Keynote 2

20 November 2024, Wednesday

Abstract

Importance of Reducing Carbon Emissions and How It Relates to Real Loss

Introduction

Importance of Reducing Carbon Emissions and how it relates to Real Loss

Interest in carbon reduction to combat climate change has been growing rapidly since the mid 2000’s. In 2015, the Paris Accords were established to influence a societal change to a carbon neutral future. The Paris Accords specifically seek to limit the mean rise in global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, among other stated measures intended to benefit humanity in combatting climate change. These Accords are responsible for numerous policies and legislation enacted by the European Union and 193 other signatory member states to align financial incentives with a greener future. The financial incentives aim to inspire breakthroughs in technology for production of greener energy and/or direct reduction of carbon emitting practices. Reduction of carbon-emitting practices that accompany the production of useful items and services is as critical to carbon neutrality as production of greener and more sustainable energy.

Real Loss (leakage) is generally defined by the International Water Association (IWA) as leakage resulting from failed distribution system infrastructure. Unmanaged leakage is a problem that is already being addressed by various global entities. However, the carbon impact of that leakage has not been definitively established. Every unit of water distributed by a utility, results in the production of a certain amount of greenhouse gas emissions (carbon cost) due to the energy expended in the extraction, treatment, pumping and distribution of that unit of water. These emissions are known as Scope 2 emissions, which are indirect emissions an entity is responsible for as a result of purchasing carbon intensive electricity used in an entity’s operations. Every unit of water lost to leakage results in carbon emissions that would otherwise be avoided if such leakage were reduced. In general, it is not economically viable for a utility to eliminate 100% of its leakage. However, utilities can, and should, strive to achieve the technical minimum that is possible. Excessive leakage provides no benefit for the utility or its customers and therefore, carbon emitted in the process is unnecessary. It can also be reasoned that for those utilities with renewable energy sources, excessive leakage represents a waste that could be otherwise used to further offset carbon-emitting energy sources.

Key Concepts

Water Balance

Understanding a utility’s carbon footprint requires an understanding of the core concepts of a utility’s water balance. The Water Balance is a term used to describe the complete input and end use of drinking water within a utility. The Standard Water Balance was the result of an analysis by the IWA Water Loss Task Force and the Performance Indicators Task Force of various best practices from multiple countries, with the original version published in 2000². The Standard Water Balance has further evolved since that time and is now utilized across the world by utilities, technical organizations, consultants, regulators, and international funding agencies. It is critical to understand the Standard Water Balance when trying to quantify a utility’s resulting Carbon Balance. The Standard Water Balance establishes a volume for all sources, uses, and losses, quantified from a utility’s own specific data. The Carbon Balance aims to quantify the amount of carbon attributed to each of those same sources, uses, and losses (including leakage) for a given utility.

Real Losses (Leakage)

Real Loss generally represents the amount of water that is lost by utilities due to physical leaks. This leakage is quantified within the Standard Water Balance. Portions of this leakage can be reduced or avoided entirely by proper pressure management and renewing or repairing existing infrastructure. While this paper seeks to quantify and reduce the carbon emissions component of leakage, the end result will also deliver benefits in the form of supply-side water conservation through reduced leakage, increased availability and reduced production costs. Utilities should already be doing what they can to reduce leakage. However, additional emphasis is needed for finding, funding, and repairing infrastructure to reduce leakage long term. Many utilities enact only temporary mitigative measures to control leakage, and some may not manage leakage at all if they do not have the resources available. In most cases, existing excessive leakage levels are a direct result of a limitation of resources available to implement leakage reduction strategies.

Energy Intensity

Energy intensity is defined as the amount of energy used to produce a given level of output. In the context of drinking water systems, energy intensity is the amount of energy it takes to extract, treat, and deliver water. Depending on where water is sourced from, a utility may use more or less energy in the scope of such extraction, treatment, and distribution. Some utilities may be able to deliver water with minimal energy input s thanks to a variety of factors such as gravity delivery, reduced treatment needs, and minimal head losses in the pipes. Other utilities may have vast amounts of energy usage due to intense pumping requirements, poor source water quality, high head losses, and/or desalination. Excessive leakage can lead to over-sized infrastructure. The combination of these factors establishes a utility’s energy intensity.

Carbon Intensity

Carbon Intensity is the variable by which the carbon cleanliness of a utility is measured. A utility will use energy from a specific source or combination of sources in the extraction, treatment, and distribution of water. The carbon emissions associated with that energy can be measured by determining the electricity production source that a utility’s power company uses. A large majority of power companies will use a mix of several different production sources such as coal, gas, and renewables. When the energy carbon emissions variable is determined, it can be linked to the amount of energy used by the utility. This yields an amount of carbon emissions per unit of water which can then be applied to each component in the Standard Water Balance, including leakage.

Conclusion

The water utility industry itself has sufficient awareness of the importance of managing real loss. However this is rarely connected to the environmental impact of consuming energy to produce water which is then lost before it reaches the customer. Because of this, funding for continued improvement of real loss management is getting harder to come by whereas that for reducing carbon emissions has seen an explosion over the past two decades.

Consumers are much more likely to be influenced by the carbon impact that their purchasing choices have. Although water conservation is certainly due the same influence and awareness, the reality is that more information on the overall impact that real loss has should be shared. This additional awareness can help influence outside corporate investment for long term sustained improvements to infrastructure and technology upgrades that can encourage water utilities to improve their operations and make step to achieve carbon neutrality. Outside investment can also assist to individually improve specific communities who are underfunded or disadvantaged. Investors benefit by building local goodwill, generating positive public relations, and being able to retire environmental attributes that will offset their own carbon emissions and water usage. This initiative may also pave the way for a water specific environmental market that operates off of water conservation demand alone.

Real loss is an unnecessary drain on valuable resources that could be responsibly consumed elsewhere. It would have been ideal to eliminate real loss entirely if it were physically and economically feasible. Since in most cases it is not, it is necessary to find a balance of sustainable leakage that can be eliminated. The implementation of a Carbon Balanceas part of the Standard Water Balance will help to influence applying protocols and generation of environmental attributes that will help strengthen the economic feasibility of finding and repairing more leakage. The end result is a newfound urgency and action to assist utilities and society as they continue to strive for environmental sustainability.