Abstract: With the advent of the environmentally conscious decision-making period, the carbon footprint of any engineering project becomes an important consideration. Despite this, the carbon footprint associated with water resource projects is often overlooked. Water production, its supply and treatment processes involve significant energy consumption and thus, are source of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) which contribute to global warming. The emissions are not direct but come as a by-product of burning of fossil fuels to produce electricity to carry out these processes. Since water demand is continuous and keeps on rising, the quantification of carbon footprint associated with the water industry is vital. This paper studies and attempts to quantify the carbon footprint of one such urban water system, that is the Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant in Delhi, capital region of India by using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology and evaluate its performance from the point of view of energy consumption and make suggestions.
Keywords: Carbon footprint, LCA, energy, water production, water treatment plant, sustainability
