for water supply and treatment. This research area will help utilities establish and maintain a strong institutional knowledge base for energy production, consumption, and management. The value proposition for this research area includes:

  1. The ability to categorize water utilities with similar energy needs could be a first step in creating a platform for utilities to share lessons learned or explore case studies focused on their specific energy requirements.
  2. Long term master planning of best practices associated with energy, understanding how energy can influence long term decisions, and describing methods used to integrate energy into long term utility master plans and critical improvement planning.
  3. This will also help utilities navigate the energy regulatory landscape, understanding regulatory trends such as mandatory organics recycling, and managing uncertainty associated with evolving markets and regulations.
  4. Helping utilities with the optimal use of emerging digital technologies associated with energy, to better monitor and optimize usage, helping offset some of their biggest costs of operating.

The specific objectives of this research area are to:

  1. Create an improved understanding of energy use, production, and optimization in the water sector.
  2. Provide its subscribers with information and products to better leverage their energy production and consumption.

 

Project List

Application of Big Data for Energy Management at Water Utilities

  • Project Number: 4978  
  • Year Completed: Ongoing

Quality of Biogas Derived from Wastewater Solids and Co-Digested Organic Wastes: A Characterization Study

  • Project Number: 4892    
  • Year Completed: Ongoing

Unlocking the Potential of Mixed-Microbial Fermentation for Enhancing Carboneous Resource Recovery from Organic Wastes

  • Project Number: 4900    
  • Year Completed: Ongoing

Battery Storage System Guidance for Water and Wastewater Utilities

  • Project Number: 4718    
  • Year Completed: 2019

Opportunities and Barriers for Renewable and Distributed Energy Resource Development at Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities

  • Project Number: 4625    
  • Year Completed: 2019

Advancing Anaerobic Wastewater and Solids Treatment Processes

  • Project Number: 4795    
  • Year Completed: 2019

Managing Water and Wastewater Utility Data to Reduce Energy Consumption and Cost

  • Project Number: 4668    
  • Year Completed: 2019

State of the Science and Issues Related to Heat Recovery from Wastewater    

  • Project Number: 4788    
  • Year Completed: 2019

Carbon Capture and Management Strategies for Energy

  • Project Number: 4879    
  • Year Completed: 2019

WaterWatts: A Modern Look at Wastewater Power-Metering Data    

  • Project Number: 1403   
  • Year Completed: 2018

Advisory Committee Members

  • Arthur Umble, Stantec
  • John Willis, Brown & Caldwell
  • Joe Rohrbacher, Hazen & Sawyer
  • Eric Dole, Garver
  • Kartik Chandran, Columbia University
  • Jane Gajwani, New York City Department of Environmental Protection
  • Barry Liner, Water Environment Federation
  • Natasha Vidangos, Alliance to Save Energy
  • Amit Kaldate, Suez
  • Michael Keleman, Emerson
  • Brent Alspach, ARCADIS