Comparison of Environmental Effects and Resource Consumption for Different Wastewater and Oraganic Waste Management Systems in a New City Area in Sweden

Environmental effects and resource consumption for different wastewater and organic waste management systems in a new city area in Sweden, were compared. Substance-flow analysis and energy/exergy calculations were performed using the software tool URWARE/ORWARE. Of the studied environmental effects, eutrophication represented the most important effect for wastewater systems. This indicated that local wastewater treatment plant (LWWTP) was the most advantageous system. The results showed that the combined system produced twice the emissions as those generated by LWWTP. The source-separating systems showed lower emissions of eutrophicating substances compared with the combined system. The LWWTP demonstrated the highest nutrient recovery potential, but also the highest exergy consumption.