Abstract

VARON-HOYOS, Manuel; RESTREPO-VICTORIA, Álvaro  and  GUERRERO-ERAZO, Jhoniers. Drinking Water for Domestic Use: Life Cycle Analysis and Hypothetical Environmental Management Scenarios for the City of Pereira, Colombia. Rev. ing. univ. Medellín [online]. 2019, vol.18, n.35, pp.13-31. ISSN 1692-3324.  https://doi.org/10.22395/rium.v18n35a2.

In this study, the environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of 1 m3 of drinking water in Pereira, Colombia were characterized. Four scenarios were analyzed: a baseline scenario and three hypothetical environmental scenarios. The life cycle was described, the inventory of matter and energy flows was made, and the environmental impacts of the midpoint and endpoint of the baseline scenario were established using the Impact 2002+ method, the environmental impacts of three hypothetical scenarios were defined also.

The results determined that the processes related to the production of drinking water generated most of the negative impacts of the cycle (75-100 %) in 12 of the 15 categories of midpoint in the baseline scenario. Likewise, in this scenario, drinking water contributed 56 % of the endpoint impact. On the other hand, promoting a 20 % reduction in water consumption along with the treatment of wastewater would be the best future scenario, both to reduce mid-point impacts and to reduce end-point impacts.

Keywords : water treatment; drinking water; wastewater; life cycle.

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