Systematic technique for water minimisation in urban water system using water pinch analysis

S. R. Wan Alwi, Z. A. Manan1 and Z. Ujang

Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
S. R. Wan Alwi et al.

Abstract Pinch Analysis has been an established systematic technique for the design and retrofit (improvement) of heat,
mass and water recovery networks in industry to achieve maximum energy as well as mass efficiency. Until today, the application of Pinch Analysis is perceived to exclusively belong to the process engineering domain. This work describes a potential shift in the global traditional process engineering paradigm related to energy and water savings to allow Pinch Analysis application to be extended beyond the frontiers of process industry; into the area of public and domestic buildings for the purpose of maximising water recovery. Adaptation of Pinch Analysis targeting technique for urban water system buildings allowed the minimum water and wastewater targets to be established. In order to realise these targets, Pinch design rules were applied to generate a maximum water recovery network. A preliminary study involving the application of Pinch Analysis on a mosque yields potential maximum reductions of 66% fresh water and 53% wastewater respectively (after regeneration); a very encouraging results in terms of water savings. water. Much better savings can be expected for applications involving public buildings like shopping centres, offices due to the much better potential expected for recycling

TOPICAL HEADING: Process systems engineering

Introduction The domestic sector contributes to 60.1% of the total water consumption in Malaysia compared to the non-domestic sectors (Malaysia Water Industry Guide, 2001). The need for efficient water management in domestic sectors is getting more crucial than ever. The price of freshwater is likely to increase further in the near future due to the predicted shortage of fresh water and hence, the possibilities of resorting to wastewater treatment, desalination, buying water from other countries, interstate water transfer and groundwater extraction for freshwater sources. People still want to use water luxuriously and at the same time save money. There is a need to come up with a new approach in the water supply and sanitation sectors. This paper presents a systematic approach for the design of an efficient water network to maximise water recovery and minimise wastewater generation in urban areas. The technique begins with the establishment of the minimum water and wastewater targets through the use of water targeting technique known as water cascade analysis (WCA). This technique was implemented on Sultan Ismail Mosque in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Retrofit of the existing water network, guided by the targets generated via WCA yields a new water recovery network with very encouraging potential reductions in terms of fresh water and wastewater. Previous water minimisation on buildings To date, there exists a variety of water demand management techniques in buildings due to the different understanding and ideas of effluent recycling and reuse. Not all the methods applied have been documented and reviewed. Some of the water minimisation techniques are done based on the
1

Corresponding Author zain@fkkksa.utm.my

designers experience while others was done via knowledge of environmental engineering and in particular, involve water cascading that is related to this work. A survey on alternative water systems done by Rudolph et al. (2001) had investigated projects concerning alternative water systems all around the world for public buildings and municipals. From the survey, among the alternative water systems that have been applied are wastewater and greywater recycling for potable and non-potable uses, totally self-sufficient system, separation toilets and composting toilets and vacuum toilet/ biogas. These systems have been applied to pilot plants, households, hotels, office buildings, student accommodations and colleges. Peter Frhlich (2003) from Berliner Wasserbetriebe has started a pilot project about new waterefficient sanitation concepts in conjuction with Vivendi Water in the framework of Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Berlin. Another study on water recycling done by Surrendran et al. (1998) which reviews the current demands in large buildings concluded that recycling medium scale systems can be cost effective compared to that of recycling system in individual dwellings. Bakir (1999) has documented the concept of closed loop in water demand management. The main idea is to match water quality with appropriate water uses. In other words, greywater may be allocated for appropriate uses, such as, irrigation, landscaping, toilet flushing, and groundwater recharge. Every drop of water can be used at least twice before it is sent out of the loop. After water is used, the generated wastewater is segregated according to the level and type of contamination it contains. The wastewater streams are treated and the recycled water is kept in the loop and used in appropriate applications. Chanan et al. (2003) highlight numerous programs in Australia targeting improved efficiency in residential water use and concluded that little has been done to reduce water demand in the commercial sector. Among the examples highlighted include the Millennium Dome in London, the Olympic Park at Homebush Bay in Sydney and the Water Garden in Santa Monica in California (Santa Monica City Council, 1990) where some aspects of sustainable water management have been incorporated in a commercial setting. However, they emphasized that there have been few examples, particularly in Australia, that have considered maximising water conservation through the integration of the whole suite of water conservation measures such as rainwater capture, installation of water efficient fixtures, effluent reuse and evaporation and productive reuse of treated effluent in roof gardens. Sustainable water management systems are based on the principle of the water quality cascade. This means that water sources should be matched with end uses in terms of the required water quality. Dixon et al. (1999) has done a research to identify optimal recycling design as greater use of grey water recycling is likely to depend on social, technical and economic factors. They have developed a conceptual model for the combined use of grey water and rainwater for non-potable domestic water uses in order to assess the potential gain in water saving efficiency from increasing storage capacity. Using this model indicated that significant gains in water saving efficiency could be obtained (up to 85%) with a modest storage capacity of 200 liters. However, the findings of the study suggested that recycling systems in individual dwellings are unlikely to be cost-effective. From the work published so far, it seems some authors have tried to find an optimised design for reuse, recycling and regeneration of greywater and wastewater by using cascading methods. In some cases, for example the study by Dixon et al. (1999), the results have proven to be not cost effective. It can be seen that a systematic water integration method is needed in order to efficiently target the optimum freshwater and wastewater target prior to design. What is the purpose of putting so

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much effort, time and energy in designing a system that later found to be not economical? There is a need for a novel tool to establish the minimum water consumption and wastewater generation prior to the design of an efficient water network as key steps towards pre-evaluating the worthiness of certain alternative designs. This paper presents a targeting method using water pinch analysis adopted from Manan et al. (2003). This method is initially developed for the purpose of targeting minimum fresh water and wastewater in industries but now will be implemented on a whole new environment, where it will also be applied to the urban water systems which include domestics and public buildings.
S. R. Wan Alwi et al.

Case Study Description: Water Minimisation for Sultan Ismail Mosque, UTM Sultan Ismail Mosque located in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai was chosen as the case study for this research. This Mosque is an Islamic centre for the Muslim students and staffs of UTM. The main activities in the mosque which require water include ablution, irrigation, toilet uses, and cleaning of the mosque. Freshwater for the mosque is stored in four connected distributing tank, with a volume of 237 m3 each. These tanks are arranged sequential cascade arrangement where freshwater is fed to the first tank and from there it will overflow into the next tank until all four tanks are filled. Ablution water consumption for one day will be based on water consumption during normal semester days i.e. 25 te/day (Ujang et al., 2000). A simplified water distribution network for the mosque is illustrated according to stream number, flowrate and contaminant concentration in Figure 1.
Water minimisation method for Sultan Ismail Mosque Proposed by IEWRM

The Institute of Environmental & Water Resource Management (IEWRM), UTM has done a proposal on water minimisation of Sultan Ismail Mosque. The modified water distribution network proposed is shown in Figure 2. IEWRM proposed the idea of reusing treated ablution water and rainwater for ablution purposes only. The ablution water or rainwater will first be filtered for solids particles like hair, stones and dirts before going through a series of treatment process consisting of activated carbon and microfiltration. This treatment will ensure that the water send back to the water distribution tank is of acceptable body contact purity level. The amount of ablution water reused/ rainwater collected is limited by the existing distribution tank. The treated water will only be sent to the last distribution tank. Since the water output is approximately 29.0 te/ day for the four tanks, only 7.25 te/day of treated water can be fed into the last distribution tank. Thus, this is the limiting point or bottleneck for this system. During raining season, rainwater will be collected instead and the used ablution water will be diverted to the sewer. The fresh water savings estimated from this design is between 25% with a payback period of 10 years.
Water minimisation method for Sultan Ismail Mosque Proposed by using Water Pinch Analysis

For this case study, the most significant water quality factor in water reuse after total colliform, i.e. the biological oxygen demand (BOD) was chosen for water quality analysis. Faecal coliform was not selected as the quality factor as a primary treatment is proposed to enable greywater to be reused safely. This primary treatment consists of three main steps. Firstly, greywater is filtered for particles. Next, it is passed through an activated carbon to remove unpleasant odour, and lastly, chlorine or UV is used to disinfect greywater for storage purposes.

0.13 te/day 0 ppm 0.50 te/day 0 ppm

Wash basin

0.13 te/day 23 ppm 0.50 te/day

Toilet pipes 1.50 te/day Toilet flushing

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Freshwater 0 ppm

29.01 te/day 1.50 te/day 0 ppm 1.88 te/day 0 ppm

Irrigation

(1.88 te/day)
(Absorbed by soil)

Storage tank Stream not considered for reuse Freshwater stream

25.00 te/day 0 ppm 25.00 te/day 0 ppm Ablution 25.00 te/day 23 ppm

Figure 1 The conventional PFD for Sultan Ismail Mosque 0.13 te/day 0 ppm 0.50 te/day 0 ppm 0.13 te/day 23 ppm 0.50 te/day 1.50 te/day
Toilet flushing

Wash basin

Toilet pipes

Freshwater 0 ppm

21.76 te/day

1.50 te/day 0 ppm 1.88 te/day 0 ppm 17.75 te/day 0 ppm

(1.88 te/day)
Irrigation

(Absorbed by soil)

7.25 te/day 4.2 ppm 25.00 te/day 1.21 ppm Ablution 23 ppm 23 ppm

Treatment 7.25 te/day 10 ppm

Storage tank Stream not considered for reuse Freshwater stream Figure 2 Retrofit for the mosque by IWERM

(According to availability)

Rainwater

Table 1 summarises the water demands and sources for the mosque case study. There are five water demands and three water sources. Water sources are water available for possible recycling while water demands reflect the actual requirement for variety water-using processes. Waste water from flushing toilet and toilet pipes, widely termed as blackwater, will not be used as water source since it is highly contaminated with urine and faeces while water from irrigation is not assigned an outlet flowrate since it is absorbed by the soil. Since the Skudai area in which UTM is located, is rich with

rainfall with an annual rainfall of 2027.2 mm (1997) (Yusoff, 2000), rainwater will be harvested and used as one of the water sources for this case study. The data for water demands in Table 1 is adapted from US-EPA standards of water reuse (AlJayyousi, 2003) and data for water sources are based on the data by CSBE (2003) and Janikowski (2000). CSBE (2003) has conducted water quality tests on the greywater collected from the place of ablution at King Abdullah Mosque. It is assumed wash basin greywater have similar greywater quality as ablution, i.e. 23 ppm. Janikowski (2000) had collected data on typical pollutant concentrations in stormwater in Eastern Europe. The data of rainwater BOD will be use as a guideline for this case study. US-EPA water quality standards and criteria required the BOD level to be reduced to at least 10 ppm for non-potable domestic water recycle (Al-Jayyousi, 2003). Non-potable water refers to water that is not used for human consumption, such as drinking. Since all the water usage in the mosque is non-potable water, hence 10 ppm is set as the maximum BOD level for the water demands. However, the maximum BOD level for ablution, wash basin and toilet pipes are set to 5 ppm to account for extreme high contaminant load cases for safety measures. The mosque case study is a batch process as all the water-using activities occur in discrete time periods. However, in this targeting stage, a well-developed continuous targeting method known as Water Cascade Analysis (WCA) (Manan et al.,2003) is used to achieve the minimum fresh water consumption and wastewater generation targets since the mosque case study can be modelled a repeated batch process that approaches a continuous batch.
Table 1 Summary of the water demands and sources for Sultan Ismail Mosque Process Demand F (t/day) C (ppm) Source Ablution 1 25.00 5 1 Wash basin 2 0.13 5 2 Toilet pipes 3 0.50 5 Toilet flushing 4 1.50 10 Irrigation 5 1.88 10 Rainwater 3

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F (t/day) 25.00 0.13

C (ppm) 23 23

11.14

10

Constructing the water cascade table (WCT) (Table 2), the feasible water cascade yields the true minimum fresh water and wastewater flowrate targets of 15.67 te/day and 22.93 te/day respectively for the mosque case study (Table 2). The table also shows at the forth purity level (P = 0.999977) where there is zero cumulative pure water surplus, there exists the pinch for the mosque problem. Figure 3 shows a possible new water distribution network of the mosque that acchieves this target.
Water regeneration to meet the water targets established using WCA

Table 2 shows the pinch concentration for the mosque process located at 23 ppm. One possible option of regenerating the water source is to treat the ablution water to a concentration above the pinch. Ahn et al (1999) proposed to treat domestic wastewater using microflitration to reduce the contaminant concentration of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) from 59 ppm to 4.2 ppm, suitable for reuse. The amount of ablution to be treated depends on the cost of the treatment equipment. An analysis on the relationship between treatment equipment cost and flowrate must be established to know the amount of water needed to be treated that have an appropriate payback period. The total amount of ablution to be treated using microfiltration is 7.25 te/day based on IWERM case study. Table 3 from the WCT shows the new pinch purity at 0.999977 (23 ppm), and the fresh water and wastewater flowrates reduced to 5

9.74 te/day and 17.00 te/day respectively. Figure 4 shows a possible new water distribution network with partial ablution regeneration of the mosque that acchieves this target.
Table 2 Water Cascade Table (WCT) for Sultan Ismail Mosque case study Interval Concentration Cn (ppm) n Purity, Pn FD, j FS, i FD, j + FS, i (te/day) (te/day) (te/day) Cumulative Pure water pure water FC, (te/day) surplus surplus (te/day) (te/day) 15.67 1 2 3 4 5 0 5 10 23 1000000 1.000000 0.999995 0.999990 0.999977 0 Assumed 15 days storage
1.50 te/day 10 ppm 1.88 te/day 10 ppm 1.50 te/day Toilet flushing Irrigation 2.20 te/day 23 ppm
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0 15.67 -25.63 -3.38 11.14 25.13 -25.63 -9.96 7.76 -2.20 25.13 22.93 22.93 22.93 -0.000029 0 (Pinch) -0.000050 0.000029 0.000078 0.000078

Rainwater 10 ppm

11.14 te/day

(1.88 te/day)

(Absorbed by soil)

Storage tank Stream not considered for reuse Fresh water stream

7.76 te/day 10 ppm

Primary Treatment

2.20 te/day 23 ppm

Freshwater

15.67 te/day 0 ppm

25.00 te/day 5 ppm 0.13 te/day 5 ppm 0.50 te/day 5 ppm

Ablution

22.80 te/day 23 ppm 0.13 te/day 23 ppm 0.50 te/day

Wash basin

Toilet pipes

Figure 3 New water network for the mosque using water pinch analysis

Comparison of the results obtained by IEWRM and that obtained using Water Pinch Analysis

The system proposed by IEWRM predicted fresh water savings of 25% and wastewater reductions of 20%. The system suggested by the water pinch method predicts savings of 46% freshwater savings and 37% of wastewater reduction before regeneration and 66% freshwater and 53% of wastewater reduction after regeneration. With regeneration, both IEWRM and water pinch method uses microfiltration treatment, hence the payback period will almost be the same except for the additional piping system. However, water pinch method gives much better freshwater savings. Water pinch analysis can target the minimum freshwater and wastewater flows before design while IEWRM need to design the system first before knowing the total freshwater and wastewater savings. With water pinch analysis, one can efficiently and systematically plan water savings for buildings, above all, are able to identify inferior design options a priori. Knowing the targets and the 6

maximum potential savings ahead of design would indeed be crucial guideline in order to come up with the best possible design that can yield the most efficient network. Without these design targets, a designer would be unaware of the potential savings until a recycle network is constructed.
Table 3 WCT for process involving partial regeneration of ablution water Interval Concentration Cn (ppm) n Purity, Pn FD, j FS, i FD, j + FS, i (te/day) (te/day) (te/day) FC, (te/day) Pure water surplus (te/day) Cumulative pure water surplus (te/day)
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FFW = 9.74 0 1 4.2 2 5.0 3 10.0 4 23.0 5 1000000 0

1.50 te/day 10 ppm 1.88 te/day 10 ppm 7.76 te/day 10 ppm 1.50 te/day (1.88 te/day) Irrigation (Absorbed by soil) Regeneration
Secondary Treatment Primary Treatment

1.000000 0.999996 0.999995 0.999990 0.999977 -25.63 -3.38 11.14 17.88 7.25

0 9.74 7.25 16.99 -25.63 -8.64 7.76 -0.88 17.88 FWW = 17.00 17.00 17.00 -0.000011 0 (Pinch) -0.000043 0.000011 0.000014 0.000055 0.000041 0.000041

Assumed 15 days storage

Toilet flushing

Rainwater

11.14 te/day 10 ppm

7.25 te/day 4.2 ppm 0.88 te/day 23 ppm

Freshwater

9.74 te/day 0 ppm

25.00 te/day 5 ppm 0.13 te/day 5 ppm 0.50 te/day 5 ppm

Ablution

17.75 te/day 23 ppm 0.13 te/day 23 ppm 0.50 te/day

8.13 te/day 23 ppm

Storage tank Stream not considered for reuse Freshwater stream

Wash basin

Toilet pipes

Figure 4 New water network for the mosque using water pinch analysis with regeneration

Conclusions A new method for the systematic design of water recovery network for urban water system has been established. The key step for the technique involves setting the minimum water and waste water targets using Water Cascade Analysis (WCA) to ensure maximum water recovery from urban water systems. Sultan Ismail Mosque has been selected as a case study to demonstrate the impact of the procedure.

The results of the study shows an encouraging potential reduction of 66% fresh water consumption and 53% waste water generation. References
Ahn, K., Song K. (1999). Treatment of domestic wastewater using microfilitration for reuse of wastewater. Desalination 126: 7-14. Al-Jayyousi, O. R. (2003). Greywater reuse: towards sustainable water management. Desalination 156: 181-192, Elsevier. Bakir, H.. Water demand management and pollution control: Key to securing and safeguarding the water supplies of MENA in the 21st Century. http://www.emro.who.int/Publications/CEHA-ESCWA.pdf [Assesed Februray 2004]. Center for the Study of the Build Environment (CSBE) (2003). A Report on Graywater Reuse in Jordan. http://www.csbe.org [Assessed January 2004] Chanan, V., White, S., Howe, C., Jha, M. (2003).Sustainable water management in commercial office buildings. http://www.isf.uts.edu.au/publications/VC_SW_CH_MJ_2003.pdf [Assessed February 2004]. Dixon, A., Butler, D., Fewkes, A. (1999). Water saving potential of domestic water reuse systems using greywater and rainwater in combination. Water Science and Technology 39: 25-32, Elsevier. Janikowski, R., Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas (IETU) (2000). Sourcebook of Alternative Technologies for Freshwater Augumentation in East and Central Europe. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/b, [Assesed February 2004]. Manan, Z. A., Foo, C. Y. and Tan, Y. L. (2003). Targeting the Minimum Water and Wastewater Flowrates using the New Water Cascade Analysis Technique. In review. Peter-Frhlich, A., Kraume, I., Lesouf, A. and Oldenburg, M. (2003). Separate discharge and treatment of urine, faeces and greywater pilot projects. World Water & Environmental Resources Congress 2003, Philadelphia, http://kompetenz-wasser.de/engl/downloads/SCST-Philadelphia-eng.PDF [Assesed 1stFebruary 2004]. Rudolph. K, Schafer. D. (October 2001). International survey on alternative water systems. BMBF- ResearchProject No. 02 WA 0074, http://hikwww1.fzk.de/ptwte/w/aws-engl.pdf [Assesed 15th February 2004]. Surrendran, S. and Wheatley, A. D. (1998). Grey-water reclamation for non-potable re-use. Journal of Chartered Institution of Water and Environment Management 12: 406-413, Elsevier. The Malaysian Water Association (2000). Malaysia Water Industry Guide, 2001. Pg 62. Ujang, Z. and Larsen M. (2000). Development of Mass Balance & Quantitative Inventory of Water Management in UTM Skudai Campus for Reclamation and Reuse Program. Research VOT 71498, Institute of Environmental & Water Resource Management Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 33-35. Yusoff, K. (2000). Rainwater Harvesting System in UTM Skudai Campus. Akademi Tentera Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

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